6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed

WoW! I started seeds 6-8 weeks ago in an unheated greenhouse! Not much luck here.
I think I used the wrong soil.
I would use starts if I were you. It's kinda late to start things from seed (except for starts for the fall or things in the shade such as lettuce etc.)
Good luck! Nancy

Bulbs are bad when one of two things happen: they get dry and appear to be just the shell or they are soft and maybe squishy. Oddly enough, I believe they are both a form of rot: Dry rot and rot. Sounds like you have rot.

Lime

Thanks Lime, I think that's when I use to pinch too. I just couldn't remember. Hope your plants and sprouts are doing well. How's the poppies doing?
Have a good day, Eileen

The poppies I transplanted into the garden are nearly invisible, they are still so small. The poppies I wintersowed are nearly invisible they are so small. The poppies I direct sowed are nearly invisible they are so small. The good news is if I am wearing my glasses and get really close, I can see they are alive! LOL!

The California poppies look unhappy, but there is no reason for it. They look like they are getting too much sun, but they don't even get a full day since they are on the west side of the house. I'm sure California poppies like full sun, so I'm not sure what is going on.

Lime

I run lights 16-18 hours per day both before and after germination. I cover trays with clear plastic domes before germination and the "greenhouse effect" warming from the lights is enough to germinate the seeds quickly without any bottom heat. I take the domes off for an hour once or twice a day to air out the plantings so they won't grow mold, and remove them when most of the seeds have germinated (usually a day or two after the first ones germinate).

I am a little more cavalier than most people. I start them in community pots - one pot per variety - under lights and never turn the lights off. I use blocks of wood or overturned pots to get those puppies right up under the lights as soon as they are sown.

If I have plastic I might use it as a greenhouse-thing, or if I have space on the little heat mat I have, I might put them on that, too.

The worst thing that can happen in my experience is for those just germinating seedlings to have no light the first 12 hours they come up out of the soil or soilless mix. That is how the legginess happens. Most all of my seedlings are very, very stocky.

Lime

Hi-

I vote for starting inside. If they start getting really long and crawly, I just pinch them back....they'll just bush out on you. Worked much better for me...both with germination and growth.

good luck
m

I've got some started on my windowsill here at work. Rigged up a fish-line trellis that is nearly invisible to the nekkid eye. The rest will be started via Winter Sowing method probably beginning or mid-May, and tossed down by the mailbox. I had good results starting them that way last year in near-mud.

I direct sowed mine about 4 weeks ago in an area where I had spread some top soil over an existing bed. The temp was unusually high for March. They germinated in two weeks. Please don't give up. I used to direct sow them and had no germination because the soil was not raked clean. Now I have no problem at all as long as the soil is freshly raked.

I don't want to WS them since I have a abundant collection of seeds and my garden is too stuffed to fit in small seedlings one spot at a time. I simply direct sow them so they'll grow at will. Good luck.

Hmmm...I'm willing to bet after this week that the $50+ seed investment is a 'washout.' Sigh.

If you have a Walmart in your area or any garden center, purchase a water meter. I got one from Walmart for around $5.00 and it works great in telling me when to water my plants. It has a long metal sensor that you can stick way down deep in the soil and it measure from completely dry to wet. Good luck. Joe

it is mostly matter of experience, when I see top medium of the tray is getting dry- it is time to get watered again. Also great way to figure it out is to weight tray in your hand- how does it feel when it soaked and how does it feel when it is dry. Then you try to acheive happy medium...;)

Hello all,

Yet another desperate mold question-asker. Yesterday, I noticed redish discoloration on the perlite of one of the trays of seed starter mix. This particular tray has had a high rate of seedling mortality (either not growing or flopping over). Is this damping off? I pulled some of the flopped-over seedlings (tomatillo and cauliflower), but there's none of the black-brownish discoloration I've been reading about for damping-off. Some did have stem constriction around the root line, but some didn't, which is why I was confused.

Panicked, I sprayed everything with 3% peroxide and sprinkled cinnamon liberally on the affected and unaffected flats. I tossed the seed starter mix in the packs that didn't grow and soaked it in 10% chlorine for 30 mins along with the bottom tray. I already had fans going for several hours/day, but I turned them on 24/7 now. Is there anything else that can save the affected flat or are all the plants goners? Anything else for prophylaxis?

Thanks!

Hi yeti00,

If you note the last photo above, there is also a brownish redish discolouration on the perlite.

I chalk it up to dead green mold. Maybe you got it in time, I really don't know. Hopefully someone can educate both of us.

Good luck... I'm still fighting the stuff. I'm winning thought!

Bill

I use the florescent lights from my aquariums and they work great.

I've used small aquarium lites and shop lites with cool white bulbs. I'm small scale and experimenting. Then I dug out a four bulb photo lite bar from the attic. Put two shelf brackets on a wall above a radiator and hung it there with two spiral florescent bulbs in it. I have two small aquarium lites with florescent tubes over another radiator and both seem to keep the seedlings happy. Maybe the spirals have less leggy seedlings but the seeds are different varieties so I don't know. Also used a bath lite bar with 6 bulbs on it. Put spirals in there in March and the seedlings under them did very well and are now outside in a cold frame.

I have not had success with cims from my own seeds, maybe let them dry up first too much. Anyway seed has to be fresh for best results. I do a lot of my seeds by winter sowing method and it seems works fine. Also I started using GA-3 on some toughies, had some good results.
All in all, after you get nice fresh seeds and start them approprietly, rest of it just waiting- something I am not always good at.

Winter sowing - Two cycles of warm/cold then warm/cold....

I had fabulous germination this spring of some seed I sowed (in a container outside) in the fall of 2005, but I forgot about them and they froze...aak! Boo-hoo! I think I will break down and buy this one.