6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed


Darn I had hoped it would have lasted awhile longer. I'm hoping for a 50% off anything sale like last year at Gurneys. I will keep checking and if one comes up I will post it here. Got a great deal on two Lil Big ones dwarf Goldrush apple trees that are doing splendid last time there.



I grow lots of poppies and don't find them to be a problem if, as stated above, you thin to one in each pot and don't bother the root ball. So for the ones in your cell packs thin the seedlings to one in each pot. If you need to pot up just transplant the whole cell, as Campulana described.
I adore poppies, just wish the flowers would last a bit longer.

Most are bulbs or rhizomes rather than seeds. Angel Wings (aka Caladium) comes in many different color combos. Any of the many fern varieties. Hosta - lots of choices - as long as the soil mix is well draining but they won't work if the soil is constantly soggy.
So why is the soil "soggy" and can't it be improved?
Dave


susanzone5 z5NY on
Fri, Oct 5, 12 at 16:05
you can avoid fungal growth by having air circulation and sprinkling powdery sphagnum moss on top of seeded soil.
I'm glad to see someone mentioning this. In the university laboratory I found sprinkling powdery sphagnum to be quite helpful.

with rockwool cubes versus seed starter mixes
I have used both and feel the two are so different that they really can't be compared over all. For hydroponic growing rockwool obviously wins over mixes although there are better than rockwool hydro plugs available too..
But for growing on in soil (non-hydro), mixes are far superior IMO.
Compare germination percentages - only marginally better with mixes but when it comes to transplanting them for growing on, both root development and proper moisture level problems arise with the rockwool when it is surrounded by soil.
These problems can be adjusted for with some plants - those normally grown from transplants like tomatoes and peppers - but if you are also going to be growing things that are normally direct seeded and NOT transplanted - like beans, peas, spinach, cukes and such - then their growth in rockwool is only more stunted after transplanting than it would be if grown in mix.
Dave.

I start them in plastic six paks by sprinkling seeds on top of soil. When planting out, I break apart the plants and plug them into the ground about 5" apart. I don't bother to thin out any plants. Each plug has up to six seedlings. They fill out nicely.

I missed this "The effects of that stress will vary with plant types but summer vegetables such as pepper and tomatoes plants will not tolerate it at all."
If my pepper plants are stressed from my system they sure don't look it. The pepper seeds were sown ~ February 15th.


Here's one for you. A couple of years ago we visited my son-in-law's grandmother's home. She had a rosemary bush 8" to 10" trunk diameter They had just cut it back & got a pickup truck load of rosemary but it was still about 5' tall. She said that she started that "tree" some years back with a sprig from a neighbor which she rooted by putting it in a glass of water until she saw roots & then planted it. It was in a raised bed. I so liked it that I bought the largest rosemary plant I could find, made a 3'x3' raised bed just for it. It is growing fine but heaven knows how long it will take it to get any size. I am going to prune off branches at the lowest point to help the trunk reach a greater diameter sooner. That tree was unbelievable!!

I just have to say that I planted 44 rosemary seeds and have 8 seedlings about and inch to an inch and a half tall. I had 14 of them germ, but I think some were a bit small when I put them under the light and they didn't make it. I am still pretty happy with 8. I did the primed rosemary from Swallowtail. They germ. in about a week. I might have to try again next year just to see if it was a fluke or something :).


Thanks folks! I tried placing the probe of the digital heat mat thermometer directly into one of the flats & that fixed my problem (ie, gave me an accurate reading), after I'd cooked several flats of seeds, of course...........
I've never had an issue with putting the probe in a separate plastic cup of wet growing media, in years past....... Hmmmm........



The "absolutely sterile" soil is not a requirement. Proper conditions (using well-drained soil, avoiding overhead watering, etc) can lessen the chances of dampening off. Fungicides can also be used, if needed. Different sources have different options for germinating the seeds (there's not just one single way), and you can find them easily with a quick google search, using the plant's real name (see link below). There's even other posts about this already in this forum and they can easily found with the search function near the bottom of each main forum page.
Here is a link that might be useful: Google search for Atropa belladonna germination
This post was edited by brandon7 on Tue, Jan 21, 14 at 19:19