6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
I found this link helpful: http://www.sunflowerselections.com/how-to-grow-ornamental-sunflowers/
Maybe, in approx 5 - 7 years. If you can provide the right culture. Many commercial trees are grown as grafted plants, so don't expect the fruit will be identical to the fruit you ate, it may not come true.
need other avocado trees that release or accept pollen at the same time of day as well as pollen-carrying bees to reliably produce fruit - not self-pollinating
full sun in well-drained garden soil with a pH of 6.0 to 6.5
plenty of water for these shallow rooted trees
frost-free climate
The idea of a nursery bed is a good one. I have a nursery bed in my vegetable garden. The reason sea lavender does not like to be transplanted is that the roots are long and easily damaged. Plant it in a cheap pot with good drainage and enough room for the roots and sink the pot up to 1/2 an inch from the top into the ground of your nursery bed and leave it until next spring. When the soil is warm enough to plant dig up the pot and really soak the soil in it so the roots will release from the sides and bottom of the plant. This way you do minimum damage to the roots. Then plant it in it's permanent place. I like to put water in my planting hole and let it soak into the ground so the roots hit moist soil right away.
Establish does not mean the plant won't be big enough. It means it takes that long for it to make where it's planted it's home and it probably won't flower until then but you will have the greenery so it shouldn't look out of place in your border
Thanks both. I grew busy lizzies and coleus before as house plants but someone gave me seedlings which grew really well.
I am only growing enough to cover a couple of window ledges and they will never be outdoors. I am going to pot my seedlings over the weekend and will see how they go.
Aha - so you are growing these as houseplants? Once you have potted them on and have them growing you can get further info on the Houseplant Forum. Houseplant Forum
In the future when hardening off do both at the same time - day and night. That way they don't have to re-adjust to the extremes so much. So yes try leaving them out at night for a couple of nights and if they do well then I'd plant them. But watch them closely for that first night. Hardening off to both temp extremes is necessary.
Dave
I have belladonna seeds but haven't planted them yet. I have outside cats but we also have wisteria outside and they never bother with it. I was told wisteria is also deadly. Any thoughts on planting the belladonna seeds? I've had people tell me I have several poisonous plants in my garden but my cats have never bothered with them.
I suppose you'd have to decide your own risk level, estimate how curious your pets might be. Seed pods and seeds of wisteria can be toxic to cats. All parts of belladonna are highly toxic, berries, leaves, roots.
There are several commonly grown garden plants that could sicken pets if they had an interest in eating them, typically pets aren't interested. But - Belladonna is one of the most toxic plants to be found our hemisphere. Add to that its somewhat weedy in appearance so has little garden value.
My seedlings grow find in coir mix with worm casting and mushroom compost. I only use synthetic fertilizer for hydroponics. I don't see the need to buy synthetic fertilizer just to grow some seedlings.
It also have to do with how finely grind up the coir is, some are too fine and have too much water retention and cause lack of oxygen, same issue with peat. The texture makes a difference. I can play with the drainage and water retention by mixing in my sandy soil.
I don't know about you, but it seem the coir is better at water retention for me because it wick up water better than peat and distribute the water more evenly, with peat you have to water very thoroughly not get dry spots, coir don't seem to have that issue. They each have their own advantages, I like the fact that coir is pH neutral, my tomatoes love the peat though. Coir is cheaper for me because I get it at wholesale price from a local distributor.
If you like it, please don't change, but for anyone listening in, I'm not sure how you would build a soil notably more water retentive (WR) than a mix of coir, worm castings, and mushroom compost. Because ALL the particles are very small, the laws of physics dictate an extreme amount of WR in that mix. ..... and you really can't "play with drainage and water retention" by adding sand (unless you're suggesting that adding sandy topsoil increases WR).
Peat and coir have an almost identical water retention curve, but coir does absorb water much better than peat when they dry down to less than 20% WR. That coir is pH neutral is a problem, not a plus. It's too high for plants in containers (ideal container pH is about a full number lower than the ideal mineral soil (garden) pH, and because of that it precludes the use of dolomitic lime as a Ca/Mg source.
Al
Love Fafards. I have tried mixing my own and it just doesn't work for me. Promix is good too.
I love Fafards too, for containers and for the last potting before perennials, etc grown from seed, divisions or cuttings go into garden beds. For seed starting, Hoffman's Seed Starter has been my favorite. It's harder to find lately but I bite the bullet and buy it online. It is just so much easier to wet and retains moisture for longer than other seed starters I've tried.