6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
Your low germination rate is likely coming from the dry storage. Several weeks of moist cold should have improved germination.
Lindera benzoin:
"Seed Collection: Collect seeds in late summer through October when the fruit has turned red. Seeds must be cleaned before storing. Store seeds in moist sand or sow immediately. Seeds allowed to dry out lose viability.
Seed Treatment: Stratify for 90-120 days at 41 degrees. "
Adding definition of stratify - period of moist cold condition. The process of pretreating seeds to simulate natural winter conditions that a seed must endure before germination. Many seed species undergo an embryonic dormancy phase, and generally will not sprout until this dormancy is broken. The time taken to stratify seeds depends on species and conditions
This post was edited by morz8 on Sun, May 25, 14 at 9:56
Basil bottom right...
The others are too early to tell. Give it a week when they start to show their true selves.
Top two might be the broccoli....
Not sure where you are as you did not add your zone...
but arugula can go right into the ground where you want it.
...if you still have seeds.
This post was edited by sleevendog on Fri, May 23, 14 at 11:58
Jada, no you cannot mulch over sown seeds. One of the benefits to mulching is it will prevent the germination of weed seeds that are present, but it will prevent the germination of any seed including those you want to grow.
One common reason for failure to germinate is sowing seed too deeply. Your mulch would add to that depth.
Those seedlings will need to find sunlight shortly after germination, or they die. The struggle through mulch can be deadly if they run out of energy before exposed to sunlight, their only source of energy upon germination.
And there are some species of plants that have seeds which need sunlight in order to initiate germination. It will be your job to do a little bit of time researching each of the varieties you intend to plant.
mori1, I'm guessing we've been dealing with some very similar weather.... ;)
I removed the Agribon today.......... Let's hope we can get on with spring now.....
My tomatoes, peppers, & melon (transplants) all look terrible even though they were covered! I've lost several sweet pepper plants in spite of my best efforts.....
Does gardening have to be this difficult?
>> Is this normal?
Not really, but the peat pellets don't do much beyond the germination thing which is really all they're designed to do. At this size they should be getting some nutrition beyond the trivial amount in the peat. I'd say to either fertilize the peat or, preferably, put them in the ground or cups or pots right away, pellet and all.
Ah! My favorite topic. I strongly believe that messing with roots on annuals you've just started (in other words this ain't trees in pots) is a mistake, so I never mess with the integrity of peat pellets. There is nothing about them that will harm or hinder a seedling that's sending out roots into another medium. There isn't a root (nature's mighty hydraulic machine) growing on this green earth that will be slowed down in the slightest by that nylon mesh. When you pull the plant later the pellet will probably be completely intact but surrounded by roots that are ignoring it.
That said, many people play with their little roots a lot and it works out just fine, but those guys are experts in all that. They know what kills and what encourages. I would never recommend stripping the pellets, but for you this is an opportunity to see which way works best with the way you do things.
There are two main limitations of peat pellets that you should remember. One is that they drain so easily that they can dry out too easily, but being surrounded by a transitional medium in the Dixie cups negates that. Secondly they have low nutritional value, so a transplant into something once the roots start reaching out is usually a good idea.
you can take two paper towels and put them on a plate. Wet the towels so that it has a skim of water over it. spread the seeds on this. put one paper towel over the seeds and if necessary add water to create the skim. you can set this in a window with sun. It will dry out quicker than you think so make sure you watch closely. Wet to replace skim of water. Once you see some of the seeds start to open reduce water to just dampen the towels. Plant when seeds are all sprouted. Good luck.
I always preferred to grind a bit with a Dremellike tool. Some nail files were good.
As for germination on paper towels, some say use the brown ones if you plan to remove and plant the seed after germination as the root hairs are supposed to be less disturbed by removal from the towel.
Being under lights I had to keep up with watering daily since the soil dried quickly.
Watering daily? Sorry but even smaller containers than the cups you are using and even under lights, daily watering is very uncommon. Maybe every 2 days. The soil may appear dry on the surface but it isn't dry down at the root level. It is better to go by the appearance of the plants - any drooping leaves, any loss of turgidity in the stems - than by the soil appearance.
Most inexperienced growers are way over-watering, even when they are convinced they aren't and stunted root development results.
So maybe they want more food.
What food have you given them and how often? A diluted solution of a well balanced fertilizer weekly is the common recommendation. But given the poor root development I would mak it any stronger than 1/4 normal strength.
Are there drain holes in your cups? There should be and if so then bottom watering is always better than top watering.
Dave
Dude.... the soil comes dry to a crisp under lights with a small amount of soil. It requires most times daily watering and YES... plenty of holes for drainage and there's a little bit of water in the pans for them to soak some water up.
I haven't use any food for the starters... I used decent potting soil.... never been a problem with anything else but these I mentioned above... and mint is hard to grow period in pots.
I SLOWLY introduced them to light... started with shade in the evening.. 20 minutes each for several days... brought back to lamps.... introduced more sun... quit growing. I've followed the rules by professionals... done so same with many other types of plants and not a problem.
Has anyone experienced what is happening here???? I surely can't be the only one. I don't know if my thread got in the right Colum.
I'm not convinced about the idea of ground cover around vegetables. They do not want competition - that's why we weed between them - and a mulch would be much better for them. As for the rest of the question - if you decide which plants you'd like you can then look them up to see if they are easy from seed. Ground cover isn't really a term I find useful as it applies merely to the function of a plant and says nothing about its botany or growing requirements.
In the case of perennials why not just grow more of them closer together - they don't need specific 'ground cover' - they can do the job themselves.
A living mulch is pretty common but they do often compete with the crop. I've tried clover and rye before.
Clover works very well but your veggies need to be well established first for best results and your soil needs to be as weed free as possible. Clover sprouts quickly direct seeded.
Not sure the brand of straw i have access to but it is gorgeous. Finely chopped, beautiful texture and a pale bright yellow. Pretty much my go-to mulch for herbs and veggies, and others like basil and greens i plant thick enough to not need a mulch but will side dress/mulch with a pro-mix during the grow season.
You could initially use a pro-mix as a mulch, then try direct seeding some clover thickly on the leading edge, maybe a foot around the bed....but just trying to visualize what your garden even looks like....or what veggies you are speaking of. Some need space to produce well, so competition from other plantings between means less production of crop.
Something fast growing and trailing that has one main root structure may work in some cases, like the sweet potato vines or trailing nasturtiums. Re-routing the growth back into the bed if they escape. I've used them in my brussel sprouts/broccoli/cauliflowers bed before to perk up how dull those plants look most of the early summer.
I have a corn area about 20x20 that did well with clover a couple years. Now will be a pumpkin/winter squash bed this year. (covered and not used last year). I've considered a living mulch, but a thick newspaper border covered with a bale of hay works so well and needs less tending and provides a soft surface off the ground for the crop to rest and ripen nice and dry during rainy weather...
Google 'living mulch'. Someone may have good ideas and successful companion planting advice more current... since i first read of it years ago, my ideas and use may be outdated....