6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
I think another clue might be, which plants can form roots from cuttings?
So in other words, the parts of the stems that are now buried, would create new roots at those leaf joints if they were cuttings that were planted.
An example would be wandering jew or purple queen. They can root easily from just a small portion being stuck in the ground, but I tend to get 6-8" long cuttings and put about 1/2 of it in the ground. Part of the reason is to make the mother plant a little more compact but also because I wanted the cutting to form roots from many potential sections.
Agree that the issue is not the Gnatrol, it is the self-watering planting trays as they are well known for over-watering the seedlings and the subsequent root rot that causes. The degree of affect depends on the type of seedlings as some are far less tolerant of the excessive moisture than others.
Dave
Thanks for the link, ubro. For gardeners bringing seed into Canada, the appropriate clause indeed says:
"Where the imported seed lot is 5 kg or less for large seeded crop kinds (such as peas, wheat, soybeans and corn) or is 500 g or less for small seeded crop kinds (such as alfalfa, tomato or canola), neither the import declaration information nor the seed analysis certificate need be supplied"
For home gardeners those would be pretty generous limits. More than a pound of lettuce seed: Phew!!
Vanisle_BC - That information you understood is correct. it's doubtful that the US and Canadian governments would fine you. However, the American recipient could be fined. And who in their right mind would want to trade seed under those conditions? If I had sent seeds to Canada and in return, the seeds the Canadian trader sent me were confiscated with perhaps a threat of a fine from the USDA, I would be furious.
It is a very serious issue which my daughter experienced. She was living in the US and had purchased a home. At the time, I had a wholesale production nursery in Canada and she needed plants so she visited me and prior to her arrival, I had the Canadian government prepare a phytosanitary certificate as she was bringing back plants and seeds. My daughter added a few extra plants not listed on the phytosanitary certificate and put them in her vehicle. At the border, the customs agents went through every single pack of seed and every plant. They found the plants that weren't listed and confiscated them. Then they put her and her husband on a list of people know as 'Agricultural Threats'. Every single time she visited Canada for over 2 years and returned to the US, her vehicle was pulled over and she was detained for hours. She was lucky as she did not receive a fine.
Although this website is international, the vast majority of people posting here are Americans. I believe that this is the reason they stopped the trading altogether and I highly doubt that they will ever allow for international seed trading again given the current USDA requirements.
As I said, I've lived in both countries and although there is an 'imaginary' border between the two countries, the two governments are vastly different.
The hydrogen peroxide was usually used when you wanted to put the seeds in an enclosed bag. If your paper is sitting out somewhere, you can do just as well with water or moist paper.
I might wait until the seedlings are just a little bigger, not immediately when I see they have germinated. The reason for this is that sometimes when covering seedlings with dirt that they didn't have before, they would die. For example, if the seedling had to push through dirt to get to the surface, it's ok. But if putting dirt on that seedling that emerged, hoping to have it grow in a dirt area that gives it more protection or something, if dirt got on it in some way, it just dies.
I start my seeds in moist peatmoss in a baggie. I just put them in, shake it up and put them on a warm mat. I watch and then when they start to germinate I pick them out and plant them. this saves space and then only the viable seeds are used. I do almost all my cut flowers this way except the really tiny seeds, they are too hard to see.
Thanks sun forum! Seeds were new, but I question their quality.......... very poor germination........ With seed origin being China & Japan, ya can't hope for much...... There is an outside chance I fertilized a bit too much as well, since NG Imps are very light feeders.... Seedlings have slow to no growth..........
Definitely don't leave multiple plants per pot then. If you decide to thin them without saving the extras, don't pull out the seedlings -- just snip them off so that you don't damage the root system of the remaining plant.
I always divide and save extra tomato and pepper seedlings.... it never hurts to have extra plants in case of some catastrophe, and they're always easy to give away if you don't need them in the end.
No experience with T5HO lights, but white mold does sound like you're over-watering. I don't use "seed starting mix" because it tends to be mostly vermiculite. I use Pro-Mix potting mix and usually add extra perlite. I prefer to water from the top because I have better control.... I give it water until I see water coming from the bottom of the pot. To judge if it needs water, I go by the color of the potting mix and the weight of the pots (it's lighter in both color and weight when it's dry). HTH.
I've not had great luck with jiffy pots which tend to dry out quickly. Despite package claims they do not decompose in the ground but instead hamper root development. You might do better with red drink party cups with holes poked in the bottoms until you plant in ground.
This link will cover Shirley Poppies. Shirley Poppies
This will do California Poppies Eschscholzia californica
Iceland Poppies are recommended for Fall sowing.
I winter sow poppies. There is also a Winter Sowing Forum here that you should check out.
