6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
Sleepy33 - don't worry about me moving to the winter sowing side - I basically answered my own original question by getting a great light set-up today, so I'm committed to starting seeds inside. Plus, the whole appeal for me of starting seeds indoors is that I can pretend, for even the slightest of moments, that it's warm and winter *will* eventually end. One would have to do some MAJOR convincing to get me to run outside in the bitter cold to check on, water, or in any way care for my plants. That's what my cozy laundry room now with my fabulous light set-up is for. Always a nice 70 degrees! And I can check on them in my jammies if I want, without putting 17 layers on.
However, if you're trying to get me out to ski, then that's a different story!
So Molly and Me and pitimpinai, thank you so much for your kind suggestions, but I will gently decline for now.
To be fair, you don't really "check on" WSing containers at all once they're set out... I do both WSing and indoor seed starting, generally flowers (especially perennials) and some greens outside, and most vegetables inside. Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages. I enjoy being able to dedicate my few lights to the plants which I want to baby most (I want early peppers and tomatoes!) and still be able to start annual flowers and such as well...
I placed an order with Johnnies and they give you a bunch of seeds per pack. Plus their shipping is lower than most. Everything related to fuel has risen 50% over the past three years. When I bought my corn burner in 2003 shelled corn was $1.60 a bushel, Now its $3.65 bushel.
Well, you could start some more seeds as a backup; if this is what they look like after a month, you know they will be big enough by then! Do you have a bright, sunny window? Maybe you could start transitioning these guys to sunlight and start hardening them off to go outside (you can always bring them in if you're expecting a cold snap), and that way free up some room under your lights for the new seeds? Just kind of use these guys as a 'practice run' and experiment with light, water, etc. Or buy more lights... haha. :) Just some ideas.
Ok, first let me say thank you for all the words of encouragement. I think I was scared into not watering the tomatoes for fear of killing them via water. Well I went ahead and gave each one a complete soaking. I checked to see if they were root bound, which although they did not appear to be to my untrained eye, the roots *are* at the bottom and sides of the cups, so I am guessing the water wasn't reaching them.
It's a learning process right? I thoroughly watered all of them, and while some of them still have bottom leaves that look like they are going to fall off, the tops have perked up considerably and are giving me hope they may just survive.
That being said, I am going to start one more round of tomatoes (one of each variety) just in case. A little bit of insurance if you will :)
I am glad you don't mind my question though. I am sure I will have many more as the season progresses.
I read before that most perennials, when grown from seed, will not produce flowers the first year. Is that true?
As a GENERAL rule, that is true. As it should be, perennials devote their first year to root development for longer life than annuals.
But there are a few variety exceptions. And also some exceptions depend on (1) your gardening zone and length of growing season and 2)when planted in their permanent growing location.
Dave
Also the peat pellets themselves don't have an awful lot of nutrients, so potting up enables you to give starts a richer medium. For brassicas in your zone, I would think that the end of first week of April should be earliest for hardening off/planting out, JMO.
Oh, that's ok; the cool thing is, after you said that about the link at the bottom right, I clicked on it, and that shows you everything they sell that is 'supposed to' flower in the first year, which I didn't know they had a category like that. But the only bummer is it shows you their plants for sale, too, so it ends up being like 300 things, and not just seeds, but it was still neat to look through that category. Glad you will have some beautiful hollyhocks THIS year! :)
Last year I did an experiment and start sunflowers inside 3 weeks before my last frost.
I also direct sowed some in the middle of May. The ones I started inside were about 12" tall and were very sad, but I got them in the ground.
Come June, my direct sow sunflowers were much larger than my 'inside' sunflowers.
And come July, almost all of my seedlings I started inside fell over because they were not as strong as the ones I started directly outside.
Lesson learned... and now I don't plant any and I have 50-60 that self-sow. Fun to see what they will look like once opened. Mine reach over 15" tall. It is crazy!
Keriann~
We start our sunflowers inside a couple of weeks before they go out. We use paper cups(ecotainer 8 oz.), and at transplanting, rip out the bottom, and sink them in a bit.
We grow sunflowers for large seed heads, and height(county fair competition)....so these are not baby sunflowers. And if we don't start them inside, the critters eat the seed before it comes up...or take down the small sprouts. The buried cups also help with cutworms....and the system works wonderful for us:)
m
Hi Sarah, welcome to the forum. Please see the FAQ's posted on the main page; I've linked them here at the bottom for your convenience. Most of your questions are answered there. I would recommend you do some research into the benefits of starting most of your veggies indoors versus outdoors. Some veggies do not like to be transplanted, particularly root crops like carrots- which I know you mentioned you planned not to start indoors due to number, but the real reason you wouldn't want to do it is that they'd be darn difficult to transplant; the root itself is the vegetable. You're lucky, you live in a nice warm zone that should have a long growing season, so your veggies should take of quickly outside. You can find pretty much all the info you need online, including which should be started indoors vs. outdoors, best time to sow, growing conditions, etc. I'd recommend either buying or checking out from a library, a good book on vegetable gardening. I have a battered old one that I've used over and over again, and it's well worth it to have at hand.
As far as your pots, I think you'll find most here recommend plastic containers; again, see the FAQ. Size wise, you don't want to start too big. Containers the size of the ones you linked to are a good size to start with, and then transplant up to a larger size; or, if you start with something slightly larger, say in the 4 inch range, put several seeds in the container to germinate. Anyway, hope some of that helps, best of luck!
Here is a link that might be useful: FAQ
I collected the very small seeds from a Pentas this past September. To check on viability, I sowed a few on a paper towel moistened with a dilute fertiliser solution, placed towel in a Baggie, and stored it on a furnace top. In 9 days small plants appeared. Today I sowed the tiny seeds on a sterile, powdered peat and covered with a glass pane. Literature indicates that light is necessary for gremination as well as 70 degree temp. Good Luck!
Here's what it says on the Thompson & Morgan germination database:
"Pentas: 25-40 days to germination, surface sow on peaty soil, 70-75ºF, see #5.
"5. These seeds should be sown on the surface of the compost and not covered. The compost should be quite moist and we would recommend that you cover the seed container with a piece of glass or clear plastic and leave in a temperature of approximately 65 degrees F in a position which receives diffused light. Once some of the seeds have germinated air should be admitted gradually otherwise the seedlings may damp off.
"Alternatively the seeds can be sown on to moist blotting paper or kitchen towel placed in a saucer. Cover with a transparent cover and place on a windowsill which receives plenty of light, but not direct sunlight. Keep the blotting paper wet at all times and when the tiny seedlings are large enough to handle prick out into small pots. Use only pure peat with no fertilizers, added to which sphagnum moss should be added if available."
Good luck!
Sue
Yep tomatoes are very leggy as the lights are way too far away and too much heat. Either switch your bulbs to CFL and lower the lamps to 1" above the plants (you'll have to deep transplant those really tall ones*) or switch to a shop light.
*16 oz. cups with the transplant set right on the bottom of the cup and all of it buried in soil except for the top set of leaves.
pepper seedlings look fine just as is for now but with the lights that high they will turn leggy too.
Dave
T12 bulbs are getting phased out, only to be replaced by T8 and T5. The is also a number on the bulb: example SP41 and that is a cool white and a SP35 is the warm white. The SP41 is the better light for plants. There is also a daylight bulb which is more of a SP50 (guessing on the number), but is more costly but better than the previous mentioned. I use T8, SP41 bulbs and my plants do well with them.
Definately very cute babies! Wish I could start mine so soon!
Try a spatula if the pots are too wet? ;) It SOUNDS like it would work well! lol...