6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
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
Hey Hello.
My light/heat box is a rubber maid tub lined with reflective windshield shade from the dollar store with a 24" fluorescent light on top. I put a cheap thermometer on the bottom and use a glass pie plate filled with water for moisture. I use the lid to regulate the temperature and humidity. I use the same thing as a chick incubator. It isn't pretty but it works!
Lid on.
Lid off with Goji Berry seedlings.
Gardenia seedlings I put under brooder lamp.
the seed pack actually had 75 seeds and as of 4-26-15 69 seeds have germinated! let's see how many survive me ;)
I tried putting a sandwich baggy over my styrofoam cup that I had planted a couple of Gardenia seeds in. After a few days I had ntoiced that it was holding the moisture fine but white looking mold was beginning to be seen. So I took the bag off and it seems to have taken care of the problem. All I do is keep my soil moist but I have yet to have ever been able to get a single seedling lol. This is about my 3rd or 4th attempt at trying to germinate Gardenia. Thanks for sharing your set up with us
I think another clue might be, which plants can form roots from cuttings?
So in other words, the parts of the stems that are now buried, would create new roots at those leaf joints if they were cuttings that were planted.
An example would be wandering jew or purple queen. They can root easily from just a small portion being stuck in the ground, but I tend to get 6-8" long cuttings and put about 1/2 of it in the ground. Part of the reason is to make the mother plant a little more compact but also because I wanted the cutting to form roots from many potential sections.
Agree that the issue is not the Gnatrol, it is the self-watering planting trays as they are well known for over-watering the seedlings and the subsequent root rot that causes. The degree of affect depends on the type of seedlings as some are far less tolerant of the excessive moisture than others.
Dave
Thanks for the link, ubro. For gardeners bringing seed into Canada, the appropriate clause indeed says:
"Where the imported seed lot is 5 kg or less for large seeded crop kinds (such as peas, wheat, soybeans and corn) or is 500 g or less for small seeded crop kinds (such as alfalfa, tomato or canola), neither the import declaration information nor the seed analysis certificate need be supplied"
For home gardeners those would be pretty generous limits. More than a pound of lettuce seed: Phew!!
Vanisle_BC - That information you understood is correct. it's doubtful that the US and Canadian governments would fine you. However, the American recipient could be fined. And who in their right mind would want to trade seed under those conditions? If I had sent seeds to Canada and in return, the seeds the Canadian trader sent me were confiscated with perhaps a threat of a fine from the USDA, I would be furious.
It is a very serious issue which my daughter experienced. She was living in the US and had purchased a home. At the time, I had a wholesale production nursery in Canada and she needed plants so she visited me and prior to her arrival, I had the Canadian government prepare a phytosanitary certificate as she was bringing back plants and seeds. My daughter added a few extra plants not listed on the phytosanitary certificate and put them in her vehicle. At the border, the customs agents went through every single pack of seed and every plant. They found the plants that weren't listed and confiscated them. Then they put her and her husband on a list of people know as 'Agricultural Threats'. Every single time she visited Canada for over 2 years and returned to the US, her vehicle was pulled over and she was detained for hours. She was lucky as she did not receive a fine.
Although this website is international, the vast majority of people posting here are Americans. I believe that this is the reason they stopped the trading altogether and I highly doubt that they will ever allow for international seed trading again given the current USDA requirements.
As I said, I've lived in both countries and although there is an 'imaginary' border between the two countries, the two governments are vastly different.
The hydrogen peroxide was usually used when you wanted to put the seeds in an enclosed bag. If your paper is sitting out somewhere, you can do just as well with water or moist paper.
I might wait until the seedlings are just a little bigger, not immediately when I see they have germinated. The reason for this is that sometimes when covering seedlings with dirt that they didn't have before, they would die. For example, if the seedling had to push through dirt to get to the surface, it's ok. But if putting dirt on that seedling that emerged, hoping to have it grow in a dirt area that gives it more protection or something, if dirt got on it in some way, it just dies.
I start my seeds in moist peatmoss in a baggie. I just put them in, shake it up and put them on a warm mat. I watch and then when they start to germinate I pick them out and plant them. this saves space and then only the viable seeds are used. I do almost all my cut flowers this way except the really tiny seeds, they are too hard to see.
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
Brilliant!!! I really appreciate the details too.