6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
Well you're on the right track sleepy but the thought was if the bulbs were higher wattage than the ballasts which would make them under powered. If the ballasts are electronic then putting a lower wattage bulb in them would overdrive the bulbs making them brighter.
And zinnia is considered a little difficult to transplant... not as difficult as poppies, but you still need to be a little careful when you transplant.
But it is near the time to plant zinnia directly outdoor! Yes, you will get it a little later, but you will still have plenty of zinnias this spring/summer. :)
Oh yes, Susan - we have been using Celcius here in Canada for many, many years.
Sarah, the temps. here are unseasonbly warm. We do not usually get these temps. until late May/early June, so I was starting them indoors to get a head start. But realizing that we are already frost-free, it occurred to me that I might be able to try this. Thank you.
Maybe I'm confusing nominal wattage with actual wattage. What wattage would I actually be looking for in a 2' fixture over one flat?
I have very little space in my room (it's about 80 sq. ft, with a bed and a desk taking up much of that), but I do have plenty of space out on the south-facing lawn of the building. I can leave massive pots out there and groundskeeping is happy to just leave it alone. And if there's ever any trouble, one of the other dorms has a garden plot that goes mostly unused. It's a little far away, but if I had to, I could replant into the ground there.
Average last frost date is May 15th. I usually wait until Memorial Day. But everyone is anxious because we've had the warmest March and April in the history of record keeping.
It's in the low 60's today. I put them outside, but took two storm windows and propped them up against the house. It upped the temp 10 degrees. I'm thrilled! Made a little greenhouse.
I still plan on selling them a week later though. Too much anxiety trying to get them out earlier isn't worth it.
For what its worth..... I was trying to germinate Marketmore 76 Cucumbers and it took 11 days to germinate. This to me took way too long as I was using the oven light to create heat and my wife wasn't very happy about tying up the oven. I then went out and purchased a Ferry Morse (jiffy) Heated Proffesional Greenhouse @ Lowes for around $32.00. The next batch I did was of the same seeds and took less than 48 hours to germinate. This made everyone happy :-)
I tried a dome for the first time about a month ago, and had terrible luck with it. My seeds cooked and my sprouts rotted, even after taking the dome off.
I decided to try again without the dome, controlling the conditions a bit more, misting morning and night. So far, this seems to be working pretty well. The Phacelia all sprouted by the 3rd day, the onions by the 4th day, and the licorice mint by the 5th day. Now, on the 7th day, I also have a pumpkin sprout, a watermelon sprout, a peppermint sprout, two ground cherry sprouts, and two strawberry sprouts.
I'm really hoping that a few more of each will come up over the next couple of days, but I can at least say that I'm doing much better now than I was with the dome.
I know once I took my tomatoes out of their cells and transplanted to 16 oz cups, they shot up and got a lot fuller. Since it's only going to be a few more weeks indoors, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Unless there are a lot of roots coming out.
As far as the root/container ratio, I noticed that my green onions in the cells had much more root development than the ones planted in egg cartons. Probably just a matter of depth and overall size.
Oh yeah, what's a cow pot??? Like a peat pot? I've heard a lot of bad things about peat pots.
Kim
You're welcome nutsaboutflowers:
I might add that the same goes for any plant you buy or grow annual or perennial. If the roots are a tangled mess on the bottom--if they are going round and round at the bottom. That means they are pot bound and you have to loosen them so the plant can take up nutrients from the soil. Otherwise they will continue to be a tangled mess in the ground and the plant can't get what it needs to grow.
Oilpainter I knew that plant roots need to be "disturbed" if they're root bound, but thanks for telling me, in case I didn't know. =:)
The only annual I've ever had trouble with is marigolds. I posted last year that my marigolds embarrassed me, and suggestions from that post led me to be rather nasty to them when I planted them. They thrived for the first time.
BTW I transplanted 4 of my seedlings to see what happens. I may have given them too much water. In two days, if they're O.K. I'll do some more. I didn't have enough courage to try all 14 of them.
Here is a hint, that was presented by another member...
Instead of trying to prick the seeds out of the paper towel, just cut or tear the paper towel, seed and all, and then plant them like you would seed tape. No need to disturb the delicate seedling.
Evelyn
oilpainter, in zone 3 you are probably ok even if you grow sweet peas now.
I once started sweet peas (the fragrant lathyforus odorata, not the ones for eating) late, like in May, and they were sort of ok. They produced flowers, but out of 8 plants, I got only ONE pea pod. Well, maybe there were a few more hidden, but without special search, I saw only one.
Hey, ladies and gentlemen =:)
Half way through this post, pinching the suckers turned into pruning the suckers.
I have always pinched or snapped my suckers off. Works like a charm. I've never heard of pruning them. I'd have to be more careful so as not to cut another part of the plant. Plus, I'd have to take time to go get the pruners. Just pinch them, it's much faster =:)
Pinching is what's done, unless you don't see the sucker/get to it in time, and it becomes branch-sized. Of course, you probably run more of a risk of introducing fungus and other bad stuff when you prune off a bigger branch like that, but knock wood, I've never had a problem.
I've found that covering the seeds with bird gravel (or chicken grit if you can get it) rather than the starting mix helps prevent damping off. Also, I know folks recommend bottom watering, but I have found that watering carefully from the top, works best for me. I also "weigh" the containers in my hand to judge if they really need water or not. Just my experience.
Hi there.
I'm just new at this, but unless I was just lucky, cinnamon and garlic water worked for me.
I sprinkled the soil right from the beginning with cinnamon. When I discovered a tiny bit of fungus, I took several cloves of garlic, simmered in about a cup of water, cooled, and watered the plants with it. It smelled to high heaven but I think it worked. I also got myself a small fan.
Not too early for peas. In fact, you may even be a tad late for peas (I'm in Boston and planted mine a few weeks ago).
But too early for beans. Or at least it has been my experience that they just sit there if the ground is too cold. The old-fashioned way of deciding if it's warm enough to plant beans is if it's warm enough to sit on the ground. If your butt is too cold, it's too cold for beans. (I've never planted corn, but I think the same goes for it.)
When you bring them in, don't bring them into a heated room. It is better if you bring them to a unheated garage, e.g.; otherwise a process of "reverse hardening off" might occur.
When you bring them in, don't bring them into a heated room. It is better if you bring them to a unheated garage, e.g.; otherwise a process of "reverse hardening off" might occur.
It would take more than just overnight or even a couple days to do that.