6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
This plant does NOT come true from seed ..Therefore its propagated by cuttings. cuttings may be taken at any time of the year. use firm new growth apply 0.1% IBA (rooting hoormone) stick in well drained soil & mist growing time for 4" pot is 5-7 weeks.
will need 12+ hours to flower.
If this was not your question then be more specific.
Its not a problem to keep using the same soil mix over and over but your going to have to add nutrients to the soil if you do. Every fall/winter, I clean my trays, containers and tools with soap and bleach. Come spring I use whatever cheap soil mix (that wasn't stored outside) I can get my hands on. I add perlite or vermiculite and worm castings to the mix. I've been doing that for a couple of years and its work for me.
I think there is a thread with different methods that might work for you.
No, although you could have a problem with good germination from some seeds if you've had them in your warm garage. It's fine to keep seeds from year to year, depending on which seed, a few types are not good held over under any circumstances and the package will usually say something along the lines of 'short viable'. Onion, parsley, delphinium are examples of seeds you may not want to store...
You asked when to start acquiring new seeds to fill your wish list, and to that I answer Not now, because you will be getting seeds packaged last season, wait until right around the holidays when the new harvest will be available. If you are buying new, you may as well begin with the freshest.
Just because they germinated doesn't mean they're going to produce healthy, vigorous plants. Seed needs to be harvested in certain ways or you end up with crappy genetics, growth, yields, etc. Order some good seed from a reliable source like Fedco or someone if this concerns you, otherwise best of luck on your Okra!!
What is a hy pepper? A hybrid? Could you tell us what you are doing? Germination mix, heat, moisture, etc. Were the pods fully mature when you harvested them? If you have a hybrid, seed might be sterile, at the very least you may not get what you want.
Flora, thank you!!! How bizarre and fascinating!
Hmm...once you read "mutation" it suddenly doesn't sound so appetizing, haha. I wonder if these leaves are okay to be harvested assuming they continue growing?
The only odd thing that all the shiso in this pot experienced was what looked to be a lack of calcium absorption early on. It affected them up until the start of the second set of leaves when I moved them out of that pot and into this one where they have now been for 5 weeks or so. All the growth since then softened up and became normal. I pruned the tops of all others in this pot (which then resulted in leaking stems for a week!?!) except this one, where I wasn't sure what it was doing or where/how to chop.
This same plant is growing one ridiculously large shoot/stem, enough to make me think a seed had inadvertently been planted there, except it is connected to this plant, I found, once I dug in a little.
Fascinating stuff! Thank you for identifying this!
Grace
This plant continues to mesmerize me. I harvested no less than 30 leaves off of it over the weekend, and underneath all of that are so many more small ones busting out. The photos below were taken today, after the leaves were harvested.
This fasciation business is so cool. Here's a shot of a plant from the same seed planting. Only one turned into this beast of a plant; the rest are as expected and normal-sized....and slowly growing.
John, Auto supply stores are one source for sulfuric acid - it's battery acid. BUT, I find it particularly nasty/dangerous to work with and don't recommend anything I don't use myself. I have a small supply, tested it and put it away - I haven't found reason to use it again and likely will not.
Weakening the seed coat a little so that moisture can breach it more easily is all it takes - sometimes pouring very hot water over the seeds and allowing them to soak will do it. Placing them on one sheet of sandpaper while rubbing a second over top of them is a second possibility, or I've held individual seeds down with tweezers and gently poked the narrowest end with a needle.
Essentially all commercial potting mixes are soilless these days. The one you have reads peat, perlite, nitrogen and phosphorus added.
If you wish to easily thin your seedlings and don't want to risk separating the crowded emerging roots, use small scissors. Snip off all but the strongest.
It looks like you are in plant zone 5 so you still have some time to sow seed, & have them flower this fall. If not desired then store seed in air tight container, cool dark, location & sow next spring