6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
hello once again,
Well, I'm not sure if I can buy into the air temp and soil temp. being that different in degrees....outside yes, but not so sure about indoors, with plants being in small cell packs or small pots. But, I am going to go home tonite and check it out...I've got plenty of thermometers for just that experiment:)
Also, Dave, if us northerners would start our okra in late June...we would probably not get much okra, if any. By the start of Sept. here our nites are already getting cool, and our past years okra is certainly starting to phase out...leaving a start date of late June not advisable.
As I said before...have grown it, have been sucessful with it....and my Louisiana partner says she never knew us northerners could pull it off!:)
Out of 16 broccoli starts, one survived and is flourishing. Not bad for a first attempt. hehe I've decided I'll start them and as soon as they break ground I'll plant them outside. We don't get enough light in the PNW in the winter to start seeds on the window sill and I don't have room for a light system.
Oh, and I used the method of burrying the stem like was suggested, thank you!
Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's garden adventure!
It's a combination of factors. Some of it is variety and genetics. Some of it is the potting mix used. Different potting mixes give very different results thus you'll often see recommendations for either ProMix brands or Metro Mix brands which are pro growing mediums.
Some of it is the temps maintained in a greenhouse - 55-65 degrees. Cooler temps slow growth and makes for stockier plants. Some of it is the air circulation provided by massive exhaust fans.
But the biggest difference is that plants grown in a greenhouse get much more light - as much 3-4 times the light you can provide without a greenhouse - and that makes for a shorter stockier plant with shorter stem lengths between nodes but a better ratio of roots to nodes.
They are also grown in dark containers rather than clear plastic. Clear plastic exposes the roots to light and causes the roots to shift deeper into the dirt to get away from the light and heat. Leaves like light, roots don't. Darker colored containers are better.
And their roots are kept cooler and further in the dark by the black holding trays and the abundance of shade over the root ball by the massive crowding of their plants. Ever seen a 40' long table of tomato seedlings packed edge to edge? It looks like a mini-forest.
And greenhouse producers also tend to use foliar sprays for feeding rather than root drench, growth controlling hormones in some cases, and timed misting for watering or drip irrigation systems.
All in all a big difference from the environment you can create at home. Not that it makes their plants better, just mass produced. ;)
Dave
Great info!!! My plants were grown indoors, with a temp of about 70 degrees. I did have them under lights. I, quite painstakingly, made sure the lights were always 2 - 3" above the plants. I found this to be a pain in the you know what but I was good about this.
I didn't know about the roots liking dark but it makes sense now, considering their natural environment. Next year, I will make sure to get dark containers.
Thanks for the info!!!
Do I juggle all the harden off periods?
You can if you want to but IMO it just makes it more complicated. ;)
Your safe plant out date is May 15th. I would wait till 10 days before that that then do them all at once. It saves all the toting in and out hassles. Out they all go - gradually increasing the time each day a bit - and then they stay out.
Good luck and enjoy your plants.
Dave
Thanks! That makes more sense to me..doing it all at once.
Everyone here is a little nervous after last year's late freeze. It was my first year trying to garden and I didn't know what I had killed or what nature had done. Some people lost all roses and peonies didn't bloom...so I won't be in a hurry and let them hang out under the lights a little longer. Thanks again.
They can take up to another 6 months after stratifying to germinate (35 - 180 days after chill) so don't give up. In this milder climate, I usually Fall sow mine outdoors for early Spring germination rather than store the seeds, seems to work.
Bookmark this site below. Here is the photo of a zinnia seedhead, seed, and seedling. Zinnia seeds have a bit of plump to them if they are fertile, as many zinnia seeds are not viable in the seedhead.
Here is a link that might be useful: Photo of zinnia seed.
Hi Dave,
I love that setup you have. I was wondering if you would be willing to share some specifics (e.g. dimensions, kind of wood, how the lights are attached to the wood frame). I am having a crisis - got the bright idea to start seeds and since I had a little growbox setup in the basement where my jasmines live, I germinated the seeds in there (high temps, light, humidity). Unfortunately, the first batches (cosmos and nasturtium) are breaking my heart. The cosmos shot up and I think maybe because the temps were too high they grew too fast i.e. the length of the stalks between the surface of the soil and where the cotyledons emerge is too long (2"-4"). The result was that the stalks are too spindly to support the top of the seedling so now they are all growing lying down :-(
I read somewhere that you could bury them in soil, stalk and all, upto a point close to where the cotyledons attach but I don't know if that will help these guys. Maybe it's worth a shot? I have now decided to remove the seedlings from the growbox as soon as the seeds germinate and put them on a windowsill (lower temps so perhaps they won't shoot up in this abnormal fashion). Basically don't know what's going on - I know it's not daamping off because even though they are lying down, the seedlings look healthy and are happily sprouting their true leaves - so sad, they probably will not make it into the ground ever.
Anyway, sorry about the long sad story. I guess getting your kind of set up might help prevent this happening to all the 500 (slight exaggeration)other seeds I'm starting. I really appreciate any advice you could provide.
This was supposed to be a zen activity and it was thrilling to see the little green shoots coming up but now I've probably ended up dooming them all.
Best regards,
Amna
For the fencing idea, you got me beat on the cheap. I use masonry remesh wire as it has 6" x 6" spacing and is made of welded iron, but that costs about $6 USD at Lowes per 4' x 7' section... then I have to be bothered with cleaning off the rust, priming and painting - but I'm a little anal retentive and have little "form over function" in my blood.
As for the humor, I love it. When I tell people I lost over 85 lbs in eight months they always ask me how and I tell them it was easy once I dumped the first 180 lbs (my ex-fiancee)... :grins:
Hi,
I did the same with my moonflower vine seedlings basically out of necessity - had 30 seeds sown in a container, 12 sprouted but no sign of the other 18. Anyway to save the ones that had sprouted, I dug them out gently with a plastic fork and transplanted into little (approx. 3" tall) peat pots and put the cover back on the container to see if the rest would sprout. Nothing so far - maybe they will just never sprout. The transplanted ones are doing just fine - truly monstrous seedlings. The one problem that I did have was with the seed coats. I think I didn't sow the seeds deeply enough so that when the seedlings emerged some still had bits of the seed coat stuck on. I waited a bit to see if they would be able to shake those off, but I think the humidity in the room was not high enough so the seed coats just kind of got dry & hard. I pried them off with some tweezers this morning and so far so good.
I think I will do this early transplantation business with the other guys I have coming out here and there in various flats.
Amna
Posted by digdirt 6 -7 AR (My Page) on Thu, Apr 17, 08 at 17:57
Hi Ornata - Is there a point or benefit to doing it? There is no benefit for the plant per se - it is living solely off itself at that stage except for water which the roots are absorbing - but it is necessary for those of us that grow bulk seedlings and use seedling trays to do so.
I routinely transplant hundreds of tomato seedlings out of a seedling tray at the cotyledon stage just to get them into their individual cells of growing medium. It is quite easy and fast to do. So, depends on what you are using to germinate in.
Plants germinated individually in cell packs or peat pellets or whatever can easily wait for true leaves to develop to be transplanted.
Does this help?
Dave
PS: If you do use the peat pellets, please do strip off the netting before transplanting. Your plant will benefit greatly from doing so. ;)
-----------------------------------------------------------
Thank you Dave for you advice and thanks for the question. I had the same one waiting to be asked, Ornata.