6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
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.
I have grown several sorbus from seed and generally just sow the whole berries in October/November in a 5inch litre pot (gritty loam) and leave them over winter, outside along the side of the greenhouse. They invariably germinate by March. Easiest have been vilmorinii and cashmeriensis while Joseph Rock had a poor germination rate.
Lovely, lovely little trees - my all-time favourite genus, even named my eldest Rowan.
Yes, they're one of my favourite trees too. There's also lots of interesting folklore attached to them! I'd love to get hold of some seed again this year (as we're at the tail-end of autumn) but it doesn't seem easy to come by here. I think the birds get the berries if left on the trees through the autumn.
not really a trench Al, just the depression from the handle...hardly more than a quarter inch deep.....No, I covered the small seeds with the loose dirt from what was loosened with the rod (or just sprinkling seed starting mixture over the covered depression). But, having a real smooth surface to drop the seeds onto made it a lot easier to space them along the foot long depression. "When these seeds sprout, I'll do the same in another row in that 2'X4' bed....
Flora: I'm working with some small beds much shorter than the rake handle!...Also doing square foot gardening like areas and small raised beds....I got a city lot and not much room for regular garening...thus...vertical gardening and small scale raised beds amongst some tomato and pepper plants and rock garden.....keeps me out of trouble...I don't plan on selling out of the back of my pickup truck....just growing enough for the two of us
mmm, I always water the drill (I also use the handle from my hoe) very slowly so the water seeps in but does not wet outside the drill. When the seeds are sown, it is easy to flip the dry soil from the side edges over the top using a draw hoe. The dry soil acts like a dust mulch and seems to maintain moisture during the germination process.
Just saw that someone else tried growing apple seedlings in central Florida, wanted to see how they faired after a few years, I have a Fuji apple seedling that I've selected out of 300 different seedlings (diffrent varieties) and will do it again with southern crab apples. Not for a good dessert variety, just would like some cider apples for zone 9b, anyway drop me a line sometime to say how they are/were. This goes for anyone in florida growing seedling apples, it would be appreciated. Thank you
Just saw that someone else tried growing apple seedlings in central Florida, wanted to see how they faired after a few years, I have a Fuji apple seedling that I've selected out of 300 different seedlings (diffrent varieties) and will do it again with southern crab apples. Not for a good dessert variety, just would like some cider apples for zone 9b, anyway drop me a line sometime to say how they are/were. This goes for anyone in florida growing seedling apples, it would be appreciated. Thank you
I sowed them this year (2009) in January indoor and under a grow light. Now that it's Febryary 4th I have the seedlings with the first true leaf. I really hope I can get them to bloom the first year. But of course I will keep my plants in a pot with other perennials and annuals and that means it will not be the only show in my front porch!
columbine seed needs 2-3 weeks of cold period to germinate. put the seed packets in fridge before sowing and it takes up to 30 days for germination. I also wintersow lots of columbine seeds with good success. It does take 2nd year to see blooms but well worth the wait
Are you putting the plants straight into full sun after taking them outside?? If so, that is what killed them.
You need to harden your plants off. They need protection from sun and wind when first moved out. Then slowly moved to a bit more sun and wind each day. I take about a week to do the process.
Look up hardening off and start from there.
Seed catalogs come out around December/January, so that's the time to order seeds. You can make a wish list before then and also write down what you already have. For me, I like to shop in the stores, too, so I buy some off the rack in late winter. Ah, springtime...
A wonderful way to increase your plants but you need a little patience.
Liliums are not a bulb that truly "sleeps" - it should not be let to dry out, so if you need to move them, they need to be re-potted.
The small plantlets will go on to form bulbils and in time become big enough to bloom - just give them some TLC and fertilizer during the growing period
If there is sufficient distance between these plants and others, you'd need to lay down sheeting to collect the seed. Try to make it curve up a little at the outer edges to act like an umbrella- a few rocks or whatever. You can use any material you like depending on weather and circumstances - newspaper, old sheeting, plastic tablecloths or dropcloths. But if plastic of course it WILL hold water if it rains, you'd need to collect seed more frequently. This is probably a better way if you intend to cut all the plants down - you'll catch falling seed and stop it reaching the ground. The rest of the plants can be put somewhere warm and airy for any remaining seed to shed.
Seeds being stratified should not germinate at the low temperatures required for stratifying. When the time required for stratifying has been met, the seeds should be immediately planted. If not done, the seeds are likely to germinate when germination temperatures are reached, and then die. Al
As Calistoga said.
But if you want to test for germination after you pull them from the frig use the damp towel method in a close container outside the frig. Check daily but use a germination guide to understand the typical time to germination for that specific seed. These are only guides. I have seen seeds germinate quicker if in a warm moist environment.
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.