6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
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?
I'm in 5a (just barely), and rosemary is not a perrenial around here. I haven't found a variety that will survive our winters yet. So, if you're in the same boat out there in Chicago, it doesn't really matter when you start it, because you'll have to keep it indoors over the winter either way. Rosemary is a slow grower; you won't get much out of it if you treat it like an annual.
Now, if you were in a warmer climate, it'd be a different story entirely. In Dallas, rosemary can grow like hedges. I have a friend who used to have a house that had giant, ancient rosemary bushes as a decoration. But you're in Chicago, only half a zone warmer than me, so... I don't know if you'll be able to keep them outside year-round, even with a hardy cultivar.
Plus they do not have much culinary use.
Whaaa? Are you kidding? Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs! Potatoes pan-fried with butter and rosemary, rosemary mashed potatoes, rosemary in soups (like my broccoli-cheese-potato-carrot stew, or a hearty vegetable stew, or even minestrone), rosemary in tomato sauces, etc -- the list goes on and on. Rosemary gives a great "rustic" or "savory" flavor to dishes.
Most of what you describe is a fungal infection.... a drop of water stays on the leaf. then fungus thrived & .....
BUT some small part of the problem may be not enough light. hence yellowing. and poor air circulation hence the drops of water remain on the leaf for a extended period.
IF you have some green leaves then remove the yellow diseased leafs. SO
Aaarrrggghhh! Sounds like Beowulf or some such!!
Naw, but Miss Taylor seemed and looked really really olde way back then. I swear I am bald today because she slapped me upside the back of the head at least once a day. ;)
Dave
Connie,
I start all of my seedlings in a soil-less mix of one kind or another. I water them with a weak water-soluble urea-free nutrient mix. It is rather important to use a urea free formula because soil-less mixes don't contain the microbes that are necessary to convert urea to usable nitrate or ammonium ions. One good brand of urea-free formulas are the Better-Gro formulas, Better-Gro Orchid Plus and Better-Gro Orchid Bloom Booster, which you can find at Lowes and some garden centers, as well as several online vendors. For tender seedlings dilute soluble nutrients to ¼ teaspoon per gallon, but for many seedlings ½ teaspoon per gallon is a good dilution. If you plan to grow your plants fairly large in soil-less mixes (as I do) you will need to add some soluble calcium. I use calcium nitrate, which is inexpensive. I also supplement with dilute magnesium sulfate (Epsom salts) for a little extra magnesium and the sulfur is required for healthy plant growth. By using the right soluble nutrients, your soil-less mix can grow plants very well.
ZM
Odd... I thought I already responded to this post, but I guess not.
QUESTION: The soil less seed starter mix has no nutrients. The seedlings are growing their 2nd sets of true leaves...but how long can they stay in the soilless mix?
Seedlings initially grow off what is contained in their seed leaves, and so have very minimal requirements from their environment except light, water, and something to hold onto (and initially, even the light requirement is more for hormonal issues than anything else). However, since yours are already to the point where they have two sets of true leaves, yes, they're going to need to be getting nutrients from their environment.
Now, you can go about this two ways. One, you could transplant into a more nutrient-rich soil. Or two, you could keep them in the mix and just fertilize. The latter case is actually a simple form of hydroponics called static culture. :)
And how long do they have to stay under the lights?
I'm in Door County, WI. and will have 6 or more weeks to go before no frost danger.
They need to stay under the lights until they go outside. Sorry!
And I'm not sure if it's SIZE or WEATHER that will tell me when to move them out.
Will the plants even survive if they stay in soil-less, under florescent lights that long?
Weather. Don't put your plants outside in weather that they can't handle, and be sure to harden them off first! And yes, plants can grow under lights indefinitely... assuming you give them sufficient space and light!
**What do any of you experienced people think of this idea:Instead of just soil less starter to begin...Mix 3/4 sterilized potting soil and 1/4 soil less starting mix. Moisten and use this combination to start seeds?
I start my seeds without soilless mix at all. I make a soil out of a mixture of peat and compost, with a small amount of time-release fertilizer, and optionally, depending on the needs of the particular plant, sand, perlite, or vermiculite. A base of peat plus compost is great at retaining nutrients, does pretty well with retaining moisture, and is pretty airy. I'm very pleased with the results I get out of it. The only time I transplant before putting things outside is when I have too many seedlings in a pot.
I've grown and transplanted every plant mentioned in the original post for years--no problems. I've transplanted onions with no trouble, too, but haven't ever tried the other root vegetables. I can't think of any veggies I've grown that didn't transplant well.
If they can transplant heaRts, you can transplant any vegetable. But then again, not evry medical doctor can do heart transsplant. So it takes know how and pracice and extra care.
I have bought cucumbers many time in those little 4 or 6 packs. In ecah pocKet if I had 4 PLANTS, I would separate then into 2 time two and plant each 2 separately and they will grow.
What I do is soak those plants real good for about 30 minuts. They will eat and drink as mucH as they can. Now they are full. Take them out, pour more water on them if necessay , loosen them up separate them And plant them
AND, WATER THEM RIGHTAWAY, GENTLY THOUROUGHLY, PACK FINE MOIST SOIL AROUND THEM, WATER THEM, FILL SOIL UP YO THEIR SEED LEAVE.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
In zone 7, early April, it is not too late in general.
Also it would depend on the seeds and plant type.
For example, you could have started with parsley, chives,
corianders, lettuce two months ago. Because once they grew a little bit you coull plant them in the garde and not to worry about frosat or cold. But what good it would have been to grow peppers, tomatoes, basils so early? You could not take them out before mid May(in zones 6,7)
Besides, when the weather cold and you plant those warm crops outside they are not going to grow any bigger any time soon. So the plants started a month later but put outside when it is really warme will catch up real fast. The difference won't ba a month , maybe just a week.
This sounds like a good idea. How do you know how long to soak the seeds?
I wonder how well it would work to lay the seeds sparsely on paper towels...or coffee filter paper. Then get the paper very wet. after the allotted time let paper dry enough to handle gently and cut the paper with the sprouted seed on it into small pieces and plant it right into the starter mix?
You dont need to soak very small seeds, because they will get wet in the moist soil quicly. They have a big surfact-to-volume ratio. But I soak bigger hard shelled seed fo a day or two; those are melons(cucurbitas), beans, peas, nasturtiums, 4-Ocklocks, cilantros, onion sets, some spring bulbs, tubors, rhizmuses, ...
sometimes I soak pepper seeds too,but they don't get clumped.
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. :)