6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed

Waiting an extra week to sell may not be a bad thing for your customers. When are they going to be able to (realistically) plant tomato plants in Minnesota?

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.

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

Columbine/aquilegia is an excellent candidate for Wintersowing. Check out and search the Wintersowing forum for much advice and opinion.

Oh, I know you are; but they behave in pretty much the same way. Just the garden peas don't have as pretty of a flower. :) How fun for you with the sunflowers. I wish I had enough sun and space for some at this house. I can't wait to see pics!

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.

Yes they will recover. It is only a few leaves and the plant will make new ones. When hardening off the first few days should ALWAYS be in shade until plants get used to UV rays

The quickest way to learn patience - take up gardening.

Did you sterilize the 32 cell tray after your last round of seeds and before this round? If not, the mold/fungus you had before will still be present in the tray and will re-form almost instantly, even in fresh seed starting mix.

I'm wondering about the use of cinnamon when that white/grey fungus or mold is seen on the top of seedling pots. I'm having a hell of a time with disease, dispite changing from seed mix to milled spaghnum moss. I have used a product called Actinovate in a mist to spray the seedlings with, but it doesn't help much. I've lost so many seedlings it's pathetic. I've never had these problems before. The seedlings I'm struggling with are Thunbergia, morning glory, castor beans, melanpodium, vigna, sunflowers and climbing spinach. Please, any advice??

they bloom all summer also. Zinnia is my favorite flower. I plant from seed and the plants produce more than one bloom ...and then some... deadhead and they'll keep producing. I love the large varieties but have had both small and large.

Thanks for the sunflower picture Sew. I grabbed a packet of Mammoth sunflower seeds just to see what happens.

Thanks for the response Nana. Zinnia is looking to be more favorite flower as well. I really like the Dahlia-shaped heads and all the colors. I've gotten a mix of large and small varieties.

Some cheap, blinking neon signs, perhaps? :)

Kim

I have a similar story about my boy friend. We were out doing yard clean up last weekend, and he had the loppers and was trimming branches. I have this rose bush that came with the house, I think it is a sort of climbing rose, but have never seen it bloom yet. The old owners must have cut it down or something before we bought the house. This year it had finally gotten sizable and i thought to myself "I think it may bloom this year"! Well, I turned around for a split second and when I turned back he had the thing chopped back down to the ground! He felt so bad about it, and I felt bad for him, he though it was a weed I guess(I don't know how the substantial amount of thorns didn't give away that it was a rose bush, hahaha) Oh well, I'm sure it will grow back in another couple of years! Men and their tools.