6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
kandm, everything the seed needs for germination, forming those first roots and the seed leaves (cotyledons) is contained in the seed....very efficient packaging :) They need nothing but moisture and warmth until after the first true leaves emerge, and then only a very weak water soluble fertilizer applied sparingly....approx 1/4 the strength stated on the package directions.
Agree 0 leggy seedlings mean the light isn't near close enough yet. Also see some inconsistent soil moisture but that is easy to fix.
Don't know where you live and you don't give your zone is so can't say if you started too early or not but you'll have things ready for transplant within a couple of weeks.
Good luck!
Dave
yeah, I actually elevated the trays three days ago because I was starting to notice that the seedlings were about to become too leggy. So the problem of the leggy seedlings comes from my own mistake I made of leaving the seedlings too far from the light for about a month.
I live in Arlington, near Dallas, in Texas. I would like to transplant my seedlings by the end of March!
The only way to succeed is to grow a ton of them and hope that some of them are in bloom on the magic day. Sunflowers are the only thing on your list that would be remotely reliable for a July wedding and they are one of the trickiest to get to bloom on schedule. Nasturtiums are a spring flower that fail in high heat and mums are a fall flower that don't initiate flower buds until the days start to shorten. But there are plenty of blooming plants you could get to bloom easily. If you need 12 table top plants, sow 24 seeds the first week (110 days before the wedding date), two seeds per pot; then sow 24 more each week afterwards until you get in the 60-70 day range. Sunflowers can grow fast or slow depending on the weather and the care you provide. A million things affect their blooming - so rather than try to control all of that, just sow a new crop each week and hopefully one group will be in full bloom by wedding day. Oh, and if you want only one plant per pot (a good idea) you need to murder one seedling after they have sprouted. You plant two per pot in case one of them doesn't sprout. They develop new varieties every year so check the seed packet to see the days til bloom (the large sunflowers are around 110 days with a spring planting, much less with a summer planting). There might be new types with a shorter time frame.
Sunflowers need bright light to be happy. Raising them indoors is very difficult - because of the light issue.
Once they start to open up they can last a week. If they appear to be a day or so ahead of schedule you can move them into a very cool room at night - or pray for cool temps outdoors. Cooling them off (even if it is just at night) will slow them down a couple of days.
Pansies and violas can be tricky if spring is hot and muggy, they start to go downhill when things warm up.
Impatiens may not have the perfect name for a wedding flower but the blooms are pretty reliable and they grow easily from seed (sow them in March for July bloom though).
It is far easier and cheaper to buy small blooming plants a week before the wedding and feed and water them well.
I can give you a personal experience about how finicky plants (even ones already grown) can be....so starting from seed would seem about like making a bet in Vegas...I purchased several dozen full grown stargazer lillies for my wedding (they were going to go on the steps of the church in really nice old world urns (I purchased these full of buds in February for my March 5th wedding) My plan was that they might be in full bloom but even so the bloom would still last and look and smell wonderful for the big day...one week before the wedding, still no open flowers, the count down began. I started giving them hot water baths and created a pseudo sauna in my master bathroom, hoping to force the blooms...3 days and counting...still NOTHING, NOT ONE flower. 2 days, same thing...day before the wedding, I had to run out and find a replacement, which I did find and it all worked out...I'd say about 2 or 3 weeks AFTER the wedding, these lilly's decided to bloom....I had over a dozen of them in my garage and boy oh boy what a fragerance.
Moral of my story...(if it's not obvious) I had my heart set on these plants, they were fully grown, full of buds and I thought it was a sure thing...the plants had a different clock going.
You can certainly trim your budget in more important areas like food, beverages, etc. I'd try to find a reliable florist and even order your cut flowers so that you can put together your own table pieces. I even had a good friend make my bouquet and the brides maid bouquets and the mens' flowers, etc. It saved a fortune. We used whatever flowers that were left over for the reception tables.
I had a second reception in Idaho with my family in June, I brought with me the same little tin bucket thingies and cut roses from my mom's yard and made my own center pieces for that event too. They were simple and gorgeous and fragerant and FREE. And everyone liked them.
You will have plenty of other things to spend your energy and worrying over, flowers would NOT be one of them for me. There are cheaper ways to get what you want. Maybe you even have access to a flower market or growers market? Even a decent farmers market?
I guess I would finally say, if you guys really have your heart set on doing it this way, Have a good back up plan that you can rely on at the last minute.
You will get answers here, but you could also pop over to the Greenhouse forum, LOTS of very kind and knowledgeable folks there who have GH's and could help.
I guess with a 10 x 12 HFGH you must be quite familiar with the greenhouse forum here!! I have the same GH and it's also my 2nd spring, last year I started all my seeds in there, no heat (of course I"m in GA, I have heat everywhere) I have not started any seedlings yet, but will plan to soon. here are some pictures of plants I grew last year, these pics were taken in approx Mid March maybe April?
Notice the poor performance of the peat pot okra compared to the ones in the styrofoam cups. I used a lot of recycled containers from Lowe's (the black round plastic forms with 3 or 6 holes, perfect for starting seeds, they are pictured on the floor area)
For everyone the circomstances are a little different. I have 3 greenhouses, one a benchtop yet I never germinate anything in it and hardly ever move any plants into a greenhouse before March 1st. I figure that I heat my house so the plants benefit from that same heat that I produce to stay comfortable. In a partitioned corner of my basement where my coal stoker resides the temperature is always in the high 80F range so I need no heat mats or other gear to germinate many flats of seeds that I start.
Immediately after the seedlings break soil I transfer trays to regions of my living area under shop lights. I have 28 shop lights set up in peak season but as an Allegheny Power customer I figure my electric bill for all those lights is still far less than $4 per day. I just can't come close to that figure and keep my plants happy for even my cheap greenhouse primary heat source, wood. The other big difference is that I'm sleeping through the nights until plants go into a greenhouse.
