6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
There are two threads about soil blocks over in the SqFt Forum.
One thread, which is linked below is for making the soil blocks...
A second thread talks about how well they are holding up, and a second making method that is VERY inexpensive. I'll link it in another post.
Here is a link that might be useful: Soil Block making
I think it is a normal fungus, the seedling will be ok, just stop watering the ones that have it and let the the soil dry out under the lamps a little bit. You can also dab the fuzzy stuff with a qtip dipped in bit of diluted peroxide mixed with water. Mix a tsp of peroxide with a 1/2 cup of water, dip a qtip in it and dab the fuzzy stuff.
Dave's Garden has someone there that has made a spreadsheet. Any visitor can see and/or print it out. Anyone who belongs to Dave's Garden is eligible to add to it. The beauty of this particular spreadsheet is that it is done by gardeners who have actually experienced the growing. I don't know the website, but I bet you can find it. (I have it bookmarked and don't have to type it any more.) Judy
the above referenced spreadsheet is right here:
Here is a link that might be useful: seed spreadsheet
You have fungus growth, common problem with peat pots and pellets when they are kept too wet. Let them dry out until the fungus growth disappears - it won't take long - usually no more than 2 days and placing a small fan in the area to create a gentle breeze will help speed up the process.
If you have already cut back on the watering and fungus is still apparent, reduce the water more. You can scrape some of it off and you can mist the peat pellets (not the plants) with a dilute 1:10 mix of hydrogen peroxide and water.
Your seedlings are getting too tall because they are not getting nearly enough light - windows very seldom work - and if you review all the FAQs and discussions here you'll find that 16-18 hours of intense, broad-spectrum light is needed to prevent "leggyness". Read about the fluorescent lights set up most of us use. ;)
No you cannot snip them off. That kills the seedling. All you can do now is transplant them into new containers and plant them as deeply as possible, burying most of the stem.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
Dave
i had seedlings in a window, and they kept getting taller and taller and taller!! I got them under a light and the magically stopped growing! I thought it was a bright enough window, large, south facing, heats up my dinning room on a sunny day. It was not bright enough!
You really need to get them under a light. I have in the past, saved some tall plants by staking them. could use Skewers to do it. However, it won't help much with the tipping problem. Then, when you go to plant in a larger pot, plant them deeper.
You can start them now if using a hoop house. I have mine going now and they will go to the garden the 15th of March. Cole crops are quite cold (not freeze) tolerant and won't tolerate the heat and comes far too soon. Just don't let them get too far along before transplanting them to their final place or they won't head up.
Dave
Maureen,
I start Lantana from seeds and from cuttings every spring. If you are growing Lantana camara, you will have plenty of flowers this year, but you probably want to start early so you won't have to wait until late July or August for bloom.
Germination is variable. They can sprout in just a few days, but can take 3 weeks. Try soaking the seeds in warm water for several hours before planting to speed things up. Once they germinate they grow fast and can quickly fill a pot, so when you pot them on, give them some room.
Happy Spring! Alana
This was what a search came up with
Zones 4-9. Native from the central states of the USA. Surface sow the seeds, light needed for best germination.
I usually start it now. Under floresantlights and warm.
It helps to sprinkle a liitle vermiculite on surface for sowing the seeds. Isn't a perennial for me though.
Hope this helps. Boop
I do use the Excel spreadsheet (see my earlier post in this thread), but the actual seeds I keep in a shoebox with alpha dividers I made by cutting up large index cards. I want to be able to find the actual seeds fairly quickly, but the spreadsheet gives me the data I need (year, name, source, how planted, etc.).
I plan to use some TP rolls this year, too. I am going to fill each TP roll with potting mix, stand them on end in shoeboxes, and plant Parsnip seeds in them. Then in summer I will plant the TP roll/parsnips directly into the garden. (Parsnips are tricky to grow here because of our short summers).
I don't know for sure if it will work, but it's worth a try.
In the past, I've put a folded up newspaper over the ones who needed darkness. Some years I figure that darkness is acheived by being under the soil, so I don't worry. Most of my seedlings have been up for a couple of weeks and under lights. I still wake up in the am and see someone else has germinated over night in the dark and cooler temp.
Good luck!
My fixture at Lowes was $39.00!! There was one for $35.00, but it was only T12, and I figured that if I was already spending over $30.00 I might as well go with the more power saving one and won't be told in 5 years that you can't find the bulbs anymore!!
Anyway, it is nice to see someone having so much fun with their fixtures, and perhaps a little more in love with there plants then I am, my family likes to make me out as a real weirdo!! Like the attention I give my plants and the # I grow is really a very strange thing. Oh well. To each his own!
I am bad..I don;t really thin... I pot em up and whomever makes it makes it. but I pot up 2-3 times so they get handled lots.
I gave up on thinning after the cat knocked over 2 trays one I HAD thinned and one TO be thinned.. The one I had thined was a loss.
If a seedling can survive me and the 2 cats and 4 kids it stays.
It was a sad day for me too. I went to turn off my plants in the basement this morning, and discovered a tray knocked over. Either the cat or my son did it (I sent him down to turn on the lights the night before). Anyway, I lost about 10 plants out of 50 in that tray. Very sad.
I totally understand the comment about not thining, a few of them that I lost, I had just pricked out the smaller the day before, perhaps they would have survived!!
What are you planting them in? Would it be possible to individually "lift" some of the smaller seedlings up closer to the light? I have one fixture right now growing two different trays, at different heights. I separated the faster growing taller seedlings, from the slower growing ones. The tray with smaller seedlings, is propped up with a book ;-) Perhaps you can try a similar approach.
As for 2 lights or 4, that is an individual decision. Of course, more light is always better. But from all I have heard, one 2 light fixture is enough to get most seedlings started and ready for planting 6-10 weeks later.
Hey everyone, thanks for the replies. Think I am going with two tube 2ft'rs, in a foil inclosed area. Hopefully that will be enough light bouncing around to keep them/some from getting leggy. But I plan on sticking around, so I plan on posting pics and what not on the progress. Just so folks can learn from my mistakes or from what worked right!
Later.
Rob