6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
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.
Do you have fungus gnats flying around? Could be the larvae from the fungus gnats?
I've had the same problem with a couple of my seeds that were kept too wet and the seeds rotted.
My solution is to make the soil medium drain better and not hold as much moisture - by adding things like perlite, turface, bark, etc...
Water only when the soil is almost dry throughout not just when the top of the soil is dry. One way to check soil (or soil-less) moisture is by weight; completely water a pot filled with your soil and pick it up to note it's heft. As the pot dries pick it up every so often until it is completely dry.
As for the white stuff, it should go away if you maintain a much less moist environment.
Great news! They are all growing! I went out today and I'd say I've got at least 80% of the plants sprouted up with two leaves, probably more. And that's even despite snow flurries this week. Phew!
Here they are:
From Garden 2009
yea they are calif. wonders
i will load a picture as soon as i get a chance... i have to go out and get a new disk to chop up my field, i just broke my old one and need to get a new one b4 the rain comes back. thanks for the reply i will try to get a picture up as soon as i get back
I found a discussion of purple leaves on the vegetable forum: "Purpling of leaves is perfectly normal in young seedlings that are stressed for some reason and if you search 'purple leaves' in the vegetable forum you'll find numerous discussions about it. It poses no threat to the plant and goes away once the stress is removed. For most of us part of that stress is too cool air temps this time of year added to the stress of just trying to grow. ;)"
Oh boy, I just went though this. You can get smaller lights, but they may not be strong enough. Everyone here suggests 40 watt, and it is nearly impossible to find any under 48" long that are 40 watts. The ones they have at Lowe's & Home Depot are only 20 watts. I asked at Lowe's and they told me that it isn't possible to make a 40 watt bulb that small.
I'm not sure that's entirely true, b/c I did see some on the GE website, but everywhere I called locally didn't have them. I even called specialty fish aquarium stores, because that's what this type of bulb is made for. Even they didn't carry any. The two websites I found online that had them had to special order them so it would take several weeks to get them. Plus, they are pretty expensive - the bulb itself plus special shipping since it is breakable.
Right now, I have the 24" fixture from Lowe's with 2 20 watt bulbs in it. My seedlings are doing ok, but not the best. You have to keep the lights directly on top of the seedlings (just not touching them), and if the pots stick out from the sides of the light, the seedlings will get leggy.
Some others here suggested getting 2 24" fixtures, so you have 4 bulbs, and that can increase your growing space. I haven't tried that yet because I really don't want to spend another $40, so I only have 25 tiny cells under the lights.
Hope that helps. Good luck!
I was toying around with my seedlings today and wondered: Can I mount cheapie screw-in sockets to a board and use a series of the screw in flourescent bulbs?
Are the screw in bulbs the same as the tubes? This sems like a reasonable alterative if it will work.... expecially since I have a load of the screw in flourescents on hand already.
Thoughts?
I'm not a peat pot user, but I generally transplant whenever I stop seeing steady growth or any signs of stress in the seedlings. Sometimes that is straight into the ground, sometimes into a larger container, depending on whether I feel the seedling is strong enough to make it in the garden. Also, peat contains very little (if any) nutrients, so once a seedling stops feeding off its germplasm
I can't help with the chard, but I know from experience that melons like some nitrogen before too long.
I haven't grown melons before but am waiting to start my own - my source (Square Foot Gardening) suggests starting them only a week or two before planting out because they don't transplant well.
As for chard, you're beating me out there - none of mine even germinated indoors! Last year we sowed directly outside and they did fine. I am planning just to start some outside within a few days. Also, my source says to water them weekly but if they're dry before that maybe your way is fine.
Good luck!
Regina
No seedling tolerates over-watering for long. But due to different root structures, the results just show up sooner in some seedlings than it does with others. ;)
Most over-water their seedlings even when they think they don't. So if you think you have over-watered, the odds are you are right.
Dave
I'm having a parallel experience. My nightshades are strong and happy but my brassicas and lettuces are leggy, small, weak and not growing. I too think I've overwatered the whole crop (the surface of many cells has a white dusty covering - fungus/mold? they're growing in a "seeding mix" of peat moss, perlite, limestone and some sort of wetting agent) and I've not watered them for days and days but the "soil" still hasn't dried out.
Will the plants be able to recover from this overwatering? Should I help them inside for a little while first or just get them outside ASAP for best outcome?
Do I need to transplant the tomatoes/etc. inside, because of that dust on their soil?
Thank you so much for your help!
Regina