Rodney
On Epic-Fails I go a good one. I bought some chestnuts (from Italy!) at Wal-Mart when they were in season last year. Well I sprouted them in the frig over the winter and set them by the window and they were growing splendidly until I put them outside for the first time.
I did not know that squirrels would eat sprouted nuts. Well they do! They made off with every single one of them and they ate the entire plant, not just the nut. The trees were at a point where they could have lived without the nut had the squirrel just ate that but nooooooo!!!!
Live and learn! The one I got left I thought I killed because of under-watering. The leaves all died and I was meaning to throw it out. Well it has come back to life and is growing new leaves. Its staying inside until the nut is completely exploited by the tree.
And I was doing all this for the damn tree rats too. I was to put the new trees in the woods to grow and produce nuts someday -- for them.
Most of my failures this year have been perennials that I lazily didn't properly stratify beyond letting them sit in a 50 degree dark basement until they sprouted.
I tried to grow some Hardy Gloxinia from seed for my mom, but none of the seeds took. Meanwhile, my not-so-hardy Purple Spotted Gloxinia seeds did well. My Blue Himalayan Poppies (my nemesis as far as seeds go) sprouted, but withered soon afterwards. I also tried a type of skullflower and some pasqueflowers, but no go.
I will say that I've gotten primrose seed starting down to an art, after many years. This is the first year I couldn't plant any, since we had an abundance of them happily come back this year.
I'm not sure how much it can help at this point, but try running an osculating fan over them. This will help strengthen the stalks, as well as help circulate air around.
All the seeds you've planted are perennials, so I don't think it's worth it to chuck them out by any means. If they're leggy this year, next year they'll come back right as rain.
Side a sidenote- watch out for columbines. If they really like you, they'll spread around. Unlike other potentially invasive species, however, they really space themselves out, so it's more a funny game of 'where will they pop up now' and 'what color will they be' since my family planted more than one variety. I have one healthy plant that grows from a crevice in a stone wall!
You use heat to germinate, not grow, and you use light to grow, not germinate. That's the gist of it but there are endless degrees of overlap between the two modes.
You can supply warmth in any of a hundred ways and a heat mat is just one. You could also site the setup in a warm spot like a utility closet or the like, and move the little things to bright light after they have officially become photosynthesizing plants. There are very few germinating and growing scenarios that require anything to be bought, however heat mats and grow lights are great tools if you need them.
Peat has a few advantages and a few disadvantages, as does every other method. One is they are very good for germinating but please don't leave seedlings to depend solely on the peat pellets for growth. Once you get the second or third set of leaves, move the plant and pellet to some sort of pot with more room. Don't peel off that netting as the roots will ignore it unless they're already growing through it and for some reason (depending on the plant species) you WANT to disturb the roots. This pic shows sweet peppers that are overdue by a few days for transplanting into pots or cups. 
The "greenhouse" part means there's a clear plastic cover that holds in heat a bit and that holds in moisture a lot. Unless you have problems, you probably won't need it and at the same time it probably won't hurt. If not using it, watch the peat watering. Pellets can be flood watered if you then let them drip off, and you can get away with not watering until they're NEARLY dry. Completely dry is a no-no. Long term soaking is a no-no. They drain very well and unless they sit in water it's hard to over-water in peat.
As always, since all gardening is local and all techniques are what they are, my suggestion is to wing it, never putting all your eggs in one basket, and split up your germinating into smaller batches that you treat differently.
"Don't peel off that netting as the roots will ignore it "
Many have found that not to be the case:
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1397733/peat-pellet-users-you-might-want-to-look-pics
Well, I am continuing to let them be, but now I have another question....
In one of my cups that have two plants growing, one of them is growing roots along the stem...
Would I be able to cut it at its lowest point (without disturbing the other plant) and re-plant it???
Here is a picture... It's the one that is curving towards your left shoulder... You can see the little roots starting to poke out... If I could do this, should I wait a little longer???
Hey Hello.
My light/heat box is a rubber maid tub lined with reflective windshield shade from the dollar store with a 24" fluorescent light on top. I put a cheap thermometer on the bottom and use a glass pie plate filled with water for moisture. I use the lid to regulate the temperature and humidity. I use the same thing as a chick incubator. It isn't pretty but it works!
Lid on.
Lid off with Goji Berry seedlings.
Gardenia seedlings I put under brooder lamp.
the seed pack actually had 75 seeds and as of 4-26-15 69 seeds have germinated! let's see how many survive me ;)
I tried putting a sandwich baggy over my styrofoam cup that I had planted a couple of Gardenia seeds in. After a few days I had ntoiced that it was holding the moisture fine but white looking mold was beginning to be seen. So I took the bag off and it seems to have taken care of the problem. All I do is keep my soil moist but I have yet to have ever been able to get a single seedling lol. This is about my 3rd or 4th attempt at trying to germinate Gardenia. Thanks for sharing your set up with us