6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
I've seperated my Dietes twice and have sometimes had to use a hand hatchet to split difficult clumps. You do need the rhizome and I like to have groups large enough that it will look mature quickly, rather than split into individual rhizomes. I'm not beyond using a chisel and hammer either - it takes a lot of hand strength to get the clumps apart.
Wow. Christmas lights. It never occured to me!! That is a cool idea!
I usually have a pretty good grip on how much cold my plants can take before they suffer a set-back. If the advantage of all that real sun is offset by too much cold at night, I hold off until things warm up a bit. But Thunbergia is a new one for me. But I bet that a string or two of lights would safely keep the temperature in a better range for all the plants.
The "sacrifical lamb" is my usual method, but I will be transplanting them to fit 2-3 per pot and really did not want to risk more than one. With the lights out there, I can at least say I tried to make it better.
I like it! Thanks! This will help a lot!! Kay.
For smaller cells I use a utility knife for transplanting: I slip the knife down along the cell wall, gently hold the plant, and scoop out with the knife. granted, this only works on small cells and if the rootball is intact. it sounds to me like no matter what method you use, you'll still have some soil loss because the root system isn't extensive enough to hold it all together. this makes transplanting easier (and less messy), but you can still transplant now if you wish: 4 true leaves is the rule of thumb - if you wanted to wait longer and there's still room for the roots to grow, then you certainly could leave them where they are.
As for planting deep - yes for tomatoes and peppers and *some* flowers (the ones that will put out roots if they ste touches dirt), but I generally don't for ornamentals. Too much stem under the soil and you increase the chance of stem rot if no auxiliary roots are going to be produced.
This year I have done from your list so far broccoli, tomatoes and basil. All three sprouted withing 2-3 days sitting near my woodstove. I put them in soilless mix at day 4-6 in all cases. I can't advise on the others in your list.
Are you looking closely at the seeds? Open up a filter and check them out. The basil especially was hard to see germination when it first started.
Are you sure your seeds are viable?
Just thoughts, I too am a noob on the filter method but I've had great luck so far....too much luck, I've got far too many tomatoes.
The tomatoes, peppers and eggplant could take a good 2-3 weeks to germinate. I started my tomatoes and peppers on a heat mat and saw germination of the tomatoes in less than a week. The peppers were a little slower and generally took 3 weeks...a few straglers are still sprouting now almost 4 weeks later.
I also just started eggplant on heat mat at 85 and from what I read they will likely take 3 weeks to germinate. I've never had much luck with them but never tried them with the heat mat this warm so maybe that was the problem. The few times they have germinated for me they did take quite a long time (at least 4 weeks).
I'm waiting on my broccoli right now (only been a couple of days) but I generally give them all at least a couple of weeks before I get too worried about them :)
I hope that helps :)
No personal experience with one of these, jamjam, so take this with a grain of salt, ok? From what I have read about them, I'd share your fears of too much heat and possible damage. Went through all the lighting systems offered in my greenhouse supplier catalogs and found no use of them. Maybe no one else thought of it yet. ;)
I suppose you could try it and keep a close eye on them - see how it goes - could be great!
Dave
I've been doing some research, Dave, and I think this and grow lights are actually exactly the same thing. I'm going to contact the manufacturer and find out for sure, as nobody could give me a definitive answer. Some people in the PNW forum speculated that the lights might not be strong enough! But no one actually had one and had tried it. I'm pretty confident it will work now, but I'll try to find out for sure. BTW, the lights aren't "hot" to the touch at all when turned on, which I discovered the other day.
Hi happy - since you have a mixed bag of seeds go for 75 - it's a bit low for some and a bit high for others but should work. If you see the soil drying out too quickly then lower it to 70. Keep in mind that with a waterbed mat you have to have the temp probe stuck into a cup of soil too. I just fill a separate coffee cup with my damp potting mix and stick the temp probe in it and set it on the heat mat. It controls the heat cycle of the mat.
One other tip - sometimes setting the trays directly on the heat mat can melt and warp your tray. Small 1/4" spacers of wood under the corners help prevent that while still letting the soil heat.
Good luck! ;)
Dave
Thank you much for the depth, and more importantly, the tip on removing the netting. I did a web search on that and could find no info, not even on the Burpee web site!!!
I plan to transplant them Sunday....130 seedlings to transplant and another 150 to start ouch this is getting to be real work!!!
;)
Mark-
I got 2 in a trade recently. I don't know which variety of Mesquite Tree they were but both germminated quickly and are growing well. I'll check back through my emails and see if I can find who I got them from. Maybe they can tell you where they got them.
Karyn
Here is a link to the breeders culture sheet for Zinnia Profusion. You should find all the info you need!
Here is a link that might be useful: Sakata Seed
If they are growing "fuzz", zgarden, then my best guess is they are too wet as the fuzz is fungus growth. That would also explain the stunted growth. Are they getting enough light, enough air circulation (try a small fan)? Try drying them out, cut back on the watering, and improve the air flow and I'll bet they perk up. Good luck.
Dave
Wow! Thanks, you guys, this was great. A lot of opinions and now I think I have a more thorough understanding of the concepts. I am glad that other new people found it of use, too :)
I am really excited because my heirloom tomatoes popped up today. And that was after just five days after planting. Zounds, as Dr Zed would say :) My cucumbers are still down under- they're kind of old seed that might have been heated out of viability, but we'll see. But this is so much fun that I want to try some more- if only my mail order seeds would make it across the border, already. I might have to try something from the garden centre in the meantime :)
I feel like a groovy Earth mother! Zowee..
dragonplant - I know with mine I was trying to get some pepper seeds to germinate so I put their peat pots on a heating pad (in a tray) then threw in some others that hadn't germinated yet. It had been over two weeks on them so I had low hopes. Covered them all in cellophane to keep in the heat and keep out my cats. The top of the cellophane had a lot of condensation on it so I think my seed got a little confused on where the water was coming from!
Poor little confused zucchini! The happy part was that even if it was the only thing to germinate out of the bunch it's growing great now. And I'm re-trying the pepper seeds using a different method that will hopefully work. :-)
It certainly is a fun story though - breech birth is a perfect description!! LOL
The newborn has been returned to its proper position.
Mother and baby are doing just fine.
;)