6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
Sorry, missed the second part of your question earlier....busy with trick or treaters :)
There are some good online germination guides - Clothiers is great, take time to read through the sowing articles too.....if you were looking for a book, Making More Plants by Ken Druse is very helpful
Here is a link that might be useful: Clothiers Germination Database
Cristi, from the nature of your query I would guess that you are looking for non hybrid and or heirloom varieties of vegetables, possibly you are also interested in organic sources for this seed, if this is the case the following link lists 153 sources of supply ...
Here is a link that might be useful: GreenPeople website
I was looking through the Johnny's seed catalog. Trying to figure out what was heirloom or open pollinated and what was hybrid.
Thank you for the web site it is so helpful. I do want as many of my vegetables to be heirloom/organic as I can get to plant next year. I have a fenced area I am going to keep all my heirloom/organic items in. I am planning a potager area. The website is really helpful!
thank you,
cristi
I don't harest my dats until the pods crack and open. Then, I dry the seeds for several days indoors in a bowl. Many times, seeds are not ready until the pods crack and ma nature lets them loose. I'm not sure that's a hard-line rule for datura.
I try to allow them to split on the plant but will cut the largest ones and allow them to dry inside if we're expecting a hard freeze. The pods will survive just fine and continue to ripen through a few light frosts, even if the foliage has been killed back.
Karyn
It sound like you have some seed. But do not count on them producing plants like the Parent ... for that reason the plants resulting from these seed will indeen be interisting.... to germinate do not cover the seed soil temp 78-80F & takes about 21 days to germinate.... best of luck.
Thanks so much. I figured that they wouldn't be true to the parent I was just wondering if they were actually seeds. I guess it's time to get out the seed mat. Should I over sow these? What is the germination rate usually like? There must be 10's of thousands of seeds. I had about a dozen pods that were full.
Karyn
Donna, you don't say what climate zone you are in, or which crape myrtle...there are some newer varieties that are more tolerant of cold, but depending on variety, crape myrtles can be grown from USDA hardiness zones 6 to 10. In zone 6, even the most cold-hardy varieties will probably be killed to the ground each winter and will be useful only as a shrubby, flowering perennial. I have to add too, that I have 'Zuni' in my own Z8 coastal garden in my hottest possible position with my light colored house to reflect heat - in 10 years time it's an interesting small tree with bronzy foliage and great peeling bark but it's never ever bloomed. Not enough summer heat.
Very fresh seed that hasn't been stored or dried will often germinate, very lightly covered as some light may be beneficial to germination, 70-75F, without the cold period preceding sowing.
If the seed has dried, as George notes in the other crape post: stratify 4 weeks at 40F, lightly cover the seed, soil temp 70-75F & takes 15-20 days to germinate & 15 weeks to reach large enough to set out - so you'll have to calculte your own average last frost date and count backwards.
Depending on what kind of setup you have for growing seedlings, crepe myrtle seeds can be started in mid to late winter in order to get decent-sized plants by the time they're set out when warm weather arrives in spring. If you have adequate light, the young plants will remain healthy until they're transitioned into the garden.
There are crepe myrtles (especially some dwarf varieties) that will be hardy into USDA zone 5 as returning perennials, blooming nicely if (as the previous poster noted) they have adequate summer heat, and if there's full sun. I grow several varieties of crepes here on the northern fringe of zone 6 and some types will flower heavily for months. In a mild winter most to all of the wood of the hardier types will survive, meaning earlier blooming.
Your chances of getting a tree form crepe in eastern Canada are not good, but depending on where you're located and whether a sheltered spot is available, you can still have flowering crepes as perennials/shrubs.
The plant most commonly referred to as "string of beads" is Senecio Rowleyanus, but two other species are sometimes known by this common name vis: S.Radicans and S.Herreianus.
Unfortunately I do not know much regarding raising these from seed, as they are usually propagated by rooting part of a stem. Perhaps knowing the scientific name, others would be better placed to answer the question posed by cliviajohn.
Thanks for the info ensatagirl, just checked out the site -it's cool! I think that you're right about T&M prices, I've alwase thought of them as a bit of a "dog and pony show" anyway!
For anybody interested in looking at the Hardy Plants site, I've put in a link.
Here is a link that might be useful: Hardy plant website
You would probably have better results sowing in pots - pots deep enough to leave the seedlings intact in their seed pot until they die back their first fall, then take out the small corms, store to plant in Spring in a Z6
Sow covered by 1/4" @70-75F for germination in 20 - 40 days
Thanks all - I will wait until after the first of the year, maybe do the delp. first and then the foxglove. I guess I was hoping to get them big enough to bloom next summer.
Thanks
Hi Joytwo,
Just a note....i had started 'foxy' digitalis and they bloomed for me the first year...even starting after jan. 1. Now if you start some other digitalis...they may be a true biennial...no matter how early you may start them up. Also, the delphiniums bloomed for me, albeit somewhat weakly. The next year is when they really put on their show:)
good luck with whatever you experiment with:)
m