6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
I'm not familiar with the agrilight. What type of light is it?
The standard rule of thumb is if your hand feels hot where your plants are, the lights are too close. It should feel comfortably warm. Also, with a fan, you can get the lights a little closer.
24/0 will generally get you the best vegetative growth. If you're going for flowering/fruiting, that depends on whether it's a short day/long night plant or not.
Searching for these on Google I came up with two different possibilities.
I think these are incandescent bulbs. Are they sort of bell shaped like a floodlight bulb? Do they screw into a regular fixture?
If the above is true then these are absolutely no good for growing anything despite the claims to the contrary.
The other possibility I found was the Phillips Agro light which is a HID (high intensity discharge) HPS (High Pressure Sodium) lamp. This lamp would need a special ballast and socket and would be a long skinny tube. HPS lamps are great for growing things but you should follow the rule of thumb that karenrei pointed out.
If the lamps are incandescent you should just return them. If you read around these forums, most people use tube florescent lights in $10 shop light fixtures from Home Depot or similar.
Jon
Ah, maybe, it's the transplanting shock that is affecting the growth. I don't see any signs of wilting though. I'll just wait then. I will also apply liquid fertilizer today and it's going to be their first time to have a drink of fertilizer. Hopefully, it help them.
Thanks.
Yes remove the tent and heat. When the seedlings show signs that water is needed, immerse the container half way up the sides into a bath of 50% diluted fertilizer water. When the surface shows the water presence by looking shiny take the container out of the bath. Do not water again until the surface looks dry. When the seedlings have at least one set of true leaves they may be separated into each his own pot of potting soil or planting mix. Al
You should get the bag out of the sun. You risk baking your seedlings as soon as they emerge. Keep them in the shade until they germinate. As soon as you see germination, take the bag off.
As for #3, I prefer to keep it moist the whole time during germination (the bag should do that for you). Once they germinate, however, yes, I strongly recommend only watering when the soil feels almost dry. If you keep it constantly moist, not only do you make it easier for diseases to get established, but your plants won't build as good of a root system.
Hi
I have tried a couple of years to get both the datura and the angel trumpets to germinate. This year I just got 3 lavender datura's threw winter sowing and one single white angel trumpet indoors. I will see how these grow this year. I did my ws between 12/21 and 1/6 this year and this just germinated 5/3. The one that germinated indoors i think was just luck. I only got one and I have single and double bloom seeds.
Linda
Linda
Hi Fran:
I've had pretty good luck starting brugs from seed. I just soak the seed over night in hot water, then remove the cork like outer layer, revealing the seed inside. I use soil less seed starting mix, plant, barely cover and keep moist (usually seal inside a baggie). I've used bottom heat and found that's a big help. It does take a little patience, my recent brug plantings took a month to germinate.
I will mention though, I'm using fresh seed-that may make a difference. Hope this helps! If all else fails, you can always post on the seed exchange forum that you are looking for brug cuttings...there are usually lots of friendly gardeners willing to share cuttings-and they root super easy just in water.
Wishing you the best of luck!
I just store my leftovers in a drawer. They generally seem to do fine. Older can have slower germination times, lower germination rates, or other effects (like chlorotic seed leaves). However, in general, they'll do just fine for a couple years after the purchase year.
I don't know what freezing them would do. You could try it, but I wouldn't try it with all of my seeds...
Hi again, Patsi.
:)
Yes, My Folia can seem really complicated at first. It takes a while to get the hang of it, but I do like it better than Blotanical as that site has ratings and can quickly turn into a popularity contest.
If You click My Folia, then, at the top of the page click on plants.
As you can see, on that page there is a 'search' box at the top of the page where you can type in what plant (or variety) you want to see if someone is growing.
So, if you click 'tomatoes', you can see that there are (at this particular moment), 281 different varieties being grown by My Folia's members.
And no...I have no connection to the site other than being a member and enjoying using it. ;)
I DO understand what you're looking for though - you want a list of everything everyone is growing, variety, start date, germ date, transplant date, yield, etc. - but I don't think you'll find too many people who have that kind of discipline, and it's usually associated with hand written journals. I keep one online, just to be able to look back on the year before and see if I can improve on something or give the plant better conditions, and it's much easier with labels I can click or using the 'search function rather than trying to flip through hundreds of pages of hand written notes.
Why not give My Folia a try? You might find you like it more than you thought you would, and heck - it's free. Maybe you could get hubby to put in his plants that way?
:)
Germination I think was just slow. I've got extra's of everything I want now. Just what am I going to do with 12 mini bell peppers... And I have to figure out whether to plant before or after I go on vacation in mid May.
I'm still going to buy plants next year Other than lettuce and other seeds I've already got or think might be difficult to find.
Even the year old eggplant seeds were a little slow, but are doing nicely now that they've germinated.
Alice
jessicavanderhoff "do you think the lights help the seed germinate?" Not really. I had other seedlings already growing under the 4 ft. shop lights so I just placed the seed trays under there right off. I do think it's best to have the seedlings exposed to light immediately after breaking the surface.
aliceinvirginia: It's good to here everything is going well. Try giving some seedlings away so someone else can start a garden. Every year I have too many too!
Jon