6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
I've had almost all of my melon seeds germinate, and they're usually quicker than any other kinds of seeds for me (2-3 days), but I also put them on top of a heating pad. I think seeds take longer to sprout without bottom heat, so they could take a week or two if that's the case. I've also heard that older seed can take longer, but don't have personal experience with tihs. I'd probably give up after two or three weeks. I heartily recommend jiffy pellets for seed starting!
In my experience, melons and squash vary a *lot* in their germination time. With a flat of tomatoes, brassicas, lettuce, etc, once one pokes up, the others will usually all be poking up with in a couple days. Not so with melons and squash. My first plant up was a pumpkin. My next pumpkin didn't come up until a week and a half later. Same sort of thing with my muskmelons, watermelons, odessa squash, etc.
I wouldn't worry too much about it. IMHO, I find pumpkins and squash very rewarding as seedlings, because once they get going, all that stored energy really helps them take off fast.
I'm new at this and have started zinna seeds indoor and they are getting leggy and somewhat droopy. I feel it is too early to plant outside. Any help on what to do now? Do I transplant to another pot or directly outdoors in another week or so?
Thanks for all your help
"I'm new at this and have started zinna seeds indoor and they are getting leggy and somewhat droopy. "
"Leggy" virtually always is the way for a plant to say, "I want liiiiiight! Pleeeeease give me more liiiiight!!!!" It's their natural response to seeing shade in the wild: if they're shaded, that means there are other plants growing around them, so they don't need to worry about being strong, but they do need to get as tall as they can, as fast as they can.
Get them light ASAP. Got any blue LED christmas lights? Those are perfect, but you need a lot of them (a 100-LED string every square foot or so... less if you have a good reflector, but you'll still need a lot). White isn't bad either. Avoid red unless you have a good alternative source of blue light to supplement it. If you want a setup that you can do "cheap, easy, and local", fluorescents are your choice. For especially cheap and easy, go with CFLs. If you want to go large scale and don't have the upfront capital for a massive LED setup, metal halides are your best call, preferably with an electronic ballast. They really pour out the light and have a fairly good blue component. LEDs and fluorescent should be no more than a couple inches away from your plants, and packed in close together (unless you have a very good reflector setup). MH should be far enough away that the light feels just a little warm on your hands; you don't want to burn your plants. With fluorescent and MH (especially the latter), make sure you have enough ventilation.
As for bringing them outdoors, that depends on your weather. Whatever you do, don't rush it too much! The last thing you want is them dying of an unexpected late frost in the middle of the night. Also, with leggy plants, it's especially important to be gentle when acclimatizing them to the outdoors -- start with short periods of exposure and/or being kept out of direct sun.
Many native plants will have much better germination rates when temperatures fluctuate as it does in nature. Those plants I prefer to grow out of the greenhouse, subject to daily temperature changes and rain. I keep then covered with 1/4 inch hardware cloth for bird and other critter protection. Al
Low germ on Statice doesn't surprise me. Seed is notorious for not storing well - GENERALLY fresh seed is better with Statice. That said, we just did a germ test on some statice from a vendor that was 9 years old - and it had a germ of 88%. You may have just purchased the seed, but who knows how long it sat on your sources shelf. I would ask for credit on the marigolds and statice.
I agree with Californian. I did my marigolds in pots last year for that very reason, and it worked out quite well. My mistake last year was actually with what the marigolds were acting as a border for: I wanted some "wildflowers", so I did direct sowing of a wildflower seed mix... but didn't realize that some of the wildflowers would get 8 feet tall! I hope they didn't shade out my apple tree and blackberries.
I always started my munstead lavender in mid march and planted them in the garden memorial day weekend. The first year they don't do A LOT, but maybe throw up a few flower stalks. The 2nd year they go nuts. Then I wonder why I keep starting so much lavender.
I haven't had much luck with lavender starting indoors. However, by wintersowing them, I got nearly every seed to germinate. If you're not familiar with the method, there's a forum here for it.
Nearly all my ornamentals are being done this way. I currently have about 200 kinds of plants in the yard. Some have already been planted out.
I was going by some instructions from this lady who has grown them for years, she says 68 F is the best temp. and I believe she means air temp. No, I do not think I soaked them at all. I do not have a heating mat or anything and am not sure if we are going to get the fire going again in our basement where the growing lights are. I will have to search around the house for a warmer place perhaps. Thanks for your help!
It's a funny thing about germination. I have some seeds germinating, and I made sure they were damp and in the sun. Several sprouted. I was thrilled! They were NOT covered with saran wrap or anything! Just seeds sprouting.
Then, I went golfing. A warm, dry wind came up. I came home to sad little seedlings. I mean, really sad!! So, I brought them in away from the dry wind, doused them with water, and went to bed.
In the morning all of them were perky and happy!! I think as long as the root is alive, they will do their best to survive!!
Good luck to you!!
Suzi
I started seeds indoors and they are emerging but they are leggy and falling over or the top of the seedling is dying but the stem is still there. What am I doing wrong? I started them in trays with soil specifically for seeds.
Light, light, light! Especially the blue spectrum, which encourages stocky, leafy growth. Our eyes sense light roughly logarithmically, so the outside doesn't look *that* much brighter than indoors, but in terms of absolute energy coming down, it's orders of magnitude more outdoors than indoors. If using fluorescents or LEDs, pack them in as closely as you can over the plants, no more than a few inches away. If using HID, keep them just far enough away from your plants that the light feels slightly warm on your hands. To amplify your light to cut down on your power bill, surround your grow chamber with white or reflective material. Get the bluest light you can for seedling starting -- that means a high "kelvin temperature". If kelvin temperature isn't listed, go for "daylight" or "cool" bulbs, not "warm" bulbs.
Best of luck!
do NOT cover seed as light REQUIRED for germination. as for soil temp I fave he soil temp at 21C (70F) it worked for me....... germination was irregular.
Okay! I did not cover the seed, but I have them in the dark in our basement because that's the only place around here that stays a pretty even 50 which is what I heard is the best germ. temperature for these flowers. But I will put them under the lights in our other basement which stays about 70 - 75 and see what happens. Thanks!