6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
This is for transplanting to their final growing place or are you talking about just potting-ip to a bigger container?
Adding Tomato Tone in small amounts to small seedling pots won't hurt anything but the long time required for it, or any solid/granular fertilizer, to benefit the plant makes well diluted liquids muh more effective.
Also keep in mind that dry granular "organics" when used in containers are of limited if any benefit as there is no active soil food web, no bacterial colonies present (as there is in the ground soil) to break them down to a form usable by the plants. Organic liquids have the added benefit of being in usable form already.
Dave
I would just be potting them up to a 3"-4" pot from what I had them germinating in.
Also, after I thought about it for a little bit, I would think there would be enough food (fertilizer) in the potting soil - enough to get them to the point of getting them in ground???
This is the first time I've grown from seed... And, it's... Fricken awesome!!!
Thank you Dave! I appreciate what you've written in past posts that I have read.
I want to "pretty up" the area but know the deer will probably feast on all of them like they have my tulips last spring. The soil is pretty moist and gets partial sun/shade. More shade then sun. I just am looking for something to grow from seed that will look nice and not have eaten away. I might buy a bunch of seeds as you mentioned and plant and fingers cross.
Worth a try using wintersowing as that may be what tricks the seeds as i have read that it can reseed itself now and then if the conditions are ideal.
Personally I have never had any luck growing it from seeds in the greenhouse but that is a totally different environment. Note that "sterile seed" doesn't mean it is impossible, just that the odds are slim. :)
Let us know if it works.
Dave
Wow thank you both for this information! :) No wonder lily of the valley usually seem to be started from pips.
As I live in zone 5, I can probably naturally simulate the cold and cool periods by placing the sweet violets and lily of the valley outside. (And before anyone says it, I know sweet violets are considered hardy to zone 6, but I must be in a borderline area as they've grown on my parent's property before :P )
Thanks again! :)
<For some reason, I thought they could go in quite a bit earlier than tomatoes, etc.>
That is correct but then we don't know your location so have no idea when you would normally plant your tomatoes. :) Here my peas are planted a month before I could plant any tomatoes. But that wouldn't be true for everyone.
Peas do need a cool start. They are an early spring crop. Tomatoes are not.
If you learn to measure and monitor your soil temps - since that is what counts -then you can always insure that crops are planted at the correct time.
Dave
I need to learn how to measure soil temp apparently. I have good results with the rest of my garden. I live in southeastern Washington St. People always try to plant too early in my eyes and fight the cold and wind. I wait till May 15 for tomatoes and cukes.............other stuff, carrot seed, onions, radish seeds, beets, etc I get going earlier with no problem.......however they are in raised beds and my peas are not.
Thanks, RHonda
So I have an update and I'm looking for some more guidance. The seedlings pictured here ended up dying.
However, I had some more "on deck" so I decided to test the over watering theory. I tested two separate six packs of Red Russian Kale, which seemed to be the first to have trouble last time. I watered one what at what I would consider my normal intervals, every 3-4 days when relatively dry. The other six pack though, I stretched a couple days longer, only watering when I pulled out my test cell and the soil was completely dry all the way through.
Unfortunately they both got "sick" at relatively the same time and progressed just like the last batch. However this time I noticed that the trouble starts with wet looking dark spots on some of the leaves, which makes me think bacteria. Because the Red Russian Kale seems to be the first to have problems, is it possible those seeds are contaminated somehow. Seems to be only brassicas that are having issues.
Any advice would be very helpful!
Andy - given this new info then my best guess would be some sort of fungal disease issue. But the symptoms just don't look like any of the common ones. More likely than the seeds being contaminated (which is usually viral) I'd look into the environment, the containers, the soil used, tools, surrounding things that might come into contact, even the air circulation (ie: other diseased plants in the area). It is rare indoors but possible given the right conditions for the spores to grow (moist, warm, low levels of air circulation).
Why I say fungal is that most of the common bacterial diseases don't actually kill the plants, fungal issues do kill. So what sort of ambient temps are you running in the area? Can you make it cooler? Do you have fans running to increase the air circulation and help dry things out? If not can you?
The saving grace is that all of these things can be direct seeded when the time is right for your location and they usually do much better than when grown as transplants.
