6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed


Could you post a picture? It's not clear what plants you mean by white and blue sage.
But even without a picture I imagine your plants have either damped off or are etiolated. If they are 2 - 3 inches high they should have at least one set of true leaves. Do they? And they should not be sprayed overhead and certainly not twice a day. It is the growing medium which needs moisture not the plant foliage. Are you watering them other than the misting? From what you say I think they lack light and have too much moisture on the foliage. But a photo would really help.

I fail to see any reason why you cannot grow them in the gritty mix. I would water more often, not look for more retentive mix, which would negate the reason for using the gritty mix. Use a weak fertilizer such as half a teaspoon per gallon of Foliage Pro every time you water. In gritty mix it is easy to underwater, but almost impossible to over water. Al

Thanks all for the comments. Here is a quick update.
I am planning to grow these as bonsai. I started from seeds and now have one each Wisteria Sinensis and W. Sinensis Alba growing. I know it will be years before they bloom, but think how exciting that day will be!
So - I have added a saucer under both to create some perched water. I read this suggestion at a bonsai forum and thought I would try it. It seems to be working, both seedlings are now growing well again. From what I have read they do not like to have dry feet, so this approach seemed to work best for me. I want to keep most of my bonsai in the basic 1-1-1 gritty mix as it works very well for my others. The only exceptions are my 3 giant sequoia trees. I planted them in the 1-1-1 mix with 15% peat moss by volume and no lime - they are growing exceptionally well.
As for the foliage pro, I shoot for 50 ppm nitrogen - 1/2 teaspoon per gallon is about 59 ppm and seems to be working well.


I will agree that this is a great thread. I was a bit discouraged to say the least after my first two searches on this site for Tulip Trees and Royal Empress Paulownia took me to forums that were so off topic one even strayed to the subject of the frivolent use of the term nazi and how it devalued the something or other... wwII... I had to skip 10 pages before I could find something about a tree again. Glad to see not every forum has been turned into some righteous stand against something. I appreciate everyones helpful advice but I will not be using this site as my go-to for info.

I sowed delphinium seeds into the organic seed trays with seed starter mix back in March. I put them just under the surface. They didn't germinate until I bottom watered, top watering wasn't enough to get them going.
They were tough to keep alive, the seedlings were very fragile in comparison with other plants that I started at the same time. They liked support and they didn't like harsh weather, too much wind, rain or sun and they would look sad. After moving them outside in the end of May, they really took off and I got some flowers this week.
I planted a few cultivars and they grew differently, the ones that got big right away have flowered with nice purple and white flowers. It looks like they're dying a little after I moved them into the bed. The leaves are turning yellow on one of the flowering plants and a similar type just totally turned yellow and wilted. These were the biggest at time of moving so maybe their roots got damaged when I removed them from the tray. Also the bed may be too shady. Most of the others are looking great, green and lush. I'll post up some pictures if anyone wants to see what they looked like at germination or how they look now.

Your picture piqued my interest, and after some prolong web searches, I have to break it to you that this is a sterile hybrid, and there are no seeds available. This is the flower Lynchnis coronia 'Gardner's World' and is illegal to propagate, so you have to buy the plant instead. I've only been able to find sellers based in the UK, but maybe there's some in your area that might carry them. Maybe somebody on Dave's Garden website has them on offer.

I found these today. Anyone use them?
Here is a link that might be useful: quad thick trays

I had that problem too. Finally I just ordered triple amount of flats from on-line supplier and tripled them up. The cost is more at first, but I am so happy I finally did that. 3 trays stacked together makes them sturdy enough that I can move them back and forth without worry. The sun does make them brittle, and after awhile cracks right in the middle started to form, but so far they are still holding up great.
I'm not nearly coordinated enough to maneuver two full trays at once without accidently dropping one!

I cannot find Zizia aptera plant anywhere except Prairie Moon Nursery, which is closed for the season.
The germination process for this plant is long and laborious -- involving stratification in sterile sand.
Furthermore, the seeds are miniscule.
If anyone has extra plants I would be interested in discussing with you buying several of them.
Thanks.

I have started Zizia aurea from seed (received in a trade and then winter sown), got one sprout, and after a couple years it has produced 1 seedling so far.
I received a division of Z aptera in a swap 5 years ago and it has self-sown 5 or 6 small seedlings in the garden, however, that garden bed is now grown up with perennials, so it is difficult to locate and confirm the seedlings. Jock feel free to email me in the fall and I can see if there are extra seedlings.

If you can't find germination info at any of the above, B & T World seeds lists 35,000 seeds and has germination info on many of them.

http://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/41278/PDF
There are two other supplements. (Search on Google)


I use that tomato food, too. I put some in a spray bottle at full strength for foliar feeding, too.
Hot peppers usually take two weeks to sprout. My ghost peppers did poorly. Few sprouted and those that did were sickly. My Trinidad Moruga Scorpion peppers really took off, though.

Mine were eaten last year by deer. I put a fishing line fence around them to no avail.
This year they are inside the fenced vegetable garden and are growing strong - in fact providing shade where shade is not wanted. I am growing the Mammoth kind - 8 feet is the max height.
Interesting plants.




You have done well!
I tried to grow ginseng, many years ago, and I didn't have much luck.