6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
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?
There are a couple here -
Here is a link that might be useful: Seed Site, Celosia
It's usually a real bad idea to use any fertilizer on a seedling. Try to just water it normally, if you have a water softener, use rain water instead, it could be salts building up in the soil. Might want to repot it or plant it outside, just get it used to being outside slowly if you live in a hot climate.
I'm no expert in this area. . . . but we too are averaging in the 40's at night and the 60's during the day.
Yesterday, I started some domed trays of wildflower seeds outside. They will not be moved into the garage unless we have a frost warning.
I am thinking this will be okay. My thoughts are that they will be stronger if they start outside w/ limited protections.
You'll need to be very careful about introducing them to direct sunlight or they'll burn. Just a little bit more every day. I'd not use any plastic during the day, which may heat up too much. All of the plants that you mention can take cool temperatures just fine.
I am no expert but I grew shasta daisies from seed a few years ago. I knew less then than I do now... and I managed to keep them alive! From what I recall, I didn't use any lights so they just grew in natural light. If your seem spindly and too weak in the stem, I wonder of adding a small mound of soil around the stem would help? I had them in small pots and I'd put them outside on warm sunny days so they could get some real sunlight. I also put them in the ground as soon as the temps stayed away from low 30's at night. They survived very well...I may have killed a few but honestly I found them to be quite hardy and forgiving of my knowledge deficit! Good luck.
Lori
Thanks cindjo,
I decided to try to germinate one of the poppy seed packs indoors and leave the second for backup. I was planning on growing the seedlings in peat pots so I can just put the whole package into the ground - should be minimal disturbance to the roots? What time of year do you direct sow?
Amna
Thanks Dave,
Will let them dry out first before watering next time. Just a little nervous since never grew tomatoes from seed before.
The last time I grew from seed, lost everything to damping off. *You'd think I'd know not to over water. :o
La Donna
I started two different varities of tomatoes by seed they shot up in a covered seed tray. They grew so fast they were spindely. They got their second set of leaves and were transplanted. I put them on the porch for a few days and then in the sun, now they seem not to be growing. I did use a mild fish emulsion solution on them.
I had problems with those, they didn't take transplanting well at all, and they were fussy about growing in miracle gro potting soil (maybe too much fertilizer for them or something). I'm not sure what's wrong with yours, but if any do make it, let them get good and rootbound before you try transplanting them, they will take it better if the root ball doesn't get disturbed in the process.
you can direct sow them .mine are supposed to be an anual here in zone 6a but they reseed for me like crazy and are coming up right now. or you can start them in paper pots and then just slit the pots slightly before directly planting in garden so the roots can grow out. thats what I did yrs ago and they reseed like mad. no fertilizer for them and they like drought conditions with full sun.
Cucumbers do not transplant well & the 30F night was also a problem for this plant..... otherwise sounds like you are doing the right things in the right order.......
way to go.....
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