Dave
The peppers will benefit greatly from a staged potting up as it triggers fibrous feeder root development just as with tomatoes and others of that family. It shouldn't be a problem as they wouldn't be planted out until well after the other things anyway.
As for the rest - a definite no on the cukes since even 1 transplanting on them can stunt them which is why they are normally direct seeded, the flowers and herbs can go either way. As long as they aren't getting rootbound in their containers they will probably be fine as is.
Dave
I wouldn't say it was really common but it does happen and can with most any thing grown from seed. Often it is just what is called a "fused stem" or two seeds that were stuck firmly together. But other times they appear normal except for the extra leaves.
I have seen it with tomatoes and several different kings of flowers. I have read some comments claiming such plants should be destroyed to maintain purity but I never have done so and found the resulting plants to be essentially normal. Let us know how this one does.
Good pics by the way. :)
Dave
Dave is right. Greenhouse can mean a lot of different things.
Like I have four of the mini-greenhouses- the four shelf things with removable covers. Depending on what time of year it is, they get used as shelves for seed starting or to hold wintersown jugs outside- or more like coldframes with the covers on outside to help with hardening off plants.
In the past, I have occasionally used a mini-greenhouse in my solarium with the cover on and hot water jugs in the bottom to overnight tomatoes and peppers if the solarium was supposed to get too chill for them. That might be closer to what you are doing. But without a proper heat mat, I wouldn't try using the mini-greenhouse as a home to start seedlings.
Thank you everyone! Yes, here's a pic of what I have. http://www.amazon.com/Gardman-R687-4-Tier-Mini-Greenhouse/dp/B000NCTGQE
I can't think of any reason to grow them inside. I think you'd have more success sowing them directly outdoors. They do better direct sown anyway as transplanting can encourage bolting. There is little risk of damping off outside and it is cheaper and easier all round.
TOO MUCH WATER., i start them indoors until they are 3/4 inch high then transplant into a PROTECTED row such as i use which is a normal row that is made just below the surface of the ground level. after the plants get 2 or 3 inches, i cut in the surrounding soil to form rows thus bringing the rows to normal levels.
On the far right you can see a finished row of seedlings which are happily growing now that they can withstand the heavy wind and rain that north florida/south georgia recives now in mid- to late march . In the center is a row that i will level then move the center to ground level making a v formation in which i will plant more seedlings. This weekend it will be in the thirtys (march 27-29th 2015) and this type of row will allow me to cover the seedlings by streching heavy plastic over the depression after putting a light mulch such as pest CAREFULLY around the seedlings.
THIS DOES WORK and i get many many beets,giving many away.
The variety I grow is the DETROIT variety which I buy from www.standardseedandfeed.com.
They are called Speedling Plug Flats, come in all sorts of cell sizes, and manufactured by Speedling Inc. several horticultural suppliers offer them for sale. But the primary purpose for them is germination only, not for growing to transplant size. And while they do happen to float that isn't why they are used - unless growing hydroponically. Soil grown seedlings aren't left to float. They are watered and then immediately removed from the water. And that is one of the big disadvantages to them - finding a tray big enough to hold the water that they will fit in.
The main advantages to them are the shape of the cells that encourage deep root growth, the insulating aspect of the foam, and the "easy-to-pop-out" plugs they produce. But all the same advantages can be obtained by using plastic plug flats and they fit into a standard 1020 tray for watering.
<One tray like that would just about do one garden.>
Only if they were all the same plant. You should never mix plants with different germination times in the same flat.
Dave
I don't use heat mats at all, but use just a 60 watt light bulb under my seed trays. (I built a germination cabinet from a standard resin utility cabinet.) that generates enough heat for germination. If your basement is really cold you might need to use a 75 or even 100 watt bulb.
I agree about the self watering "mat" systems, however it definitely keeps the seedlings from dying from forgetting to water or being away for a weekend. I also added a fan on a timer to turn on several times a day to get air circulating and help give the seedlings stronger stems. After germination I mix a weak solution of miracle grow and add that to the watering tray, because potting soil has no nutrients, However I did but Miracle grow SEEDING soil this year and the plants seem ahead of schedule. It is still too cold in Connecticut to even think of putting them outdoors.