6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
Where are you going to grow these. a window sill or heated greenhouse. will the growing area be semiaautomated or will you have several helpers (sepeciall when you get ill) will there be seporate areas to accomidaate the different germination & growing on temperatures, light, water requirements. do you entend to give 1 hour a day to these plants or 8-12 hours a day...............
consider these & then give me your answer.
I haven't sown giganteum but I think I'd start them now - or in the next few weeks. Allium can take anywhere from 30-365 days to germinate, I seem to have best luck Fall sowing, leaving pots outdoors, finding germination earliest Spring.
While his recommendations are most often for dried stored seed, the Clothiers site suggests warm moist, cold moist, germinating while warming up but still cool. Druse (Making More Plants) suggests outdoors in Fall.
I surface sow allium regardless of seed size, topping pot with a light layer of grit to help keep seeds in place....Other end of the size scale, I kept a few seeds of tiny allium cyaneum, same requirements and I may sow those tomorrow :)
Treelover, I've sown the seeds from the spice aisle jars and I wasn't impressed with the flowers either - they were a mix of uninspiring pastels, lots of singles, many white. There are many deeper colors, doubles, available in the seed catalogs if you are going to grow annual poppies.
Oriental poppies (papaver oriental) are perennials, their foliage is darker green, divided, hairy, almost scritchy/uncomfortable to your hands and arms when weeding around them.
The breadseed poppies, papaver somniferum, have more of a blue-green foliage for the most part, grow quickly, bloom and set seed within a few weeks of germinating. Are you letting the seed pods ripen before taking out the plants - pods will begin to turn more tan than green, look a little dry and if you give them a shake you can hear the seeds rattle inside. It can take some patience because the whole plant is looking a little ratty by the time the seeds have matured, can be hard to leave it in the garden.
Here is a link that might be useful: 
From your photo, I'd have to say that mine have all been annuals. I do wait till the pods ripen before collecting seed--tearing off any brown, dried up leaves in the meantime. By the time I remove the plants, they're just pods on a stick, which look interesting in their own way.
Thanks for the explanation, morz. I've been wondering about this since I was given the seeds. I think I'd like some of the perennial type, too. Another item for my wish list...
I am interested, but as trillianh says, I would subscribe to a quarterly sending more so than a monthly one. Being a student, I just don't have the space (and $12+ a month can get enough paper and pencil for a month) sorry if i sound stingy, but your concept is a great one
The trees self sow for me by just allowing the seeds to lay outside in the soil over the winter. Next spring, zillions of seedlings all over the place. Let me know if you would like seedlings next spring and I can send you as many as you want. I have already gone through since early spring and pulled this year's seedlings up although there are probably a few still lurking somewhere.
There is a resin in the pods that makes the seeds a bit sticky. Try dumping the pods into a (fine)metal strainer, and rub them until they break up. Then you can turn it all out onto a paper plate or towel and pick the seeds out. I usually press my finger over several and they stick to it, then I brush them into labeled bag or envelope for saving.HTH
Thank you, noinwi. This way is much better than just rubbing them between fingers, or trying to pick each one apart.
I was working on them in the kitchen last night and spotted my little hand-held cheese grater. It turns out that's even better at removing the seed coverings. (It does tend to make the seeds fly around, though.) Then I put everything into the strainer to sift out the ones that still need to be done.
I'd do this even if I didn't want the seeds---it makes the house smell so good.
Thanks again!
They need to be moist and cold for stratification. You can put them in a bag of moist sphagnum and stick them in the fridge. Come spring time pull them out and spray with some water and close the bag back up and put it on the counter til you see spouts. Then pot them up or plant in ground. Our zones aren't far off but depending on the seeds I wouldn't leave them outside where they could freeze solid and burst. If you shed doesn't drop below feezing and stay there for 3-4 days then you should be ok. Or if the seeds were properly dried and not tropicals they should be fine even with a short freeze.
How about sowing them in winter and set them outside in the cold?
Please check out the Winter Sowing FAQ
and also Winter Sowing Forum.
It sounds weird but many people including me swear by it. We have been sowing seeds in winter and have had tremendous success. There is no indoor light setup or expenses. We use recycled containers, some good potting soil, and seeds and off we go.
ItÂs fun and easy. Your winter will never be the same again.
Please check it out.
In response to your question about the tiny brown things growing in your black pot: they look like the fruiting bodies of a type of slime mold, I regret that I've forgotten which one. They're not harmful and shouldn't bother your seedlings at all. In their mobile stage, they were probably living off bacteria and other microorganisms in your compost.
Here is a link that might be useful: Slime mold fruiting bodies
pitimpinai: I transplant the columbine already. I finally cut almost all of the leaves, it does look like sunburn. My friend grew then on shade too. I think they got sunburn from insecticidal soap I made. I've been fighting with whiteflies
from a neighbor plants :( I hate those little things....
Thank you for your help.
bitterwort: Thanks for the link :)
Natalia
Thanks everyone! When I searched "Solanum pseudocapsicum" or "Jerusalem Cherry", it appears exactly what I have. Only one problem, it is poisonous and deadly to animals, so I guess it will have to go, since I have a dog running around the yard that likes pick its own tomatoes, strawberries, and raspberries. A unique plant, but I don't need problems! Paul
Use 2/1 peat moss/perlite or vermiculite. They are cheap and for the most part sterile. I've had great germination rates with the peat/perlite mix. This year I added course sand to the mix and got even better germination and faster growth. I don't know if it was the sand or the seeds but most of the seeds were saved from last year. Mix the compost in after the first set of true leaves appear. Germination is better w/o the rich compost. Seed starting mix has no or very little nutrients.
gemfire, I've tried it, and they did OK, but not as well as in peat pellets. (My compost was fairly fresh, free of recognizable particles, but still pretty chunky, and I did not sterilize it). I think the jiffy pellets work better because they have small particles that the sprouts can easily push through. Not sure why, but they work better for me than regular peat.
Yiorges, excuse me, what? Your very rude response is not called for nor welcome on GW forums.
Kwyet1, I'm just now getting into seed harvesting myself, so I can't offer any expert, definitive answer to your question, but my thought would be to let the flower heads turn brown on the plant, then cut them and give them some time to completely dry out on a paper plate or paper towel - maybe a week? Then shake the seed heads over a sheet of paper or a small paper bag. The seeds should fall right out. Then sow them in the spring in a very fine seed-starting mix. There's a really great website that shows pictures of the seed pods, seeds and seedlings of thousands of plants that might be helpful to you. Also how and when to sow, days for germination, etc.:
http://www.theseedsite.co.uk/
Sorry I couldn't be more helpful, and as a member of GW, I apologize for the above poster's rudeness. Everyone else here is friendly and knowledgable, so hopefully someone else will respond to your question.
Pat
If your grandma's poppies were a named variety, you may not get exactly the same flowers as the plants she grew.
Oriental poppies are hardy to about Z3 so even if yours will winter in pots and not the ground, I think they should be fine. Moving the pots to semi-protected spot (up against the house, under an evergreen etc) would give them about a 1/2 zone of protection as would sinking the pots into the ground for winter but I don't think you need to be concerned in Z6.