6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
I have checked my references from America, Europe, & Australia & can not find any reference to leucadia. There was an introduction of "Sensitive" plants at that time. They were a mimosa that reached 6 foot. & you needed to presoak the seed & keep soil temperature between 65-70F
Bookmark these links for both seed IDs (finding what is what in there) and for germination info --
http://www.backyardgardener.com/tm.html
You'll need the latin name for some of these - to find that, do a search on google for the common name.
the best book I have seen is called seed to seed. The book is incredible. each chapter is a type of plant and it will tell you how to polinate, how far away to plant to keep from cross breeding, how to save the seed ect..... hince the name "seed to seed"
One other thing about the winter sowing method - for us northerners, it really is not worth the effort. You are only gaining a few weeks at best, over direct sowing into the garden and if your growing season is only 3 months long, waiting until August for flowers is just not an option.
I sow my tomatoes so that I can plant them outside in WOWs at least a month before my last frost date. That way I can actually eat some tomatoes in July. With winter sowing, I would be lucky to have green tomatoes before the first fall frost.
There ARE advantages of winter sowing verses direct sowing though, Kay. Direct sown seeds can get blown away, washed away, eaten by birds or bugs. By sowing them in a container, you may not gain a lot as far as the bloom date, but you have more control over the germination process as a whole. Tomatoes and peppers are about the only things I may sow some of indoors. All of the cool season veggies and herbs will be WS, along with all of my perennials, and annuals. The annuals won't be sown until March or early April, and yes the blooms will be a little behind the nursery bought plants, but the plants will be stronger and many will bloom well past the first frost. For those of us that don't have room for sowing indoors, or have a green house, wintersowing allows us to still grow from seed.
Primgal, I hope that you won't give up on growing from seed. It's just a matter of finding a way that works for you. We are all learning as we go.
Happy sowing,
Bonnie
My notes on Torenia say takes 12-15 weeks to set out so... if start both at the same time transplant the impatiens in a 4" pot so will have enough room to stay healthy.
Traditionaly the range of dates is to allow for differences in container size, soil temp, light etc.
Would suggest you read winter sowing forum FAQ for easy way to start many plants. For me lettuce, spinach could be started early outside but toms , peppers and eggplants do need to be started indoor due to my summer quite short. You are in warmer zone than me but am not sure about your summer. You might want to try to grow early growing toms, peppers and eggplants- like Stupice, Siberian toms or smaller eggplants which need only 55-60 days to ripen instead of usual 80.
Hi jimla - There are many ways a cold frame can be incorporated into your garden. It all depends on (1) the exact nature of your cold frame as there are many very different ones on the market, (2) your weather, and (3) how much work and/or monitoring of it you will be free and willing to do.
For example, a frame that is portable, well insulated, and open on the bottom can be used to plant things in-ground both earlier and later in the year. It is used to extend you season on both ends in other words. Cole crops and leafy greens are really good crops for this. It will require close monitoring during the day as it can get quite warm inside so an auto-open vent is helpful.
While heat loving plants like tomatoes and peppers would do fine in it during the day, they would likely require some additional heat at night to maintain a minimum temp of 50 degrees - depending on your weather.
A cold frame that is totally enclosed, including the bottom, is used differently so we would need some additional details on your type of cold frame - size, insulation, venting, portability, etc.
I have linked a good set of discussions below - just scroll down to the links banded in blue - and I hope this helps you. Good luck! ;)
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Cold frames discussions
Even sterile soilless mixes can get infested with pests depending on how long they lay around exposed - some dealers store them outside for months before shelving them for sale. But I agree with calistoga - the odds are that you got weevil infested seeds and as directed cold stratification and then scarifying them will usually sort out the good from the bad.
Dave
Hot water works but germination will still be spread over a several week period. Al
The CalFlora database shows over 130 species of lupines just for CA, so it helps if know exactly which species of lupine you want to germinate. I've had sucess with both hot and cold water soaking, but if its more that 24 hours I find the seed so soft that it sometimes fall apart. Few CA species need stratification, but yours might.
Like Al says, germination for me has been slow and variable, but I've had success both direct sowing and growing in flats.