6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed

Well, the instructions stink. :) To put it politely. Those self-watering thingies are ok if you use them like you would normally bottom-water with any other container; that is to say, pour water in the resevoir when the cells are dry, allow them to soak up what they need, and dump the rest. Seeds won't germinate, and seedlings won't grow, in a constantly wet, soupy bog. Which is what peat/soil will be if you allow it to sit and soak up water all day long. Sorry for your struggles, hopefully you still have enough time to get some new starting mix and seeds and try again; this time, wet the medium, squeeze out extra water, fill the cells, add seeds and cover. Don't water again until the seeds sprout and the soil is dry. Hope that helps!

Thanks for those tips. I'll try that. I just planted some passionfruit seeds about 2 days ago so hopefully I didn't ruin those. I don't really care about the other stuff I was growing as I have my vegetable garden mostly planted. I was just experimenting with seed sprouting since I'll be growing a lot of stuff this year with my new greenhouse.

In looking at the photo - my reaction is that the light source is inadequate. How old are your bulbs? Shouldn't use them for more than 2 years as a grow light. Set the timer for a 16 hours/day on cycle. The lumen output drops off dramatically.

I start mine in the seed packs, then into 12 oz red drink cups, when about 3 inches tall, planting deeply. then after about 4 weeks they go out to the coldframe. a few weeks later - into the 1/2gallon milk containers, so that by mid May have nice big root systems to plant in the garden

i keep the lights about 2 inches above the top leaves.
also, the peat or manure pots you have - i've never been able to keep the moisture regulated - their either too dry or wet. I did some peat pot, some plastic pot w/seed start mix, and some w/spaghnm moss in small self water plastic containers - only the peat pots had problems.

keriann--
I haven't grown the trailing petunias much, but I know others who do. Some don't cut them back, but one lady cuts back the longest trailer every week. She says it makes for a much bushier basket and she avoids the bare center look. It must because her hanging baskets are beautiful.

The bonus if you cut them back is that you can root the cuttings and make new plants. The choice is yours.

Thanks Oilpainter and Dave

I will trim one back and see what the results are. I like your idea oilpainter, I will have to give that a try.

Also, good idea about saving the cuttings to root!

Happy Easter!

Thanks again

Keriann~

Woo Hoo 85* yesterday and today in WI in April! Crazy!

If your house faces west and this bed ends at your driveway does this mean your bed runs north and south? If it does which end is your trellis on the north or the south. If it's on the north end and you are growing regular sunflowers--they can grow 5 feet tall-- then the sunflowers will take all the sun and shade the trellis.If the trellis is on the south end the trellis will shade the sunflowers.

If on the other hand you grew dwarf sunflowers on the south side and Clematis the trellis, to the north of the sunflowers it would be perfect. Dwarf sunflowers grow no bigger than 3 feet and that would be the perfect height to shade the Clematis roots.

There are many different varieties of sunflowers. What you should look for, since this is more of a display area, is not the kind that get a single main head, but rather the kind that are intended for flower production and cutting. If you keep the spent flowers cut off, they will continue to bloom for most of the season. The single headed plants are pretty ratty looking by mid August.

For a vine, try planting one of the runner beans, scarlet, or pink. Edible pods and then edible seeds if you let them mature. The flowers are attractive to humming birds also. Plus, they are an annual so if you don't like them or they don't do well, you are not stuck with them next year. Good luck!

Steve

ricker--
If you haven't fertilized yet then that's your problem. Nitrogen is the first number on the fertilizer box. Give them the tomato fertilizer and all will be well.

Oilpainter: Thanks for the advice. I'm hoping to plant this weekend and thought I'd put some 8-8-8 around the plants when I put them in the ground. Our weather in NE Mississippi has been wetter than usual and colder than usual, but it looks like nights will be staying above 50F. Let's hope for the best. Thanks again.

Especially in the case of slow growers, it is very important that you indicate on the label WHEN you seeded, WHEN the seed germinated. Many gardeners, myself included, look at their new seedlings so often, a week seems like a month, and we are sure NOTHING is happening. Al

In my experience, coleus take off after thinning. They do not like to be crowded.

I will look at starting later next year, although I also won't have to wait on the garden to be built before I plant, which will help. I was orginally going to plant them a week and a half sooner than I will be able to.

Maybe I can just leave them in the starting cells longer next time since they are 2x2x2 cells.. (thats gotta be 4-5 oz right? I'll check tonight). The only reason I pulled them out early was not everything had germinated. On my second germinating go-round everything was tomatoes and they all germinated together which was great, no early transplanting needed. I'll be able to leave those in there for longer before I have to transplant them up which is good.

Sigh - It's hard to be at work when I just want to be home playing with my plants :(

-T

I know what you mean. I felt that way 35 years ago, and truthfully, it's still just as fulfilling and even--yes, sometimes--exciting!

Seeds bring out great thoughts about life and how the world goes round...

I think that's one reason gardeners are often more mellow than some. With exceptions, of COURSE!

Paula

you can "prune" them to make them thicker. i have a neighbor who has tomato plants with stalks like tree trunks, and he trims an inch off the top every few weeks. this allows them to grow wider, and develop more foliage.

