6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed

My experience is to thin them sooner rather than later, I've had good luck for a few years doing it. All my Kale that has been transplanted and survived but lost a few due to overseeding, it happens. I use a spoon and slide it an inch away parallel to the tap root and dig 2" past the length of the plant itself, it should lift out with a little help of your finger, have the hole in the new pot ready thats deeper than the lenght of the root. Then just place the seedling in its hole and slide the spoon out. Trial and error will teach a lot but a hint cant hurt. I would do this when the plant is like 3-4" tall, or when it has set its true leaves. The roots will bind quickly so its better sooner than later, I separated mine when they were just sprouting, about 2"-3" tall, I'd say its safe then for the broccoli.

Thanks for the advice greenthumb..I think I will try a couple tomorrow and see how it goes..

Petzold6596 & Dave-

Thank you very much. I don't have a particular seed in mind.

I started to catalog my seeds this year and just wanted to be sure. As to not save seed of an undesirable offspring.....:)

Also, Thanks for the info on the corn Dave. I did not know that all corn are hybrid.

Have a great night all and thanks again for the help.

Yea, corn cross pollinates easily due to large fields.

I visted the local Meijers and they had a great selection. They even had some less common local store varieties like lemon cucumbers, and red cabbage. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised!

I still can't find any parsnip seed around here. :(

I stopped at the local Dollar Tree yesterday and was amazed at the seed display they had and the best part was they were 10 for $1.00 :>) They had a nice variety of flowers and veggies... So if you can get to a $ Tree store it will be worth it, I promise, I grew alot of there seeds last year and they did very well.
Christine

Yay!!!

To help maintain soil temp., water with warm tap water not cold tap water.

I'm way new at this, obviously. It never occured to me I might have to pot-up my starts. I used peat pellets for all my starts, lettuce, thyme, chives, onions, brussels sprouts are up so far. Assuming my last frost date is toward the end of April, I should be planting the lettuce in March, will I have to pot them up? How do I know that I need to?

If it becomes rootbound then it it should be transplanted. If you can spare 2 weeks then yes move to a larger pot, if not leave them be. Timing is everything if the roots don't become bound in time for final transplant then the roots can become too damages to repair themselves. Trial and error is the best because each plant grows at a different rate. One time for a slow growing plant can be different .

spinach is one culture that should be direct sown.

almost 50% of the trays sprouted now its like 1.5 weeks later. I will direct sow them but the majority of seeds came up when I moved them to a room with an avg. temp of 40 degrees
Thanx

I have never had any issues with those companies or individuals that send seeds via the USPS. I wish more companies would use them so that their shipping rates wouldn't be so outrageous. Maybe people would be more willing to order items if the shipping was cheaper which would benefit both the consumer and the companies trying to sell their wares.

homemommy,

i logged in just to back u up. there is far more expense to maintain a retail outlet than a mailorder warehouse. high shipping prices are just another way to boost income.

whens the last time u saw a mailorder house in a shopping mall,strip mall, downtown etc.

all of what u said is so true.

i bet dollars to donuts it's cheaper to ship products than maintain a retail outlet. actual shipping rates should be all that is charged.

wildlifeman

Hi - I am in Ontario too and just curious to know which varieties you are growing. If you have seedlings in February - that is very interesting. Ususally I grow zinnia, petunias, basil, marigold etc but I dont start till mid -march.

Do your plants get leggy or do they just do find till it is planting time which I believe is May for us.

Yes, may is planting time ;-)

What do I have growing...hmmm...

I started at the very end of Jan or 1st of Feb some geraniums and crazy daisys, ornamental peppers, dalhias and zinnias. I should not have started the zinnias or dalhias, just got too excited! But, the other three are all very very slow growing! They need to be started around then. I put them under shop lights, so they are all doing ok, surprisingly even the zinnias and dalhias. Out of three full seed trays (72 plants each) I have only lost 5 plants.

I have since then, about a week ago started a flat of various types of rudbekia. One is Prarie Sun, beautiful yellow flower with a green centre. Another is a type of double, and I also planted a type that has these beautiful oversized flowers and rusty centres. Two of the three varieties are short lived perennials.

This last weekend, I have started marigolds and coleus. I also planted a really neat type of coneflower. it has petals on top of the centre cone. I put those in the fridge though and they will stay there for four weeks to stratify, so they won`t come out until April.

I am hoping that by April, I can move them out to a cold frame.

Now I have learned about it, I am planning on winter sowing a whole bunch of other seeds. I just got a stand off freecycle. I am thinking of trying some extra coneflower and crazy daisy and rudbekia seeds. (I just can`t get enough of those plants, although many likely won`t flower until next year. I have some purple basil, and forget me nots, and a burgandy blanket flower that I am also thinking about winter sowing, or starting in the cold frame.

I also have some green envy Zinnias that will be directly sown in the spring.

I have probably spent over a $100.00 so far on seed. I am not sure if I spent it wisely, but I have a lot of varieties that are not the common ones, and cost a little bit more. I figure though, I will get about 500 plants out of it by the end, so, by the time you add up the cost of the other supplies to grow them, perhaps it will work out to 75 cents a plant. Even if some don`t bloom until next year, that is still a pretty good value considering they can cost $7-14 at a nursery!

I am really interested in seeing how the winter sowing thing goes. It will open up the door wide on what I can start next year. There is only so much you can grow in the house!

So, what are you planning on growing...

I also a newbie gardener, so this site help me a lot

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardening Seeds

memphistigerlily: Go to the Wintersowing Forum--quick! Almost everything you have listed can be WS'd now except the MG's and Moonflower (not sure about the Hummer vine). You will love the forum and the whole process makes it so much easier for newbies to gardening.

Prof