6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
Jennie - you are using some terms without understanding their meaning I fear and that may be causing your problems. It can be confusing but it is important to understand the differences and use them correctly so that others can know exactly what you are doing.
1) nothing with "soil" is used. Soil-less mixes only.
2) Seed starting mix is one type of soil-less mix (not soil) made exclusively for germinating seeds and is not used for growing the plants once they have germinated and developed a true leaf. Some prefer it just for its ultra-fine texture.
3) Potting mix (not soil) is a soil-less mix used for growing the plants once they have 1-2 true leaves. They get transplanted into it out of the seed starting mix. It has a more coarse texture and contains some additional ingredients.
Last year I learned not to use regular seed starting soil for peppers - they did not do well at all until I moved them to an orchid soil
Peppers are commonly germinated in AND grown in any quality soil-less mix (no soil). Some use the seed starting type, most use the potting mix type (not potting soil). Orchid Mix is not required for any reason and the only difference in it is the ultra-coarse texture.
Does this help clarify?
Problems sometimes develop even with soil-less mixes but that doesn't mean it was the mix that caused the problem. And some brands of soil-less mix are better than others so we'd need to know exactly what brands you used.
Dave
Hi Dave,
Thanks for the clarifications. I did understand better than I articulated, but not as well as I do now :-). The reason I mentioned orchid mix for peppers was due to some problems I had last year and folks in the pepper forum told me to us MG orchid mix. It made all the difference for my plants!
I do have seed starting mix, and I have potting mix. Here's my next question.....how do you move the seedlings to the potting mix when they are so tiny? I'm scared to touch them!
Thanks for all you do to help!
Jennie
I have a small seeder that I bought for a couple of dollars. I use it in the garden for small seeds like lettuce but for very tiny seeds like impatiens, petunias and alyssum I use my hand and a toothpick but not like SouthCountryGuy.
I pour a few seeds in my left hand and cup it slightly. The seeds all fall into the crease in my hand. Then with my right hand I tease them off into the pots with a toothpick. It works great for me
Thanks all for your take on these sowing practices! I've just sowed coleus seeds (4-5 days ago, in my germinator, under lights, & on heat mats) using fine sand & I'm seeing some germination, so it must work! The toothpick method has worked also......
My joints are increasingly deteriorating from the advances of chronic osteoarthritis, making sowing seeds a problem....... I'm always looking for any method of gardening that might aid my deteriorating joints.....
Oh my, I fear I may have an embarrassment of riches.
Bag 1 (Window, Seeds from Fridge): Multiple sprouts, including some very obvious green. I moved 2 seedlings into a pot, but this was probably premature. They do not appear to be breaking through the 1 layer of paper towel.
Bag 2 (Fridge, Seeds from Freezer): No activity yet, but I have not checked for roots.
Bag 3 (Desk, Seeds from Fridge): No Green, but a ton of roots. 1 more week and I'll start seeing green.
Pot 1 (Small 2" square pot, Seeds from Freezer): 1 or 2 seedlings coming up.
Pot 2 (4" plastic pot, Seeds from Fridge): 6 or 7 seedlings coming up.
No clue what I'm gonna do with 50-60 Yellow Alpine Strawberry plants. Probably give them away as gifts to teammates at work, assuming they all survive.
Hi guys, at first I want to say WOW, how did I live my life without knowing about this forum.
So I really want to plant alpine strawberries in my place, but I live in a very warm place, here we don't have winters, it remains almost the same temperature all year , ranges from 77F to 91F and doesn't drop any lower than 70F or any higher than 93F (like ever) and I'm trying to grow these here. I will try stratification via putting them in the fridge, my seeds come from Spain so I am hoping these are more heat tolerant.
But the question is I was just wondering, with these daily temperatures, do I have to pretend to the plant its *spring* by giving it partial shade, before exposing it to the daily +80F average?
And do you think that it will actually die in the hot weather, did you ever have problem with plants dying in a hot summer?
And if you could prevent how did you do it?
Do you guys think its a good idea to give it partial shade or full sun? (we have 12h and min of 11:30h of sun every day ear round being that *winter* is the -30 minutes of sun)
That would be very kind of you if you could tell me anything about hot weather and strawberries
thanks :)
If it's 10 degrees on a cloudy day what is it at night I'll bet it is close to freezing or below. Your snaps won't do much growing with those temperatures.
Take some clear 2 liter pop bottles or any clear bottle and fill them almost full with water, Put the lids on and let them sit on a sunny shelf in your greenhouse. The water will get hot. Before night time arrange the bottles around the container with your seedlings. Wrap bottles and container in a sheet of plastic or cloth--don't let it touch your seedlings. You will have made a little warm coccon for your seedlings. Remove everything in the morning so you don't fry your plants and repeat every evening until the weather is warmer.
Your seedlings simply won't grow with the temperatures they are at now
I will agree with dowlinggram. When I grow snaps they are kept about 15C all the time......and they creep...ohhhh they creep.... until outside to explode.... after 8 weeks I have transplanted snaps that are under 3" tall but have great roots....
good luck
Probably neither since exposure to both bacteria and fungal virus while growing indoors is extremely rare as exposure would be difficult.
The purpling is common with young seedlings with young roots when growing in cool environments - especially if watered with cold water too. It is a normal physiological response for the seedlings and disappears naturally as the plant matures. It requires no intervention 95% of the time.