Also - how old are your bulbs? - after 2 years the lumen output drops off dramatically. I change mine every two years and use the 40W- 4 foot shop light cool white, 16 hours/day

If your compost/old potting soil thing has been working for you, and you're continuing to sow the same kinds of seeds you've successfully sown in the past, it's probably fine. "Potting soil" can be so many things--I don't know what you're using. I've bought good stuff in the past, and I've also bought stuff that seems to be 50% sawdust or some such thing, and that doesn't do young plants any favors at all. Compost does have the risk of weed seeds, I suppose. If you know what's supposed to be coming up in your flat, that might not be a huge concern.

I do generally use fresh seed-starting mix that I either make myself (usually peat and perlite--and vermiculite if I have it) or buy (preference for Pro-Mix), but not always. And for tomatoes and tough things like that, I think a bit of compost can be beneficial. Sometimes I re-use my old stuff, and I don't sterilize. I won't re-use it if it was wet for a long time, has a green crust or smells funky. My rules of thumb are that I only re-use mix for things that I know are easy to grow and are sturdy as seedlings. Most vegetables fall into that category. Things that come up looking fragile or are as slender as hair I make sure to use a finer mix that's fresh.

And I'm in the peat-pellet haters' camp. I tend to underwater at times, and those things dry up on me seemingly in an instant. But they are fun to expand--sort of like Jiffy Pop.

If you do use your own soil mix - to sterilize it - put into a metal roasting pan (-: and bake at 180F for 3 hours. Let cool and use!! I generally moistened mine to start with - seemed to help with the sterilization - steaming, etc

I have been told that stepping in a warm fresh cow pattie with bare feet is supposed to feel quite extraordinary! Provided you have a sinus cold or plug your nose.

whatever your method beforehand, you need to water afterwards to settle the soil around the roots and get the large air gaps out so that the roots are in contact with the soil

Thank you Dave and gawdinfever. In previous years I covered seeds with black plastic and used room temperature. Also I did not pay enough attention to amount of water. This year I put on heat and covered with black plastic with very poor results. After gawdenfever email, I sowed a few seeds and put on heat and covered with vermiculite. Do you think that will work. Thank you. Marie

Vinca is no more difficult than Impatiens from seed, but they do not require light to germinate. I usually cover lightly with jiffy mix. However, I got a packet of Vinca seeds from Swallowtail Gardens this year that instructed that light should be completely blocked which I had not done before. I covered the pot with newspaper and had germination in 4 days.
Alana

Go Diego Go!

Maybe it's Diego making them grow!

What I did wrong... Well, I started them in containers of a similar depth/size as I would other seeds (margerine tub, or similar). That was too deep, as they are so tiny at first, that maintaining proper moisture on the surface was difficult. Then, some of them were crowded, and I attempted to transplant them too soon. They really pouted for a long time after that. Also, I transplanted them into the dreaded peat pots, which did nothing for my 'dry on top, damp on bottom' issues. So, with the new ones, I sowed them in shallower containers, and left the cover on longer than I normally would to help maintain surface moisture, until they were of a size that could be seen by the naked eye. Also, I sprayed the surface more than I normally would. Since there was less soil, I could actually water a bit more frequently (usually just about daily), but had uniform drying of the soil, so the tiny roots at the top were receiving the benefit of the watering. Also, I haven't transplanted them, even though a few of them are crowding each other.

Is there any way for you to set up a wicking system.

I will try to describe one, but you can use different materials...

Take a 1020 tray with no holes and add one inch of water. Then set a baking rack in it so it sits out of the water. Then lay a piece of paper towel, cotton cord... something that will draw water, over the tray so that the ends are sticking in the water and then set your seedlings on that so that the seedlings can wick up water via the cord/papertowel... I know it is a long shot but worth a try.

The other thing I would try is getting them into bigger pots to hold more moisture.

Or setting them in a 1/2 inch of water and putting a fan on them... that would increase the chance of dampening off but you may get lucky.

Good luck, don't let it ruin your vacation : )

Keriann~

I'm still giving a neighbor free tomato plants, and tomatoes I grow when she has crop failure, for her help in watering my starts daily about 4 or 5 years ago for a few days when I had to be away due to a death in the family. That, and I can't do anything else with them.

Sell them? Ha Ha Ha! Can hardly give tomato plants away around here. I think the greenhouse tries to sell them for $1.50, but doesn't move many until they have their 6 for $1. end of season sale.

Thanks very much for the info. I will start some outdoors, as you suggested. I noticed that one of the web sources said that seed did not come true to the parent. Have you had any surprises when you started monkshood from seed?

I am trying these seeds and I sowed them last January, left 2 weeks at 70F, and then I put them in the refrigerator around the end of January. I took them out of the refrigerator today, and this is how the tray looks like as I opened the baggy:

The little seedlings actually are not Monkshood, but they are Jacob's Ladder seedlings that I planted in one of the 9 cells and they survived in the dark of the refrigerator for almost 2 months!!!

What concerns me are thos white moldy spots because I think I have lost some seeds here. I have 70F in my apartment and I definitely would not want my place to be left at 50F, so I will have to see if they can germinate at this temperature. Outside it gets high 50s in the night and low 80s during the day. Would it be better if I leave the tray outside? I hope I will have at least one plantlet!!!

I'll keep you posted.

Rino