6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed

Sedum spectabile. Surface sow on a well draining seed sowing mix 40-50F . spectabile seeds will usually germinate in 15-30 days, even under good conditions germination may be erratic - meaning not all seedlings will appear at the same time.

My Sedom spectabile reseeds itself regularly and I dig up and transplant the seedlings. Al

I buy my seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and they have a seed planting guide on their website.

Here is a link that might be useful: Seed Gardening Guide

I don't pay attention to the start date. I have some plants I started in January and have repotted them and are doing fine. Some are under artificial lights others are getting natural light.

thanks for your responses...

to answer glacier: i just transplanted them 2 days ago into 16 oz. plastic cups w/ drainige holes. I had the problem before i transplanted them though... now they seem even worse. And yes the are getting yellowy.

to answer dave: I transplanted half of them into miracle grow soil and the other haldf into miracle grow seedstarting soil. Other than that, noting. should i?

Thank you for your help

The combo of sagging and yellow gives me the impression that they are overwatered and underfertilized. The top 1/4- 1/2 inch of the planting medium should be allowed to dry between watering. (the bigger the pot, the more you can allow to dry out) And the pots should not sit in water.

They should be fertilized regularly. I use the blue stuff at about 1/10 stregth at all waterings. Well, most, anyway......Kay.

but isn't what you first see come up a leaf? or does it have to grow much longer for the first set of leaves to appear?

The first things to appear that "look like" leaves are actually the cotyledons, or often called "seed leaves". But they aren't really plant leaves, They are parts of the seed itself. The true first leaves will appear from the notch between these "seed leaves".

You can transplant at this stage and it is often required when planted this close together. Many of us do it routinely because of the way we germinate our seeds in bulk germination trays. It just takes more care to not damage either the stem or the cotyledons as they cannot be replaced by the plant while the true leaves can be. It's for this reason that it is usually recommended that you wait to transplant until the true leaves appear.

Just lift out a spoonful of the soil with a bunch of seedlings, gently separate them, and then transplant them to already prepared cells or containers. Transplant them deeply, to just below the cotyledons and put them somewhere out of the direct sun for a day or so until they have time to settle in to their new home.

Good luck with your plants.

Dave

Dave,
In case you have not heard this frequently enough...you are an invaluable resource of information on this site and I for one truly do appreciate your input. thanks for always being willing to share your knowledge and experience :)

lol, no, the seedlings in the round pot are Cherry Lupines.

Wow, I guessed right about the round pot. I thought lupine - (not cherry, I'm not that good! lol - What's behind it, Cosmos ?

Cute babies!

kim

Reading these posts just gave me a great idea! I was all set to plunk out the money for seed-starting mats, but was looking for used ones or some alternative. I have a nice warm waterbed (my son's) just sitting there, unused! Can I use it? I can't drain it for the heating pad, but someone's post gave me the idea of just using the bed itself! What do you experts think? Any suggestions on how I can test the temperature and what I'm shooting for? Do I just lay a thermometer on the surface? Sure would appreciate anyone's comments. Thank you very much!

You should be interested in the temperature of the soil. The least expensive way I know is to get a cooking thermometer that has a metal probe and a dial that shows temperatures down to about room temperature. I think the one I have is called a candy thermometer.

Charts show most germination temperatures about 68-85°F. I usually find that two or three degrees above the information printed on the package is just fine.

Simple solution...If you have an easily accessible hot water heater start seeds on it. I have done this with some of my plants over the last few years and have had great success. I have never used a fridge. I will note I live in a townhouse with the water heater located either inside or outside in a storage room. Be creative.

I start all my seeds in trays on top of the frig and tall cabinets and armoire-type furniture. The air is a lot warmer up there, and it works well.

Does this apply to starting storage onions too?

For sheet transplanting, we're just talking green onions or salad onions as some call them. It would be very overcrowded for storage onions without some aggressive thinning and I hate to waste seeds ;) But many plant storage onions - seeds or sets - very close together and then thin them out - use every other one as a green onion and let the rest bulb up.

Onion sets of course can be direct planted in the garden but storage onions from seed have to be started at least a couple of months in advance (January here) so I start mine in what are called plug trays and transplant them individually to the garden when the time is right.

Dave

Ahhhh....the "hunk o'seedlings" method. That is a good question about overcrowding tho'. Sure they don't need much room, so I guess that thinning them out as they grow should be OK, shouldn't it?

And when I say "thin them out," I mean, "pick what I want to eat today."
Kay.

The conifer cones usually mature in late summer to early fall depending on the weather.

Thank you both for your suggestions.
Chris

Oh, yeah, I see what you mean. My problem is that I can't seem to overwinter the tubers! So starting with seed avoids that...

Thanks!

I'll hope for some success with the seeds I have left...

Try planting them a little deeper so they are able to pull themselves out of the seed as the seed is still moist and anchored in the soil. Otherwise, I've had success placing a light layer of cotton over the seedlings and misting them. It should take a day for them to expand enough to shed the seed..Sometimes if you see the seed at the soil level once it has germinated, you can place a pinch of soil there and mist it..this helps.. Good luck

They can germinate from light in the room, so you don't have to have the lights on right now. Be sure and keep domes on the flats, so the seeds stay moist.

Deanna

How soon do I take the domes off ? I have like 60% sprouts, when would be a good time to take them off.

Thank you so much for your help !

Dennis

You know you don't actually need one to start seeds. See the "What's you favorite seed starting container" discussion further down the forum page (I linked it below).

You can germinate the seeds in just about any old container and since they will need to be transplanted at least once before the garden you can then pick up one of the inexpensive empty cell trays (available many places for about $5.00) or even just some styrofoam coffee or Dixie cups for growing the seedlings on to garden time. It's much cheaper if you plan to do lots of seedlings.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: What's your favorite seed starting container...

Most of those systems are unnecessarily expensive. You will get perfect results by starting seeds in a cell tray as mentioned above and covering it with plastic for a couple of days. I've cut up a kitchen bag for the plastic covering.

Here's a link to a long previous discussion on using them.

I agree that you don't want to use garden soil in the mix, good compost works if it is soil-less compost. I have found it a little difficult to mix up just the right mix so that the blocks won't fall apart but Jiffy mix works pretty good for me. Over all, I'm not too impressed with the blocks vs. cell packs. Cell packs are easier to work with.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Using Soil Block Maker

I think my recipe calls for a little garden soil, proportionately (the recipe is from Eliot Coleman). Nothing in it is sterilized and I've never had a problem related to that.