6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed

Agree there is nothing to be gained by waiting. Worry about the rest of it after the seed germinates - if it ever does - and actually grows some.

Good luck.

Dave

Thanks Bboy and Dave! Into the fridge they go!

Thanks Dave.

Bobby, if you Google "germination temperature" you will find numerous extension websites and others that have charts for vegetables & flowers. Here is one.

Here is a link that might be useful: Optimal germination temperatures for seeds

organic flutterby,

Try to remember that gardening is a process of learning, trying, and then learning from successes and failures. The generous people who offer their advice here and who write books and blogs have gone through this process for many years. I would hazard to guess that most of them still have successes and unforeseen failures from which they learn, even with all of that experience. So relax, read as much as you can from a variety of sources, and then try things. What works is great, and what fails is a lesson learned. Try something different next time. My first garden many years ago was a huge experiment. I had no idea what a bean plant looked like and was pleasantly surprised when I actually harvested enough veggies to freeze and can some extras for winter. Been at it for over 30 years since then and I have successes and failures every year. That is the challenge, and what keeps it interesting. Try not to take it all so seriously and enjoy the process!

Woah woah woah! Never feel bummed! Take your successes and run with them, take your failures and learn from them.

My first garden, I planted about 8 different kinds of seeds. You what I would up growing? Beans, and that was quite by accident! That year I even tried growing 2 indeterminate tomatoes in these tiny little containers with less then 1/2 a bag of soil each! (The coup de grâce was when I woke up one morning and all my beans looked like they had been in a fight with a weed whacker, covered with a layer of hail that looked like it had snowed). Then, the first time I tried starting seeds indoors, I killed every single transplant, except for 2 cabbages, because I didn't harden them off. You talk about naivety and feeling bummed? Holy cow, and we are only on year number one!

It's been a while since then, though not nearly as long as a lot of people here (not that I'm calling them old or anything ;P) and now my failures are no longer as daunting. And believe me, there are quite a few of them, but I also have a lot more success, too. It's a learning thing, and the coolest part bout it is that there is always new learning! You never know it all because gardening is not one size fits all. You have to try new things, and try to improve old things to fit you, and your current situation.

As for your seedlings in question: The good news is that if you loose any, you have time to redo darn near all of them.

-I don't typically transplant onions, unless they are really crowded and/or I start them way too early.

-Lettuce, I always direct seed. So, if your lettuce started indoors doesn't make it, you always have direct sewing as a back-up plan, and you wont be behind anyways.

-The tomatoes, I wouldn't throw those ones out, but I would put in another batch of seed just in case. There is plenty of time for starting tomatoes yet. in fact, here in my zone 5 climate I don't start my tomato seeds until mid-late march, and I know a lot of folks around here who wait until April so, you'd be right on schedule if you popped some more in right now, or even if you waited a week or two.

-The cabbage type plants, I'd also give it a couple weeks or so and then start some more seeds, just in case these ones don't make it or don't transplant very well. You are still at least 2 months out for your last expected frost, which is plenty of time to start another batch.

High wattage lights are overrated particularly if all you're doing is growing seedlings. A 2 tube or 4 tube fluorescent 4 foot shoplight is sufficient. Cool white F32T8 bulbs work great and very easy to find. Don't bother with expensive growbulbs. The 2 tube shop lights can be better for seedlings because the 4 tube lights can be a bit warm for seedlings unless you set it high. But then what would be the point of having the extra light? I prefer starting my seedlings under the 2 tube light then advance the seedlings to the 4 tube light after they've grown and I want to get them ready for hardening them off.

I've been growing cactus plants under a 2 tube 4 foot shop light for years using Cool White F32T8 bulbs. They do very well and my light bill never notices the energy expenditure.

Mossonarock I do agree that they are little spendy for just seed starting the CFL bulbs and the HPS. but the HPS i have seen a huge difference in my seedling development when i move them from my CFL's on top to my HPS lamps on bottom. I am not running a very high wattage of HPS just 150 watts so it does not get very hot. but i do have the set up in my colder garage with a exhaust fan to push fresh colder air up toward the top of the grow area. I have been experimenting with this for some months now and i believe when the plant is in its 4 to 5 week stage of development putting it under a Metal halide or High pressure sodium lamp really helps the plant make more chlorophyll than a CFL bulb does, giving larger leaves and more dark green foliage.

Here is a link that might be useful: TheItalian Garden

I get about 90% success by using a little trick:

Not sure where most people obtain this stuff, but I buy garden-grade vermiculite at our local feed store. Most people use it by incorporating it right into their soil mixtures.

I use an old parsley spice container with big holes (or perhaps an old parmesan cheese shaker would work). I drop the seed on the soil, and DON'T press in. Instead, I sprinkle vermiculite in a thin layer over the seeds. Then water very gently so as to disrupt the surface as little as possible. The vermiculite holds moisture right up next to the tiny seed while still allowing light in. It seems like such an unlikely simple solution...but I promise that it has helped survival rate of my baby sprouts so much!

