6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
I usually soak the seeds in water overnight and then nick the pointed ends with a nail clipper before planting. They pretty much all germinate the next day or so, as long as I keep the soil moist.
My brother-in-law lives in LA, and his morning glory has taken over his pergola and back wall, so if you really love 'em that much, I'd plant them. Otherwise, they are quite invasive in your zone. I recommend planting them in a big pot with a trellis and then cutting off the spent blooms before they get a chance to reseed themselves everywhere!
Have you considered convolvulus? They are dwarf morning glories that aren't as invasive or as large, maybe a couple of feet tall. Good luck with the plant and the rabbit!
I just soak them overnight. I don't bother nicking the seed coat. I plant them in seed trays and transplant after they get a couple sets of leaves which doesn't take long. Some seeds will sprout a day after planting and pretty much all are up within 4 days. If you need anymore MG seeds I have plenty.
Cayenne = heat
No. Peppers create no physical heat. The sensation of heat is due to the chemical capsaicin, which bonds to a receptor site in mammals called Vanilloid Recepter Subtype 1, or VR1. It's the same receptor that is activated by heat. Only mammals have the receptor VR1, so this effect doesn't occur in other animals (for example, my parrot loves devouring peppers that would make even the hardiest spicy food nut cringe), and there is never any physical heat created. It's just a sensory illusion.
Just make sure you sow them in a warm spot as pepper seeds need heat to germinate, about 80 degrees is good. Maybe use some type of hot cap or mini greenhouse until they sprout. Check out the FAQ's at the hot pepper forum for more info. I hope they grow well for you.
Half the flowers mentioned - the Cosmos,Bachelor buttons,Clarkia, Lupine and Nasturtiums - are ones I've grown in CA in unamended soil, but can be slow to start. I don't think more fertilizer is the answer, but tilth can be important. I just keep working more and more organic matter in over time. I do think that most lupines and clarkia have to get a quick start in spring and are best for winter sowing in place.
Hi - This is my first year growing luffas. I used the baggie method of germinating seeds and I successfully germinated all of the luffa seeds in about 8 days. I am hardening them off as we speak. You may want to try that method it is super quick and easy! I am germinating more luffa seeds today. In fact, the majority of my seedlings this year were germinated in baggies.
A couple of baggies, some paper towel or coffee filters, a little water, and a week and you should be in business. Best wishes.
LC
Hi Steve. We are in Ashland City (Cheatham County) and hope to be open to the public at large very soon. We purchased our farm in October and between the rain and the certification process, we are WAY behind schedule. But we do have some wonderful medicinal babies coming up quite nicely! :)
Many Blessings!
Tracy
It's too hot in the summer for the Himalayan Blue Poppies to do well here so I finally gave up. Our summers can be in the upper 90's with 90% humidity for weeks at a time. As for the others I'd just direct sow and see how they do. They don't like to be transplanted and don't need any pre-treatment to sprout. You don't have anything to lose by trying.
libael, you did kind of get left behind in this thread. While you may have a chance with some of the annual type poppies, you also might want to consider the climate of origin of some of your seeds - mountains of Turkey for the oriental poppies, normally thought to do best in US zones 3-8 where they go late summer dormant, then return with the arrival of cooler temps and Fall rains.
I'm not sure why we yearn to grow things that don't do well in our own zones, but somehow those out-of-reach plants can be what we covet the most...then can take the failures as a reflection of our gardening talents :) I'd love to be able to grow bouganvalia, citrus outdoors, or the orchids you mention but I'm old enough to know now I'd just be sending myself down the road to dissapointment and frustration.
I know little about Costa Rica but a quick web search shows many, many botanical and public gardens so apparently there's a strong gardening interest there. I also don't know how conveniently you are located to any of these beautiful displays, but if you have the chance, a visit with notepad in pocket might really open doors for you in growing some remarkable plants those of us in temperate climates couldn't attempt....Just a thought :)
Lupine grows from seed, and can be bought at almost any store that sells flower seeds. And yes, it's a beautiful plant. :) I love the leaves.
That'd need to be a reasonably big bird to swallow lupine seeds whole. They're the size of pebbles. In fact, they even look like smooth river pebbles -- even the seeds are pretty ;) Oh, and in some varieties, the seeds are edible.
If you have any plastic bottles (soda, water juice) you can take off cap, cut off the bottom and stick in ground over direct sown seed. Open top lets in rain. If it's too hot/sunny and you don't have time to check every day for germination you can put vents up near open bottle top. Just be careful to remove bottles from over germinated seedlings or they could fry in sun/heat.
Deer chewed up some bottles but can keep seeds safe from diggers and seed eating birds.
oleander - nerium: Surface sow or barely cover, some light may be beneficial to germination. Keep moist, 70-75F, germination in approx 30-90 days.
Bottlebrush - callistemon: Surface sow 55-65F for germination in 14-60 days.
(Druse, Making More Plants)