Growing from Seed
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6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
Ok since no one else has answered and I have never personally grown them from seed, just cuttings, I'm not sure how helpful this will be. It is primarily a deep south perennial bush and so is never exposed to cold stratification in nature. I wouldn't expect it to require cold strat for germination.
If you have sufficient seeds I'd suggest splitting them and doing both with 1/2 the seeds - cold strat some and skip it on others. See which works best and report back.
Hope this is of some help.
Dave
I just sprouted 4 of 25 seeds - took about 3 weeks for anything to show... and I just put them in plastic egg carton with lid (one seed per egg pod) sprayed them often once to twice a day - and put them in a sunny window - I started in early May and they are still tiny on June 2 but looking healthy - I wonder if more would have sprung if I had done cold stratification...but I'm happy - at least I have four. :)
Thank you so much, Morz8 for that valuable information. You really are very knowledgeable and explained the process in detail. I SO appreciate that!
You have just confirmed what I suspected... I counted out 50 seeds and put them between moist paper toweling, put inside a plastic bag and am checking them daily. Already in 1 day, they are plumping up. I'm not sure if they need light to germinate, so did some each way. From what I was able to gather elsewhere, they recommended 3/4" depth... which seemed like a lot... and there again, in nature... they must germinate without that depth. Even allowing for freeze, thawing of the soil. I will do as you suggested and sow pots where I can keep a close watch of them. Thank you again!
Jtmo, I'm not familiar with the LED lights available at Costco, so can't speculate much about their effectiveness. There are "tricks" to make LED lights put out a wider spectrum of light. If you really want to delve into the pros, cons, and caveats of LED lights for plants, I'd recommend checking out some of the many related threads on GardenWeb's Growing under Lights Forum.
I've sown a lot of seeds in my life but I NEVER sterilize my sowing compost. If you sterilize it you kill the good bacteria that are in your compost. Putting grit on top of your sowings make sense, especially if it something that takes a long time to germinate (Trillium etc.).
We need a closer higher details look to know for sure.
I failed at growing sunflower last year because all of them got heavily attacked by leaf miners that eat between the leaves, causing the leaves to be black like that. You can find little the worms between the leaves and pop them.
Last year and also this year I sowed seeds of deciduous Azaleas (mostly species like schlippenbachii, arborescens, quinquefolium and albrechtii).
I use professional ericaceous compost to which I add some sharp sand for good drainage. On top of this I put some peat moss on which I sow the seeds. I put a plastic cover on the pot to prevent drying out. Germination follows in 2 to 3 weeks time.
First year growth of most species is usually modest. In the second year I put the seedlings in individual small pots. Water adequately but be careful not to overwater because this can lead to phytophtera root rot.
Germinating seeds of Rhododendron [Azalea] albrechtii
1 year old seedlings of Azalea schlippenbachii
When i ordered mine the instructions said to wait until weather was going to be in the 80s for three days. I did that even tho the wait was well into summer. (Foggy coast). Instructions said they dont transplant well, so pick your spot. That advice gave me a very healthy, lovely tree. Will top her in time i think.
They will seed them selves any time.