The bumps are on the leaves or the stems? On the leaves it is usually water blisters from over-watering and disappears as soon as you cut back on the water and/or humidity. If on the stems they are called adventitious roots and are normal in older plants - very common with Maxifort. In young seedlings it can also be a sign of over-watering.
Would need much more info and hopefully a pic to be more specific.
Dave
This same post was also included in the Trees Forum and has been answered there. See link below for that thread.
Here is a link that might be useful: Duplicate Post in the Trees Forum
Where are you going to start these seeds. Do you have a light setup or cold frame to start them early. A window sill doesn't give enough light to grow good plants. Most seeds need a few weeks head start indoors before going outside after danger of frost is past.
If you don't have such a place look into the winter sowing forum. You will get help there and advice on what plants are good candidates for winter sowing.
Nasturtiums, lobelia, petunia, dwarf zinnias, swan river daisy and portulaca are all easily started from seed and would look good in a hanging basket
I did these last year, first time ever for me with flowers.
My wife spent $400 for hanging baskets that died.
She eventually took all of my nasturtiums and put them on the porch.
This year I am going to have them all over everything.
Started with grow lights in basement..
Beginners luck ????
Thanks mandolls & dig dirt for your input! In my own defense, I had just watered before taking the pic...... That said, I do struggle with ProMix retainging moisture (which is what it's supposed to do)...... I've taken to using a small fan for air circulation as well as helping dry the media....
The over fertilizing thing is a more glaring mistake...... Don't have any excuses to offer on that one other than ignorance... :)
I actually don't quite remember. I know they were at least 6-8 " when I moved them out to the screened in porch at the end of May. ( I started the seed in mid Feb) I kept them alive all summer, and they continued to grow and multiply even though they were only in 9oz plastic cups.
Yes, and you can do them at any stage but easier with at least 1 set of true leaves as the stems are stronger.
Here is a link that might be useful: pics of imp seedlings
Since they don't all get planted out at the same time anyway - peppers are slower to grow than tomatoes but require warmer soil than tomatoes - I'd use the 10 th date. Cucumbers work MUCH better when direct seeded.
Dave
Hi John,
Well, even though I grow mostly annual flowers, the terms used to suggest seed starting times are the same. Usually youâÂÂll see something like âÂÂStart your seeds 6 to 8 weeks before the last expected frost date in your area.â So, according to that, you would start your tomato seeds about 6 to 8 weeks before the 10th of May.
The reason for suggesting that you plant the seedling about 2 weeks after that last frost date is to give the soil time to warm up a bit. The seedlings need to be hardened off first anyway. Generally, if you wait until your night temperatures are staying above about 50 deg F, you should be safe to plant tomato seedlings outside. It could, of course, take more than 2 weeks after that last frost for that to occur.
Hope this helps,
Art
Too wet and too warm = mold growth and mold spores are in the air all around us so no telling where they came from.
I'd go ahead and plant the seeds in your germination mix and assuming you keep proper moisture levels they should still germinate.
If you are generally happy with this method of germination that's fine. Personally I find it more troublesome than the normal approach.
Dave
tropical_thought - your seedlings will bloom when they are ready. Even in my climate plants which germinated in late summer/autumn will overwinter fine. But I don't expect them to flower until summer. They produce plenty of seed in our cool summers so there shouldn't be any problem in Ca. They self sow with abandon.
Starting at the bottom: Strawberries are normally grown from transplants not seed and bare root transplants are readily available for planting. Strawberry seeds are only available for a couple of small wild-derived varieties ie Alpine and are slow and difficult to germinate. Strawberries produce their own runner plants which are easily transplanted.
Planting times in your zones I can't help you with but that info is readily available on the web from all sorts of sources. On average cool weather crops (chard, beets, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, fava beans, lettuce, spinach, etc.) are planted out at least a month prior to summer crops. For me that is early to mid March depending on soil temps as my last frost is Apr. 15th.
When it comes to direct seeded plants you need to learn to measure and plant by soil temps. Each has an ideal range of soil temps required for germination and that is what determines your planting date. Charts are available for all vegetables and most flowers. I linked one of the many below. EX: lettuce, spinach, peas require minimum of 40 degree soil, beans 60 degree soil, broccoli requires 50 degree soil, tomatoes 70 degrees, peppers 75, etc. Broccoli transplants are best transplanted prior to the 3rd true leaf which is normally approx. 4" tall.
Perennials blooming the first year varies depending on zone. In the warmer zones, if started early enough, many will bloom that summer.
Most annuals seed packets will give you an approx. direct seed date on the packet. They are divided into hardy annuals, half-hardy annuals, and tender annuals classes and require different soil temps for germination and survival so you need to know which class your choice fall into. hardy annuals will tolerate light frosts but tender annuals are only planted after all danger of frost is past.
Zinnas - there are lots of posts here from folks who have tried to start them indoor and discovered the problems. Direct seeding them in early May should be fine for your zone.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Soil temps for direct seeding vegetables.
I just bought a couple of bags of starter soil today to get the ball rolling and I'm thinking of starting the broccoli, perennials, and annuals today in my basement. Sounds reasonable? This would give the broccoli at least 7 weeks before putting them outdoors.
Regarding lettuce, peas (both of which I'll direct seed) and broccoli (started indoors) under what conditions would I need to protect these cool weather crops once they are in my raised beds? I'm guesstimating that they'll be in my garden in mid-April, a month before my summer crops go in.
I really want to give the strawberries a shot so I might start them tonight too. Even if there is a low probability of success, at least I'll know I tried.
By the way, thanks for that link to the germinating temps. Neat thing to add to my seed storage container for reference.