Propagation: first attempt at growing hibiscus from seed, 1 by starlight1153

starlight1153 wrote:
Kim... Go back and dig your other Canna seed. and score them. Won't hurt them a bit. I have doen that before manya time when I wondered if maybe I didn't get a few of them scored deep enough.

The plant stand is not my idea. Carolyn had sent me a link to the plans one year. One she used. ( Hope they get her puter fixed soon.)

The design came from here from T's Flowers and things. Just click on the link that says plant stand. It about 7 or 8 pages to print out, but it fantastic and give s ya what parts ya need plus detailed instructions. I used 3/4" pvc pipe cuz that all what I had on hand. I have five stands built. Only one has lights, but I use the others outside to hold plant flats on

http://www.tsflowers.com/

Only thing I did find out is that you really need to glue the parts together good and to take a marker and label each part, red, gren bue, ect. and when you are puttign the pice s together, use one of them rubber mallets to tap the piece s into togther tight. First one I put together kind cam apart where I didn't have the parts all the way in far enough.

If The computer doesn't act up. I'll show you how I start my seed in a series of pics. Mayeb this way will work for you and maybe not. This is not for tree seed or for perennials that need a cold chill first.

First pic. I got a couple of them 288 seed trays from a green house and cut them up into 9 by 8 square pices. Fill with sterile seed starting mix. Farfard seed starting mix if you cna get it. It very fine. or if you have a screem you can take peat, perlite, and vermicultie and keep rubbing it over tiny holed screen to make it a really fine mix. I take a little like wash bucket, put some soil in it and just enought water to keep the dust down, ya cna hardly tell any water on it. Fill the tray. spritz with water once. add seed. Then I cut up old blinds and us e them for markers. I cut four pieces about 2" long and stuf f one down in the edge of a hole on each side. That wil keep the baggy off the soil and make an air pocket. Then I had a very very fine layer of dry FINE vermicultite ove r the whole tray .

Then carfully slid e into a one gallon zip lock baggy and put on kitchen table . My kitchen light runs 24/7 which helps in the germination of seed . There are a few seed s that need darknes to germinate but not to many. My Kitchen light about 32" of f the table. If I lower it any more I bang my hea d on it constantly. I watch the seed trays after about three days on. Alot of flower seed especially annuals wil start sprouting then. Then I take out baggy and put under plant stand lights. Plant stand lights are only about 1/2" above the flat tray.

They stay under there until the get first set of true leaves , usually a wek or two and ya have to mist them a coupel time s a day. You can't let them dry out. I usually stick my finger in the place wher e I put the tags to feel how dry or wet the soil is. Too wet and you'll rot your roots and also promote growth of white fly nats. When I put them unde r lights. One seed flat wil hold two seed trays. My seed flats have hole s in them so I just line with a cut up piece of trash bag.

Soon as they have first set of real leave s out they go into six inch pot s or one gallons outside. That the only way I can start seed and keep thinsg going without having critters and rains wash everythign away.