My ice plant seeds seem to like high heat to germinate. About 75 to 80 degrees in 10-14 days. They grow surprisingly fast, and transplant very easily.

Another trick I employ in my efforts trying to grow tiny seeds: instead of watering with a regular pitcher I use a picnic ketchup bottle. It works perfect for squeezing the water onto the seedbed and/or tiny sprouts without dislodging them until they are big enough to handle the flow from the water pitcher.

Thanks for the thread, trying iceplant from seed for the first time this year. Looks like I'll have to give mine some supplemental heat to get started. I like to toss them in the oven with just the light on. It puts off a surprising amount of heat. I just have to remind the other half not to cook my seeds!

For the tomatoes, I didn't mix varieties within a 6-pack. I have 14 varieties and since sixteen 6-packs will fit in two flats, two varieties have two 6-packs while all the others have one 6-pack.

Thenâ¦â¦â¦.as Dave says, as soon as even one seed in a cell pack sprouts, remove it from the heat and get it under lights, the rest will follow. While heat mats may speed it up, many many people germinate tomatoes without them.

Have no idea who praxxus is but like some others, perhaps he just doesn't know any better. Which is odd as any experienced nursery grower knows and there is plenty of science-based info about it available on the web for the layman.

Dave

Hi.. thanks everyone for the feedback. I guess I will have to be more careful with the tranparent cups.

I had seen Ray (from the praxxus channel) do this but also thought that it was probably ok b/c soil blocks are an acceptable means of growing seedlings as well and in that the root are pretty open to air as well. I guess you keep those pretty close together and don't let it too much light.

It is simple enough for me to just place my cups in another opaque cup... so I may do that. Waste of cups but oh well you live and you learn.

Us Landscapers call it Girgling. They do the same thing if you dont remove the wire baskets from the larger trees. They actually done some research on it at Ball State University here in Muncie Indiana.

...'tis that time of year.

Rick

its really not dependent on the seed once it sprouts yes it has energy stored in it for the seedlings to use that why some seeds sprout faster than other because some have more energy in them. that why when the first one sprouts on most of the bigger plant seeds you pluck the second or third out. Because that first one is the best and most vigorously bursting with energy therefore the winner.

Here is a link that might be useful: TheItalian Garden

The oldest mature seed that has grown into a viable plant was a Judean date palm seed about 2,000 years old, recovered from excavations at Herod the Great's palace on Masada in Israel. It was germinated in 2005.[4][5][6][7] Wiki

Still has a little pep, doesn't it?

I will be following this with interest, as broccoli seems to be the plant that I have the most trouble with in my zone 6.

Spinach and lettuce grow great. Tomatoes and peppers vary a lot year to year. Carrots and onions are so-so, but I often ignore them so I can't complain. But broccoli -- never got a single bite of anything in the four year I tried it in my 14 years of gardening.

Maybe I should treat it like spinach and plant it a number of different times to increase the chances of success.

Some followup questions now that my seedlings have really gotten big since I transplanted them into my 3.5 durapots. Another week or so and I will probably take them outside.

1) Is there a hardening process for broccoli?

2) Is the root system of broccoli very large? Will a 5 gallon grow bag be large enough?

3) For the 5-1-1 mix that I'll be using for the broccoli, after adding the dolomitic lime, would I use the same amount of Dynamite 15-5-9 CRF that I would for tomatoes?

4) Does broccoli need a lot of sun like tomatoes do?

5) Do I need to protect the broccoli from animals of any sort? If not, then I may not need to put the grow bags in my fenced in garden.

6) Should I dust with Bt as a preventative or only at the first signs of cabbage loopers?

Here's what the seedlings look now (inter-mixed with Dahlias):

Along with some pics of my new basement setup this year:

This post was edited by njitgrad on Tue, Mar 18, 14 at 13:32

Ah, and the peat pots retained a llooooot of water. thank you, this helped a lot and we've made adjustments. The ones we put in our drip tower are doing way better than the ones still in the peat pot.

haha, we bought what we found to be the best LED for our price range and it has done wonderfully!

Looks like a mixture of over watering and legginess to me. I would think LED would be fine for light. However, i have seen way more benifits personally to the gas lamps even though they cost more. I have seen 1000 times more dark green leafy growth under my HPS lights than my florescent or LED lights. Granted i have nothing against LED just think it has a little ways to go before its a wonder light for indoor plant growing. I would highly recommend spending a little more on power and on a 400watt hight pressure sodium or metal halide i think you will be amazed by the results.

Here is a link that might be useful: TheItalian Garden

This post was edited by Jonathan29 on Mon, Mar 17, 14 at 23:33