6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed

Yes, poppies (pollinated by insects) will cross quite readily. I wish I had more information for you about the distance required, but I can tell you that it would be several hundred feet. Even more than that! But since you are growing multiple colors....why do you want to avoid cross pollination?

You are correct in thinking your pits from pickled apricots aren't viable. You might try the Seed Exchange Forum here and see if anyone has ripe fruit or untreated seed they could send you -

Soak seed, stratify 4 months (give the seeds a prolonged moist chill of approx 40F), and sow 4" apart early in spring, just covered, well-drained soil essential, sunny spot preferred. Needs light to germinate. If germination is difficult, try planting and keeping seed warm for 2 weeks before stratification, or simply sow outdoors in early in fall.

Raintree Nursery (reliable) sells young trees, but they also caution that in a mild maritime climate (like my own) they may bloom so early as so not to set fruit. If you were to order a tree, you might ask about your own zone if it's the fruit and not ornamental quality of the tree you are interested in.

You can plant the pit so that the roots are down and the shoot is up. They WILL bend that way if you were to plant it in the 'normal' position, but there is NO need for you to do so. Roots will always exhibit positive geotropism (growing down in response to gravity), while shoots will develop under negative geotropism (against gravity).

Plant the seed in the direction it has already begun and give that poor plant some LIGHT!!! ;-)

Just curious, but does anyone know if avacados can be grown in north central Louisiana?

I have some questions about this plant too. Is there any preparations that need to be done to the seeds? I have the seeds but when I planted some nothing happened.

Jessica

I am assuming you have purchased Rosy Periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus). Once the flower petals have fallen off of the plant a small pod will form. The pods are approximately 1/8" x 1". Once these have dried the seeds within can be harvested.

Here is a link that might be useful:

On the tag it said Red Cooler. We have some others that are smaller but look similar. I don't remember what their tag says. The pod you mentioned sounds like what I see forming on the Red Cooler vincas.

Is it worth keeping these seeds? Do they grow fast or are they slow growing?

Jessica

Hi Sandy,

I did a little search for you:
Some times seeds can take a very long time to germinate unfortunately there are different things you can try. using sandpaper to scarify the seed - warm moist stratification -
usually in a ziplock bag with moist not wet vermiculite or peat. More advanced is something called GA3 or smoke - not sure if it is a prarie species it may reguire a smoke treatment to trigger germination - try a warm period for 90 - 120 days of moist warm - then switch to the fridge around 40 F or 4 degrees Celcius (Canadian) for another 90 - 120 days . A seed is like a little embyro sometimes they need to continue developing even though they can be picked and appear to be ripe - the warm moist period helps do this without the seed drying out - try the sandpapering if the seed is large enough before the warm period - this will allow the water to do what is called imbibe (penetrate) the seed helping the seed to germinate.

Deni Bown in her book "Encyclopedia of Herbs & their Uses" (Catalogue #B2730) recommends green wood cuttings with a heel taken in late spring or by division in spring or autumn. The plant is also grown from seeds, but you will find that cuttings are easier because the plant only sporadically sets seeds and the seeds are slow to germinate and develop.

I'd be interested in trying some of these seeds

Cheers

Jeff

Thanks Jeff,
I've already given all the seed away. The seed are very small. With seed that small I don't cover them, just sprinkle them on top of the potting oil and cover the container to keep it moist. It usually works but haven't had any luck with these.
The cuttings are gone also. We had a wind of about 60 miles an hour the day after I had put them on my front porch. Lost quite a few of my plants in small pots. A tornado did quite a bit of damage to my neighbors place about a half mile away.
When it blooms again I'll save the seed and your more than welcome to try your luck with them.

Thanks again,
Sandy

I'm betting Squirrels. I lost most of my sunflowers to the little critters a couple years ago. You can try "bitter apple" spray or hot pepper oil. Apply it to the plants to make them not so tasty to the animals.
Good Luck!

Thanks

It might, it probably does, vary with the brand name. The only time I tried it they all unrolled in a day or two after the first watering.

(I had seen some reforestation people planting tree seedlings grown in cardboard cylinders and I decided to try it with toilet paper cylinders. My experiment failed.)

I tried it and they alternated between drying out completely and getting mouldy. Also the compost fell out of the bottom and the whole thing was a sorry mess. I'm sure there are advocates of "bog-roll-planting" out there, but for plants with long roots (e.g. sweet peas) I now use 500ml yoghurt pots - they're nice and deep. Yes, the plant has some root disturbance, but it doesn't make a huge difference, in my opinion.

lyinseeker,
here's a site with good info, just start down somewhere around 50. Good luck with the seeds.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rose seeds

Annual coreopsis are prairie plants that grow in meadows and grasslands, their stems are supported by the surrounding plants. They also have seeds which are distributed by dropping, the seeds are not windborne, so again the leaning nature of the plant allows for the seeds to be dispursed away from the plant base.

Plants which are native to dryland, natural environments usually require lean soil and plenty of sun. After seedlings are established, gradually reduce waterings and then let the rain be their source for moisture; only water when the plants are near wilting. It's better to prepare their bed well with a few shovelfuls of compost than to provide supplemental feeding.

By giving your prairie plants "tough love" you'll toughen their stems so they don't flop severely and you'll stimulate the groth of a better root system to support that plant as well.

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Seeds offered as bonuses in seed catalogues are great varieties because they want you to order with them again. They're not going to send dud seeds or hideous and difficult varieties...this is business and they want your money; it doesn't pencil out for them to turn off customers.

T