6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
http://www.naz.edu:9000/~grnhouse/Alcea/hollyhock.html
Like the first one on this page? I noticed a lot of these growing where I live, and I recall this color came back for many years after my father passed on.
Thanks for the input!
Thanks for all your comments. I've been wondering if there wasn't a bit of a conspiracy on the part of the nurseries with respect to fruit trees not breeding true. I mean, I don't doubt that the offspring don't resemble the parents, but that's not always a bad thing. Just ask my kids!
P.S. I just spotted a wild cherry tree which may have to be worked into my plans somewhere, if I can get the cuttings to grow.
I had a peach tree volunteer out of a compost pile. It bore fruit in its third year, the tree was already 9 feet tall! I only got to taste a couple fruits (it set 3 or 4 dozen), as most of them fell victim to oriental fruit moth. What I tasted was very good. The tree was a pest magnet....Japanese beetles ate the leaves, there were borers in the trunk, and the moth maggots in the fruit. On top of it all, it was between two bushes I had paid for, and rapidly shading out a small herb garden, so I cut it down.
The consensus on the fruit forum is that peaches and plums will probably turn out pretty good, apples have a very small chance of being as good as a named variety.
Alex
I have grown cosmos lot's of times over the years and if memory serves me right it usually takes about 2 months. One important tip is never fertalize your cosmos they will become lush and green and will hardly flower. I have read this and have experienced it as well.
Good luck
Its more likely problems with disturbed roots. If you don't disturb the roots when you transplant, you are fine transplanting even seedlings that don't like it.
The best way to avoid this with sensitive seedlings is to either let them get good and rootbound before transplanting so the roots don't move when you pop the plant out in one chunk, or start them in peat pots or pellets that you can plant in the ground without removing them from it.
Playing Devils Advocate:
With cucurbits one of the things I've noticed is that you can take a plant that is 3-4 weeks old and transplant it out in the garden and then directly sow a seed next to it and within a month or two the direct sown seed will be nearly the same size because while the transplant was stunned and adjusting to it's new harsher lifestyle the direct sown seed was plowing away under full growth conditions.
That being said, so long as you don't disturb the roots starting cucurbits from seed is just fine and if you have a shorter growing period - and/or can really baby those transplants for the first week or two - it can help extend your growing season by giving you a significant headstart. Especially if your transplant is already 6-8 weeks old by the time you move it out. :shrug:
Cucumbers are one of the last things you'll plant in your garden because they like it to be warm.. Soil temps 65-70 to start. You can start indoors 3 to 4 weeks before last frost but wait til your temps stay warm, a good thing to purchase is a soil thermometer it helps with the guess work. I also get all the recommended soil temps for sowing seeds off the old farmers almanac web site.
Good luck
well i made 3 mistakes. I didn't transplant early and deep enough and i watered from the top.
I kept the lamp about 2 inches from the tops. The room was warm (72-75).
Do you think it would be a mistake to start somemore just for the practice and transplant them alittle later than normal?
Hi, I was interested in reading your post because I want to build some kind of structure out of materials that we already have. We have a few old windows and will have even more next year. If you look at the greenhouse forum, you'll see a long thread about building the Harbor Freight Greenhouse. I didn't read it all the way through but it looked good for someone like you who is wondering about the quality of HF items. Good luck!
Lori
Druse, Magnolia in general. Species are variable, in some, embryo matures during storage, in others inhibitors develop with ripening. Soak seeds 48 hours in warm water with liquid detergent, then clean of all pulp (it's oily and will inhibit uptake of water through the seed coat). Sow outdoors for germination in following Spring, OR moist-cold 120 days followed by sow barely covered @50F. Germination in additional 120 days or longer after the chill period. (My own note, magnolia wilsonii has taken 15 months from sowing purchased dried seed outdoors here)
Clothiers: Magnolia acuminata and other species , remove seed coat, sow 3 months @ 39ºF, then direct sow outdoors
I had to take a clean knife and nick the hard shell of the seed. You have to be carefull and not damage the embryo inside. I then soaked the seeds overnight too soften them. I planted them in a soiless mix of peat and vermilicite, and covered. They germinated within a 5-10 days....good luck.Have any extra?
Lori, Look for Mao-tse-mom's post in the Cottage Garden forum...oh, my, it is the cutest thing you've ever seen-- all made by her husband.
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/junk/msg051641444416.html
Just post on this thread and she'll see it and offer up a pic of it all finished and painted. I just love it!
Lime
This is my first posting in many years but when I saw this I had to tell my story. My husband and I built our second greenhouse last year and just love it. We had new windows installed and used our old windows for the glass. First we built a 12 by 16 frame out of treated lumber with a fiberglass ribbed roof. The first year we used plastic for the sides and the second year after my husbands shoulder surgery we put in the old windows. We hinged three windows for circulation when needed and we should have put in one more. We can fix that later on when the plants are out. Anyway it works like a charm. The benches are made of cement blocks pillars and we put closet wire shelving across the top. The openings of the cement blocks are filled with 2by4's making another shelf for my flats. By using the wire shelving, the plants have lots of drainage and they don't rust. We have the shelving in a U shape. Electric was added this past fall and has been very handy. I used extension cords before and this is much better. During nights when the temps get to freezing, I turn on a radiator type heater and a fan pointed to the ceiling to keep the air circulating. The temp keeps about 10 degrees above the outside temp. I do not use this all winter, just for starting seeds in the spring. Works great for us. This spring we have to paint it. I forgot to mention that we have this connected to a wooden shed that is 12 by 24 feet. Linda44