6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
Wertach, my Heavenly Blue, Split Personality, Cardinal Climber, and other Ipomoea cultivars are not at all invasive here. In fact it's all I can do to prevent the critters from decimating them and seeing a flower. Only one time can I recall a seedling sowing itself from the previous year's seeds.
Perhaps there is wilder MG that is invasive? I've seen a wild species growing in the woods, but frankly it seems tame in comparison to Oriental bittersweet and Porcelain berry and other really horrible vigorous invasive vines that grow around here.
I don't know what species we have growing around here.
They are pink, blue, purple, and a lot different variegated types.
Since you are in 5b they may not have time to go to seed?
Since it originated in Asia, like kudzu, it might not be able to take the cold winters?
Our soil down here in 7b never freezes for more than a day or two and that is rare.
Thanks Martha. It was very pleasing to see a reply on 'growing from seed' forum. It seems there are not much returning members on this forum.
Anyways, I will try the method suggested by you for some of my seedlings. Just to have a sort of comparison between a few alternatives that I am trying.
Thanks again.
I loved poke greens as a kid in Oklahoma, but now find it as one of my most hated weeds. Still have an occasional meal of it but mostly tear it and my hair out as it self-seeds everywhere. I would think just throwing them out on fresh soil lightly covered and wait till Spring to transplant to desired (Desired? LOL) location.
Thanks, Morz8 - fortunately, it is the work of minutes to poke a hot nail through the bottoms of the containers and whip the lid coverings off. I dunno what was going through my mind - certainly not sense - but, as I often leave plants outside in pots, I usually cover them with a piece of glass until germination (obviously, in a shady north facing spot) and just wondered if the principle could be expanded. I did have a couple of fairly long term bottle gardens (small ferns, hypoestes, etc.) and thought the principle was fairly sound - I was actually more concerned because I had pricked holes in the top thereby failing to maintain a completely sealed environment. However, I am back to my original anxiety - because I have used milkjugs, it is really hard to see exactly how dry or wet the potting mix is (I also have used this mix forever) and feel that a hole just at the top of the jug is not really enough to allow moisture in although I guess I could simply stand the jugs in shallow trays until water uptake occurs. When I have used seed trays, a good soaking is usually all it takes as I keep a clear cover on those too, moving it on or off according to time of year, light levels, water needs etc. and, as you say, the timing is not that crucial as seeds would be exposed to germination potential in their wild state as soon as they drop from the plant - which is never next spring.
One thought, I could simply remove the top part of the jugs, so that I actually have the equivalent of small rectangular pots and shove them all somewhere in the greenhouse.
It is becoming clear that (some)short cuts are simply not worth taking sometimes (especially when the balance of mind is disturbed).
While I can't help you on sowing I do have an idea on moisture levels. Could you not fill one with the normal amount of soil then thoroughly moisten. Now by picking the jug up you could feel how heavy it was and use as a comparison.
SCG
Everything listed are easy to start from seed, especially using the wintersow method as Martha suggested. I have some of the seeds you have listed and would be willing to send some to you to enable you:-) I have the following if interested:
Agastache foeniculum
Helenium autumnale
Campanula americana
Eupatorium purpureum
Echinacea purpurea
Echinacea tennesseensis
Lobelia cardinalis
I will have when the finish flowering:
Lobelia siphilicata
Eupatorium rugosum
Ratibida pinnata
I will also have if interested:
Penstemon digitalis
Rudbeckia triloba
Eryngium yuccifolium
Liatris (unsure of which one)
Chasmanthium latifolia
Thermopsis carolinia
and a couple other natives I can't think of right now:-) If interested shoot me an email through GW.
Rhonda
Thanks all, I am looking to fill in basically the areas that are on the slopes, that currently grass is growing into as a place holder until I can get the beds set up. See bottom picture, anything shaded is what will have Perennials.
I am starting to collect Milk Jugs now. What is the best time to start, before the first frost or after? I know I'm going to have some deer and rabbit pressure, but I have neighbors with perennials, and I'm hoping "natives" will be a little bit more resistant.
You can see the progress since last November, I've pulled out most of the old shrubs and planted a new lawn, put in sprinklers, and next spring we'll put in perennial beds and a few raised beds as well.
