6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
What about this one from Lowes? I might buy one or two, myself!
Here is a link that might be useful: Shop light
The "bad" soil idea sounds good. Here, in Maryland, it is mainly clay, although I usually do add compost to amend it: however, I plan on planting them in a pot, so I will just use a general potting soil with no fertilizer. I will let everyone know about my hopeful success!
Thanks y'all!
Funny you mention that about training the vines back down the trellis... I have read several posts of people whose moonflowers didn't bloom until they were headed back down the trellis, and mine did that exact thing too, when I grew them for the first time last year. Maybe it's just that they are big enough at that point to start putting out blooms...? Sounds like a myth, but it can't hurt to try, right?
Amna,
One of my favorite garden moments last year was going out at dusk to watch them open (yes, they open that fast) and they smell absolutely wonderful as they unfurl.
Lori
Plant viruses usually (although not always) produce mottled, striped, mosaic, or speckled patterns. Purple leaves and yellow leaves can be a general sign of stress or of a nutrient deficiency (or, in some cases, leaf burn from too much nutrients).
* Are your plants on heat mats?
* What are your air temperatures?
* Are your plants covered?
* Are these plants indoors that you started from seeds? If so, why are you worried about thrips - have you seen thrips?
* What's your soil look like, and how have you been fertilizing?
Don't trash the plants until we figure this out. Do you have any photos?
IMHO, viruses are often "pretty diseases". They can make your plant look neat or unusual as they kill or maim it. Random examples:
The tomato spotted wilt virus:
Cucumber mosaic virus (closeup; from a distance, it looks like speckles):
Plum pox virus:
Squash leaf curl virus:
Barley yellow dwarf virus:
Etc. As a gross oversimplification, if the disease looks pretty, suspect a virus. ;)
what i wanted to know is if i put these seeds in a damp paper towel inside a ziplock bag and put them in the refrigerate would this accomplish what is needed for the seed's cold needs
Yep, that's the standard method. Check the recommended stratification temperature first, of course.
Actually I'm happy to hear that Zinnias are easy to grow. Maybe I'll just throw some seeds on the dirt in the one section of the garden when it warms up.
About pinching back... If I pinch back the stem, will it still grow from that stem OR will it just grow other stems that I should _not_ pinch back?
First year for Zinnias...
I'm also growing:
Salvia Sea Breeze
Blue Eyed Daisy
Torenia Lemon Drop (Did great last year)
Columbine Lime Sorbet
Columbine Songbird Mix
Petunia Supercascade (Red, White, Blue)
Lavendar Lacy Frills
Stock Purple Harmony
Nierembergia Mont Blanc
I realize that perhaps some of these should not be started indoors, but... I couldn't resist.
So far none of these have shown up to the party. :)
I'll go check on them soon. They are getting 16 hours of light and 8 hours of rest.
Heather
Ah Ha! you are using an aero garden. I planted mine yesterday around noon and was totally shocked to see seed roots this morning. Hope I can keep them going indoors til June 1 as that is the traditional safe first day to plant outside up here in Alaska
Thanks both. I'll try to be patient.
Gardenmaven: With keeping pots for a year or more, what is the ideal location / situation for them over the winter?
Susan: Re keeping plants in a nursery bed, when you intend to transplant away in a year or so, do the root systems spread out so that you then lose a lot of roots in digging them out? I would think that in pots, at least you know you have "the whole plant" when you move them.
I rarely wait more than the next growing season to move them, so they haven't gotten too big. And if you're generous about spacing, it shouldn't be much of an issue, or at least it hasn't been for me.
But my biggest reason for planting them all in one bed is that I tend to pay more attention to them and head off any small problems before they become big. It also gives me some time to decide *where* to plant them, since my eyes are bigger than my stomach, so to speak, when it comes to starting plants.
But, as I said, I really don't have a good situation for overwintering plants in pots, so this has worked well for me.
Good luck and enjoy!
I wouldn't recommend potting up to peat pots. They suck the water out of the soil. Seedlings want a bit more water when they're in that stage. I would get some 16 oz plastic cups (semi-clear so you can see the roots). Poke a few good sized holes in the bottom of the cups, fill with your preferred tomato potting mixture. Transplant into the cups, covering the pellet with about an inch or so of soil, making sure to break up the peat pellets as much as possible without disturbing the roots (I start from the ouside & work my way in towards the stem, using a micro-screwdriver). Then, probably spray with some diluted fertilizer to help with the transplant shock, water & wait a week or so for them to re-root and they should start taking off again. =) That's my personal method & has resulted in some very nice tomato plants for me this year.
- Steve
Yes, keep them covered until they sprout, then remove the cover so they don't rot. Once they sprout, at those temperatures, I'd move them outside. Lettuces are generally fairly cold hardy and very light needy. Let them enjoy that sunlight once they come up. :)
Sand = 5 parts sand
Loam = 2 parts sand, 2 parts silt, 1 part clay. Probably the best approximation of silt you'll find is something like composted manure plus fertilizer (silt is a mix of organic and inorganic matter with a particle size between that of clay and sand).
Net equation for 50/50 sand/loam mix: 70% sand, 20% composted manure + 10% clay + fertilizer
Yiorges's version is probably close enough. It'll be a little lighter than the tree prefers, but that shouldn't be a problem; always better to err on the side of too light rather than too dense. :)
Sure the 8 oz. foam coffee cups works very well. Just be sure to poke holes in the bottoms of them and a couple near the bottom on the sides too for drainage. And then just write the name right on the cup.
If you needed bigger containers later on for some reason you can go to the 12 or 16 oz. plastic drink cups. Some even use the paper Dixie bathroom cups for small things and there is always newspaper pots too.
On the multiple seeds in each cell bit - any extras that do sprout can either be transplanted out or just snipped off with small scissors if you don't want the extras.
I don't think adding the extra vermiculite will hurt anything. Just extra $$. We grow many things in the greenhouse in straight vermiculite. But you will have to feed them once they develop true leaves. No nutrients in the FM mix or in the vermiculite. Use a 1/4 strength diluted mix of any good liquid fert.
And yes, definitely wet your soil well before planting. ;)
Dave
I've had pretty good luck using a long pointy bamboo skewer (the BBQ ones) to loosen the dirt around each seedling and lifting up the dirt a bit before pulling on the leaves. I then use the skewer to "dig out" a new hole for it and use the skewer again to guide the long root into place.
I have to do this to my lobelia, and that is going to require more precision than brain surgery!!
I've got a few (w.s) gal. milk jugs of petunias that are a few weeks away from transplanting. I too do not want to lose any plants. I've transplanted (w.s) snapdragons and clarkia so far but I am finding it hard to get the plants out in a nice clump. In trying to gently pull the clump away from the others I always seem to kill several babies in the process. : ( Should I just try to cut the plastic away from the plants first before taking the plants out?
karenrei,
you sound like you've got this transplanting thing down pretty well.
I've been using a weeder tool to pull small clumps out. Baby plants have grown pretty much right on top of each other so taking one at a time is pretty impossible.
I don't have chopsticks or bamboo skewer... what else might work?
Most milkweeds need cold-moist stratification, so refrigerator alone is unlikely to lead to germination. I'm no expert, but there are lots of links on Google about how to do it properly.
Not all ascleplias have the same germination requirements and butterfly weed can refer to more than one, if you have asclepias tuberosa -
Sow at 39F for 4 weeks moist, move to 68F for germination