So the decision is yours. I don't think you want your living room to look like mine in early March but I've been trying to go Green here for the last 20 years. For the first 19 years everyone just assumed I was a tight wad.
Chilterns lists them. I usually place a couple of orders a year from this vendor, just received an order last week.
Here is a link that might be useful: Chilterns abies koreana
Just one last quick question - does the Helleborus need light throughout its stratifying? Does any seed that is going through the warm cold period need light? I know most seeds need light to germinate (except for plants like Myosotis and Delphinium who germinate in the dark), but the fussy seeds that have to go through stratification, do I need to give them light even before the germination period?
No, hellebore seeds don't need light to germinate. Light may be beneficial to some seeds for germination, sowing instructions on those will say surface sow, or sometimes 'cover lightly or thinly'.
I sow hellebore seeds approx 1/4" deep then add additional 1/4" or so of grit to the container. More specifically, I prepare the pot and lightly tamp the sowing medium, roughly space the seeds on tamped/firmed medium, add more of the sowing medium so that it will be very approximately 1/4" after watering (not tamping). Then add grit.
wouldnt it make sense to just wait til you have natures heat? because if what was said is true (germination will occur within 7 days at a higher temp) you might have seeds sitting there for several weeks doing nothing but if you wait for the temps to go up, then the germination TIME would seem about the same?
Maybe I'm missing a point somewhere?
Your soil looks to wet I would place a fan in the area to help dry out the soil. Soil needs to be moist for germination once that happens I normally give them a small drink every couple days. I have had seedlings like yours start falling over waiting for water and they recover fine
Here is a link that might be useful: Gardening by the Seat of my Pants
It is a common soil fungus that decays dead plant material, which this potting media is, and is not harmful to living tissue. What is harmful is the fungus that lives on living tissue of tender seedlings that produces "damping off." Chill with the watering to prevent this problem.
I received my spring planting seeds yesterday from Hazzards. It seemed I had just placed the order so I looked it up. Five days to receive an order from Michigan to California. I knew they were prompt but they must turn around an order the same day received, complete. Al
Fedco, great choice, price and free shipping over $30. This year they shipped free even when my order slipped below $30 because a few were sold out. None of this 'we're sorry, you must order more...' bull. And they shipped Priority Mail to insure a timely shipment. Plus, they are a Co-op with excellent info and garden gossip. I like their Green stance but not a requirement for me..just an excellent source. Of course, some varieties I must find elsewhere such as Territorial though they have ridiculous shipping..
Thanks for the perspective and advice. Yes, I plan to raise the plants up once they sprout. Right now they aren't on a timer-- they're just waking up and going to bed when I do, which gives them 16 hours of light per day. If I have any trouble keeping this schedule, I'll look for a timer.
Thanks again,
~Tori
I always get a white mold on the soil surface (not botrytis) when I sow chives. It looks kind of like a spun webbing instead of a typical mold. Could this be the same you had? This stuff doesn't do the chives any harm and disappears on its own once the plants go under the lights.
Holes shouldn't be necessary, especially if the pots are drying out so quickly. The plastic is put on in order to keep the seeds and the soil moist enough to initiate germination. I usually can keep the plastic on until the seeds germinate whether that's a few days or a couple of weeks without needing to water. I always have my germination area dark and use heat mats so that probably helps with moisture consistency.
I always take the plastic off (humidity domes in my case) after the first signs of germination and then put the seedlings under lights. I know other people like to leave them on until the plants are pushing against the top. I don't see the benefit of leaving them on after germination. I like the newly emerged plants to get as much air circulation as possible in order to avoid disease problems. My technique allows the soil surface to dry out every day or two at the most. I rarely have any problems.
Unless the seedlings are in a very cold and drafty place, I take the plastic off shortly after germination. Due to germination rates, some seedlings are under plastic for longer than others, so it isn't really a detriment, per se. I take off the domes once a day so there isn't too much humidity build-up. Back when I used plastic bags I wouldn't seal them up tight, and again, opened them every day. Keep things consistently moist, not soggy.
There could have been a pathogen in your soil or it got there from some other source, that produced the mold. I too have seen what frances, above, describes as a webbed, white mold. usually it disappears when the soil surface dries out and there is more light. if you're getting it so quickly though, then it might worsen before you even get germination and adversely affect things later on.
I want to say that i've heard of some people here lightly spraying a VERY dilute bleach solution on top of the soil when there was the beginnings of mold (but not if there are seedlings present). What are other peoples opinions on this practice?
Thanks everyone for your input! I knew there had to be some good reasons. I will hold off until the suggested starting time. I will save myself the hassel of potential issues and the risk of utter and complete failure on my first go of growing plants from seed :)
Thanks for your help !!
Below is a link to Starting tomatoes from seed from the Tomato Forum FAQ.
I see it states:
Many novices fail at starting tomatoes simply because they start too early. Given the proper care, full-sized tomato transplants can be grown in 6 to 8 weeks.
hth
Sue
Here is a link that might be useful: The complete instructions FAQ
morz8, I called company this morning and spoke to a lady.
She said my order did not go through so while she was on phone, I put my order in.
She was very pleasant.
Do you cover poppy seed after you sowing?
When I checked on interneat, poppy seeds need to exposed to sun to sprout.
Is it true?
I am sure, instriction is on packet but just wanted to ask.
I'm glad you have your order straightened out - and I had thought it was too early to indicate a problem.
I surface sow annual types of poppy, not covering those seeds. I will sometimes put a little grit (thin layer) or vermiculite on top the seed pots when sowing the seeds for perennial poppies. Let us know when your seeds arrive if the instructions aren't clear to you...