6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
Albert, certainly not all seeds are so fragile, but sometimes the abrupt temperature change from 'room' to 0F of most freezers can damage a moist seed, actually shatter the embryo. Mother Nature goes about it much more gradually.....
For most seeds - you might as well say bye bye if you put them in the freezer it will destroy the embryo - the fridge is ideal as seeds are kept in around the same temp when they are in their natural environment - seeds are usually insulated from the cold by organic matter and the air and muck in between and the snow on top further insulates the seed from the elements - Its also important to research the seed you are planning on planting "SOME NOT ALL" seeds require a warm period before cold stratification this enables the seed embryo to develop to maturity - just because the fruit is ripe does not mean the seed is (seeds are a lot like babies this way - they have to come to term) this can be achieved by keeping the seed in warm moist medium in a ziplock bag - I usually warm strat until Christmas then cold strat 90-120 days - then out plant in the spring - These plants have a double dormancy that must be overcome before the germination occurs - Some seeds have a very hard seed coat they must be scarified first this is usually done by using sandpaper or a file or a grinder if the seed is very large like a kentucky coffee tree seed - once you get to the white meat just inside the seed coat stop - This is done so the seed imbibes moisture and can germinate - if a seed is soaked in water for 24 -48 hours and it swells 2-4 times in size it has imbibed and is ready to be planted out.
cheers and good luck
jeff
I had wintersown some in 2005, but the seedlings died after transplanting. I tried again in 2006 and moved them when they were a bit larger than in 2005, and they actually managed to survive, and bloomed this year. Naturally it survived, only because I went out and purchased 2 plants! Since this is the first year I have blooms, I'm going to try and harvest seed as well.
Cardinal flower likes wet and shady more so than blue lobelia - it is a slow growing native perennial - the first year it will be establishing a root system the second it should flower - surface sow with bottom heat easy warm germinator - must have a cold period of ninety - 120 days first regarding the zone they are if from zone 6 they will require the longest stratification period 120 days @ 40'f (in fridge not freezer)
Hi linlily - It is getting awfully late for any plants/transplants to establish themselves well enough before killing frost. But depending on the type of plant, you can prepare the planting places now and then direct sow some seeds around the time of your first snowfall, let them stratify in-ground over the winter, and then come up next spring.
Dave
first you have to soak the seeds- I usually use a spring water bottle with a lid on it ad set it on the winow still a few days.You can start it now indoors in a sunny location or wait until the spring. I am going to start some now indoors.HTH
I agree with damping off. When I winter sow that's never a problem. Unfortunately not everything can be WS'd. Poisondartfrog gave you some good info. I've also tried misting with diluted hydrogen peroxide which seems to help. Fungus gnats can also be a problem. Watering with Bt seems to keep them in check. I drop a Mosquito Dunk in a jug of water and use that on the seedlings. Good air circulation is also necessary. You can set up a small fan near your trays. Good luck, hope the rest of your seedlings do well.
Karyn
Why is the flower color different? It's simple genetics. Its like when two peopel with brown eyes get together and have a baby with blue eyes. They both carry a recive gen for blue eyes and the baby inherits it. Fall is the best time to transplant trees and shrubs so move tour plant whne the weather begins to cool.
You can put a piece of a stocking around the flower heads to catch the seeds. Each fertilized faded bloom will have a little black seed inside. Each flower cluster is made up of many separate blooms. You can just squeeze the spent bloom and the seed should pop out.
Karyn
I just figured this one out, myself. The black seeds are inside a pink petal-looking enclosure--they're camoflaged! I've been going out every day or so with a wide bowl, and gently scruffing up the flowers. Plenty of seeds drop off into the bowl.
Hi Pomme8916, there are many types of wild poppy dependant on which part of the world you are thinking of. Here in the U.K. the common type is Papaver Rhoeas. These are normally an orange/red color, however these have been selected over a number of years and other colors have become available. Chiltern Seeds have a strain called 'Mother Of Pearl' that contains 'grey-blues and blue greys' amongst other colors.
Contact details, email: info@chilternseeds.co.uk
website: www.chilternseeds.co.uk
Chilternseeds do despatch internationally.
I water my seedlings from the bottom. The vegetable farmers of the Salinas Valley California, water their seedlings using furrow watering,another bottom up method. Many farmers are now using plugs to start their crops due to the high labor cost of workers required to thin and weed the seedlings. Al
Thanks Al,
That's what I wanted to know.
Cheers,
DG (your neighbor in Novato)