6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
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.
Culinary Star anise (Illicium verum) is usually grown in southern Asian countries, & I know of no plants or a source for fresh seeds in the US. Fresh seeds would be more likely to germinate. Be careful when you buy seeds for sale  anyone can grab this spice off the spice rack & resale the seeds, but that does not mean they will germinate. I can get a package of star anise from the store for about 60 cents & I would not buy unless I was assured germination. When buying seeds, look for the seed companies germination rate for that seed. Having said that, I am trying the same thing as you - sometimes many of these spices can be grown from store bought seeds.
One problem you will have with store-bought star anise is a lack of viable seed. Below is a picture. The seeds are inside the star pod inside the shiny shell. The ones on the left are the seeds, whereas the ones on the right are dried up seeds that are definitely not viable. The outer shiny shell of the star anise is very fragile, and would probably break down with the soil.
I were purchasing seeds I would break down the shiny shell & notify the company if I found dried up seeds in them. I would not pay for non viable seeds as seen in the right.
Hi, I am searching for the real satr anise, bought some seeds, planted them, had them healthily sprouted and have them growing. Question is - Are they really Illicium Verum ? If you can help me answering it, I would be very grateful, cause the data about the subjet, available in the net, is not relliable, probably because of intervention of the powerfull pharmaceutical industries politics, that spread misinformation on their most valuable subjects,as star anise, from wich is made TAMIFLU.
Thanks, Silvio Chaves.
Thanks morz8! I didn't think about them being patented. No nursery near me grows the more exotic varities. I've heard a lot of horror stories about ordering mail-order live plants so I keep shying away from ordering anything but seeds. Could you recommend one that you have used in the past?
Thanks
I don't know what side of the country you are on to know if I would be recommending nurseries who would not charge you exorbitant shipping, but of those I've used (and I order only things more rare that I cannot find in person) and am confident in, in no special order:
Plant Delights Nursery
Lazy S's Farm
Digging Dog
Forest Farm
Greer Gardens
Cistus Nursery
Joy Creek Nursery
You'll find excellent packaging and quality plants with any of the above, but again, you'll pay for it too so make sure your order will compare favorably with a tank of gas, a weekend morning drive to someplace you can go 'nursery hopping'.
I almost posted yesterday, but glad I didn't. I'm glad you're enjoying growing the apples from seed. Nothing wrong with it -- if you know what you may or may not get. And just because an apple you grow is good enough to be commercialized (the figure i've heard is 1 out of 40,000) doesn't mean it's not good enough for your purposes.
Remember (if you're inclined) that besides apple butter, if the apples are astringent or bitter think hard cider.
"I have small deerless patch of woods" -- HOW and where do I get one? :-)
Flora, Great research!
Appreciate you finding out the real answer.
I was just out in the garden and was thinking that I have a very technical book, that I like, that deals with plants down to the cell actions. I will check it to see how they explain it. But I can start by looking up "root primordia " because of the research you did.
Thanks!
Bob
Here is a link that truly shows the difference between the hairs and the potential roots. Pretty cool.
Couldn't find it in my text book, but when I searched in Google books I found a lot of discussion.
Bob
Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato Lover
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.