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Thank you SO much morz8! Typically, in the past, I have simply put my Galtonia candicans seeds in a sealed envelope and over wintered in a dry, cool place. Very early spring I sprinkle the seeds in my garden and within 3-4 weeks they begin to produce what looks like âÂÂgrassâ shoots⦠the shoots grow between 4 ��" 6 inches by the end of the summer. Late fall I then dig up the soil and have dozens and dozens of âÂÂminiâ Galtonia bulbs. The next year I plant those âÂÂminiâ bulbs and they mature and the foliage does very well however, they do not flower. The third year, I re-plant the then medium sized bulbs and they flower nicely and the bulbs double in size. My goal is to spend this fall/winter speeding up the first year process by growing the seeds inside so that by late winter I have âÂÂminiâ bulbs. I am trying to shave a year off the three year flowering process by tricking the seeds into becoming ready to grow ASAP through this fall/winter. Are you certain that, after spending a few weeks in the cold fridge, that the seeds wonâÂÂt be âÂÂtrickedâ into thinking itâÂÂs early spring once planted?
Dry in the fridge is only storage. It does nothing to improve germination. If the seeds need a cold period to break dormancy, it must be moist to be helpful. You can sow immediately after harvesting or now, and chances are you will have germination, fresh galtonia seeds are not particularly dependent on a long cold moist period. If you have g. viridiflora, you may increase the percentage of germination if you provide brief moist chill of 2-4 weeks.
Your sign in shows Washington - Washington State? West side? If so, you don't have to lift these every year, they are perfectly hardy in the ground in Western Washington. My own is g. viridiflora, grown from seed, and the clump has been in place, not even divided, for at least a decade.
3 months after seeding!
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Hi mzmalik and welcome to GardenWeb!
Well, when it comes to when and how to fertilize seedlings, you'll probably find considerably disagreement among gardeners. Personally, I do add nutrients to my soil-less mix once the seedlings start developing their true leaves. Of course, I use a very diluted liquid fertilizer. When the seedling get large enough that I feel they should be moved to larger pots, I start using Miracle-Gro potting mix and stop adding my own fertilizer. I have always had good results using this method.
UMassAmherst has a good webpage that discusses the fertilizing of seedling and plugs. You might find it helpful (see link below).
Hope this is helpful,
Art
PS - You can find the links to all forums using the "Forums" link at the top of this page.
Here is a link that might be useful: Fertilizing Seedlings
If the can was rinsed, it may not be a set back. If you'd realized the mistake immediately, watering with a hose, soft nozzle spray (which I would have been doing with a newly seeded lawn anyway) would have been all you could have done to try to remedy. Now, it's wait and see if you'll be reseeding.
But I have to ask, why did you have Roundup in a watering can (and a leaking one at that), it's applied as a spray to foliage, not watered into the ground or poured on - should only be in spraying type container.
Please don't rely on memory to mark your products or applicators. Get a can of spray paint, red for anything used for herbicides or blue for insecticides if you have those and in the future keep them separate. If you are using and mixing concentrates, it doesn't hurt to mark the product container too, some of these companies use same color/size bottles for everything and you can mix something other than you intended. Put a blotch of bright paint on any applicator or product that would be harmful - to you or your plants.
I suggest you plant the seeds and wait to see if they germinate. That is what I plan to do with mine.
I have some CHAYA (Cnidoscolus chayamansa) PLANTS, they have beautiful white flowers. I have many family members and friends with diabetes, Since I have a huge backyard, I decided to grow many plants (about 15).
I mostly grow medicinal plants, this chaya is one of the most promising.
I have some relatives that are healthy and they love making chaya drink. Every time I visit I bring a bag of leaves.
Shagbark seedlings normally produce a long taproot and very little top growth during early development. i.e. 1-year-old seedlings could have root length 1' and a top height of about 3", that root could be 2 - 3' deep at about 3 years from germinating.....which of course can make successful transplanting harder.
Clean the husks from the seed, soak a couple of days, and give them minimum 90-120 moist chill. You can accomplish that by direct sowing, but rodents can be an issue. You can also soak and sow outdoors in deep pots exposed to weather now, use chicken wire or something to protect from squirrels, mice. Sown about 1 1/2" deep and given the long cold period of your Fall and Winter, you should find germination when temps begin to warm in Spring.
You could ask on the Beans, Peas and Legumes forum. Those people have grown pretty much every bean there is.
Here is a link that might be useful: Beans
Thanx
Didn't think about asking there