6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
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.
Hi Jeannie Marie,
I thought that I would do what I suggested to you to see if I was offbase. I searched "Commercial sunflower crop growers ". I quickly found this guide.
Good Luck,
Bob
Here is a link that might be useful: Sunflower Production
I bought a container of lettuce, (4 varieties) from Menards about 3wks ago and some Brocolli plants and put them in the ground then. Three of the lettuce are now finally taking hold and growing. (I think a squirrel took the 4th one) The Brocolli sat awhile but now have doubled in size. Cooler spring but the wetness has been good. They are all in raised beds and one has a storm window on hinges that I have used to cover the brocolli at first in case of frost that didn't happen. I am in St Paul, Mn.
Hi, Dr. Allison Jack, soil scientist, did research in this area. It is known that some compost will block damping off, and vermicompost is very consistent in this. I use locally available leaf compost, or commercial garden centre worm casting enriched compost, and I use 15% compost in my growing mix, which supplies beneficial bacteria, that inhibit damping off, and I add in plenty of ground bark to make the mixture very porous, and prevents it from getting too wet, and composted Christmas trees, which is available locally free of charge, 20% peat moss, plus lime. I find this mix gives me zero problems with damping off. You can reuse the container, if you use compost mixed in, or sterilize the container and reuse with normal potting mix. Also, do not let the seedlings get too wet - should be just moist only.
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.