6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
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.
I always wait until Mother's Day to plant any seedlings or bedding plants. The last frost day where I live in central Iowa is around 10 May.
I harden off my seedlings in the shade or on my deck under the tables & chairs. But I only leave them outside for an hour or so. And when I finally plant them I have to cover them with netting to keep the rabbits from eating them like a buffet...
While the air temp is important to plants so is the soil temp if you plan to also plant seeds directly in the soil. Right now the soil temps in Iowa are in the low 50's. But if we get a cold snap it will go down.
You can check the soil temps at the Iowa State University Ag website.
Here is a link that might be useful: ISU Soil Temp Map
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...;)
You can start hardening off as soon as the temps during the day are around 60! I have already taken a few of mine outside for the afternoon and mine go in the ground around the sametime as you! I take them out for the afternoons and bring them in around five or six ...they are doing great!
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'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.
bindersbee...Just a suggestion that has worked successfully for me for the last three years...
I know most gardeners who use the camomile tea remedy have their own recipe as far as how many bags/how much water/how long to steep/how long the tea is good for...I have 32 oz. spray bottles. I drop one camomile tea bag in the room temp water and use that to mist my seeds if they appear dry prior to germinating in the soil and for several weeks after they have sprouted. I use a regular (guess it's a gallon) plastic watering pot with one or two (my whim) teabags to bottom water. Once the water is no longer discolored from the tea bag, I pull it out and drop a new one in.
No recipe, no rhyme or reason...and NO damp-off in three years of thousands of seedlings started in a heated garage w/artificial lighting. (knock on wood...lol)...Give it a shot!
Barbara in AK
Back on April 6th I inquired in an earlier thread here how about hollyhocks and calendula not producing true leaves. The calendula are just beginning to get true leaves at about 20 days. The hollyhocks are not. But I planted some sunflowers in a couple of pellets where the calendula did not germinate and they are up with true leaves in about five days.
All were outside in full sun all day. I have had to bring them in the last couple of nights because of a cold front. But it surely looks like the delay is some combination of the species of plant and the environment.
Even though I am looking at it, twenty days seems too long.
I have some Datura Inoxia and Datura Alba seeds that I bought last year and didnt get to plant them early enough so I kept them. Well of course now it is April & I still haven't planted them. Is it too late? I thought about starting them inside under lights to help them grow faster. Anyone have any thoughts?
Rebecca....
Same question here: What kind of seeds are they. Different seeds require different conditions. If they are regular old popular annuals, you probably won't have any problems with them sprouting. Give us more info and we'll see what we can come up with. Good Luck, Joe.
I have done germination experiments on many, many agava. They germinate much better when quite fresh, usually mid to late summer. In late winter or spring I would expect significant seed not to germinate. It is stated above "AGAVE--SURFACE SOW AND DO NOT EXCLUDE LIGHT. KEEP AT 70-75. ON GERMINATION, APPLY A LIGHT SPRINKLING OF COARSE GRAVEL TO HELP SUPPORT THE YOUNG SEEDLINGS AND LESSEN DAMPING OFF." I am not sure you need to exclude light, otherwise I like the quote form above.
Were I to write instructions I would say (1) plant fresh seeds in late summer (2)KEEP AT 75-85°F. ON GERMINATION, APPLY A LIGHT SPRINKLING OF COARSE GRAVEL TO HELP SUPPORT THE YOUNG SEEDLINGS AND LESSEN DAMPING OFF (3) wait 20-30 years for results.
also wondering - do i need to move them up to bigger home before hardening. ie: they are in little burpee cells and have 1st set of true leaves coming out. do I need to transplant them up 1st. and if i do, it will be within hours of putting them outside. seems like that would be too much stress on little children....
Steve, there's no point in potting them up a few hours before putting the plants outside. The reason to move to larger pots is so they can fill it out with their roots while growing to a larger size. That takes a few weeks, not a few hours.
Why don't you harden them off for the next week after you get back from your trip by just leaving them outdoors during the day? That will help acclimate them and give the garden soil a chance to dry out a little bit while you wait. Use the weekend to gradually increase their daily outdoors time. If you do build the cold frame, leave the roof off.
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.