6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
Mary,
You could call your local nursery and ask them about your seed question or your local extension office here is a link. They should be able to help you, also ask if you could take a soft cutting from your peach tree. Seeds don't always produce the same tree where a soft cutting would give you the same thing you are growing now. Sorry I couldn't be of anymore help.
Here is a link that might be useful: Maryland Extension Office
Perlite and vermiculite are the Kings of certain crucial things, especially soil aeration. I buy perlite in bulk forms and till it into my flower beds even though I have the best of black dirt where I live. Tomorrow, yet two more boxes of perlite will be delivered in boxes almost big as me, so my wife will sigh and say: "Your Mother warned me before the wedding in 1972, but she never told me you'd become another "potty-trained Martha Stewart. What's next? A chicken coupe full of hens that lay green, pink, and blue eggs?"
I grow MANY seeds both indoors and out. (I forget WHY) I almost NEVER use just perlite or vermiculite as the potting mix for seeds. I add peat moss at around 50%, to help retain the moisture. Yes there is no nutritional value in that mix, but until the seeds become plants with say 2 sets of leaves, my experience tells me that seeds benefit far more from other conditions such as constant temperature, light, water, humidity or say the correct music. One time I accidentally left the TV on MTV after an Eagles concert, and half an acre died from the subsequent RAP!
I DO more heavily use vermiculite and/or perlite for cuttings, but even then I usually add some peat, so that there is better soil contact. It seems logical to me anyway, but then again... I'm the guy who thought it logical to build and put a greenhouse in the living room!
My plants are most always doing well, but I'd appreciate any prayers you can offer for my wife.
jim Palmer
They should still be fine if they were kept room temperature and weren't exposed to the sun too much.
As for germinating them, I'm no expert, but I think they will need a period of cold temperatures to break the dormant period. I believe this is called stratification. You can either plant them outside over winter and they will come up in the spring, or put them in a fridge for about 4 weeks then plant them. I don't know how long they take to germinate as I have never tried to grow any but I have heard it can be as little as a day, although that is probably rare.
Hope this helps.
The same principles apply to the seeds you are harvesting now. Larkspur and daylily form pods that brown, dry and crack open allowing you to harvest. I have only done snaps once, but it's basically the same thing, just smaller seed. I am curious though, my larkspur have bloomed, seeded and been pulled for a while now. Why are they just now forming seeds for you?
My poppy, petunia and snapdragon seeds all have a habit of doing that if they get a little wet, they'll ball up and hold on to that little droplet of moisture forever.
What I do to combat it is throw a small silica gel packet into the their container and shake it up (to break up the clusters) and let the silica gel packet try to suck up as much of the moisture as possible.
Slightly less frustrating than using a coffee filter, magnifying glass and tweezers. ;-p
As for them being prickly, I don't think those hairs are really going to stop anything. Look at the images in the link below...
Here is a link that might be useful: Papaver Rhoeas Poppies...
Thanks for the link Joe. ItÂll be a week or two before I figure out what some of that means. Fascinating stuff.
I put a used one of those silica packs in with the seeds and they "sound" better already. I think the next time I work with small seeds IÂll do it next to the dehumidifier. I hope those hairs will be enough to keep the chipmunks in their own uncultivated patch behind the arborvitaes.
I dont know how much space you have, but with lupine and poppies, I probable would just winter sow them. My space is limited however, my indoor set up is for veggies and annuals and other tender plants. Any temperate plant I will try to wintersow, besides its fun to throw seeds and dishes into the snow and have all your relatives and friends think your nuts if you dont know what im talking about you can check out www.wintersown.org or just check out the forum here on gardenweb.
It's a lovely thought, but if the back of the flower is still green and has not yet begun to turn yellow, I'm sorry to say it may very well not form seeds. If the back of the flower has begun to yellow, you could put the flower head in a dry, well ventilated place and wait to see if the seeds might ripen.
I must sound like I'm trying to discourage you and I'm not, but open pollinated sunflowers, whether from a home garden or grown for the florist trade, will produce flowers different from the parent flower. If it's that particular flower (color, size) that would remind you of your missing loved one, you might be better off looking for the same thing in commercially grown seed and planting that each season - you could still have the sunny tribute in your garden.
A neighbor and I planted a row of sweet peas this Spring for a neighbor who loved them and is no longer with us....each bouquet a happy memory.
Many perennials do need a cold moist period before they will germinate, the two you mention do not.
Cone flower (echinacea) should germinate in about 2 weeks at 70F, and blanket flower (gaillardia) at the same temp in three, barely cover this seed as some light may be beneficial to germination.
Were the seed heads fully mature on the plant when you harvested the seeds? Have you sown these outdoors...if your temperatures are much warmer than the optimum 70ish it could be interfering with germination.
mix the seeds with sand to spread them out.