Seeds Germination from Summerhil Co-op

Would love to see your progress on the seeds that were bought from the Summerhill Seeds co-op. We came from here:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1052621

Thanks Lili! :o)

I've got a couple to post.
Summer Hill seeds from 2008.
Fuchsia Magellanica - planted 1-30-10, no germination.
Nepeta Pink Dreams - planted 2-3-10, 4 sds, germ 2-8, 3 sds.
Giant Exhibition Coleus - planted 1-31-10, 6 sds, germ. 2-5, 3 sds.

Summer Hill seeds from 2009.
Billardiera longiflora - planted 1-19-10, no germination yet.
Platycodon 'Hakone White', planted 2-15, germ. 2-23, high germ. rate.



This message was edited Mar 1, 2010 9:35 AM

not all are from SHS.. but here are my germinated lists so far

http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/vbc/onewish1/84623/
http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/vbc/onewish1/84624/
http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/vbc/onewish1/84744/
http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/vbc/onewish1/84883/

did collages so I don't post 9 photos

last one

onewish, that is impressive.

Onewish, you must have lots more room to plant things than I do!
I've only started a few seeds so far, a bit too early here, but so far I've had no noticeable germination problems. The Sophistica petunias are nearly 100% germination (8 days); the Pirouette petunias are just now starting to sprout (9 days). The cup and saucer vines are at only about 50% germination at 14 days, but I may have planted them a bit too deep. I just planted a few of the Asarina, Penstemon and Dichondra yesterday. I'm only planting a few of everything this year, (since I ran out of room and ended up with LOTS of leftover plants languishing in 4" pots last year), so I'm hoping for good germination rates.

I started some last week, and so far have 2 types of Thunbergia, Ptilotus Joey, Hibiscus Red Shield, bunch of different Pelargoniums, and Petunia Double Cascade Orchid Mist coming up, all from Summerhill. I was so glad to see the Pels, last year I tried one and couldn't get it to sprout to save my life. Now if those Coleus would hurry up, I would be ecstatic. Haven't check my WS bottles yet, but I'm sure nothing is sprouting yet out there in the cold. It's supposed to be sunny and up to 40F Thursday, so i'll start some more WS and see if anything's awake yet.

Baby pels yesterday, today they're starting to lift up out of the dirt.

thank you Lili... Woofie I have two rooms with cuttings and seedlings.. lots of space.. once it warms up some I have an unheated greenhouse too... gotta get my butt in gear with my WS'ed ones... slacking off this year

Ah, that sounds dreamy. Someday, perhaps.

I just have a big aquarium cabinet and a table in the breakfast nook, which my SO has dubbed "The Horticultural Lab".

do what works!!!.. it's all good!!!

Well, so far I have some Petunias, Salpiglossis, Begonias, Crossandra, Vinca, Geranium, Browallia, Dichondra and Nierembergia up. A little behind on my sowing. Have a bunch more that need to get started soon! Of the above, all are showing good germination, with the exception of my Begonia Appleblossom from this year, and some of the Begonias and Crossandra that were left over from last year. Overall pretty good results, and I'm still holding out for the Appleblossom, it may be taking it's time. Will work on getting a picture one of these days... in between babying my seedlings!

Well, I'm starting to get annoyed with those cup and saucer vine seeds. I thought I was seeing signs of life in a couple of the unsprouted pots (ok, I cheated and poked down a bit with a toothpick), but still no little green leaves. Grrrrr, 50% is not acceptable. Sigh, no patience here. :-)

Ha, I have a nice size greenhouse with plenty of room for starting seeds, just not enough room outdoors! Of course, when you have to keep the little darlings indoors till June, it's easy to run out of room fast.

LOL! Woofie, be nice to those little seeds. They'll come up when it's warm....

Me too, I'm having to hold myself back from getting out a toothpick. I have to satisfy myself with putting on the reading glasses and getting in reeeeel close. My next batch I think will have to have some on filter paper so I can watch the action.

Well, looks like the final count is gonna be 5 out of 6 on those cups and saucers. That's ok, I guess.

Sheesh, I have so many other seeds I need to get started, I hardly know where to start. I still think it's a bit early to start the zinnias here, but with the weird weather we've had this winter, it's hard to guess.

Yeah, we've had weird weather too. Although, zinnias germinate pretty fast and I've even sow mine late in the summer before.

So far, I've had good germination on all the coleus, all the pelargoniums except Summer Showers White, Baby Wing Begonia, Heliotrope, Hibiscus Red Shield, Impatiens, Thunbergia Terra Cotta, Verbena Tuscany Lavender picotee, and Rhodanthe. The Tuberous Begonias and Pentas haven't done anything yet, but they're slow. The Petunias look good; the ones I've started inside are all doubles so some are just coming up. Poor germination so far on Ptilotus, Pel Summer Showers White, Thunbergia African Sunset, and Verbena Tuscany White and Romance Scarlet Eye. The seedlings for Pelargonium Tornado Rose have curled seed leaves, but they look like they're getting true leaves so i guess they'll be ok.

The little coleus are starting to color up.

yeah for the coleus babies!!!!

I have to update my journal .. I am slacking off.. I had more germinate

that's too much work - updating journal.

not so bad when you do it a little at a time

here are my updated lists

http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/vbc/onewish1/84744/
http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/vbc/onewish1/84883/
http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/vbc/onewish1/84624/
http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/vbc/onewish1/84623/
http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/vbc/onewish1/85185/

and my duds so far are

Impatiens Divine Violet
Impatiens Divine Orange
Petunia Salmon Velvet
Petunia Flambe Salmon

Well, I'm not too impressed with the germination rates I'm seeing. My Geraniums are only about 50%, and the Tornado Duets are even less than that. The Euphorbia is only at about 25% and so is the Coleus. I'm having better luck with my old, crummy Wal-Mart seeds from last year! And those darn Cup and Saucer vines faked me out. I ended up with 1 Purple and 2 White out of six seeds planted. Not pleased. And I'm a little annoyed with Summerhill. I send them an email asking for a bit more planting information on one of the seeds I bought, and I've never heard back from them. Been 2 weeks now, too. At least the Sophistica Petunias did well--100% if they all transplant ok; I'm really looking forward to seeing those bloom. Still have a bunch of stuff to get started, tho.

raspberry ripple was the only geranium that was about 50% for me.. the rest were 100%

Not only did i only get 50% on the geranium Summer Showers White, a couple have these weird curled seed leaves like the Tornado Rose. I soaked them, so they shouldn't be getting stuck in the seed coat.
Next time, I'm gonna nick and/or soak the Thunbergia seeds, the African Sunset seedlings are having a really hard time getting their seed coats off.

I did not soak any of the geraniums .. they came out of the seed coat by themselves .. but yes the thunbergia should be soaked... I usually put them in peroxide overnight

Y'know, I almost soaked them just because they felt like it would be a good idea, but I didn't find anywhere that said they needed it. Just goes to show.

although this site says it's not necessary

http://www.grownotes.com/grow-thunbergia/

I have had this site Bookmarked for a couple of years.
I think it will be helpfull to anyone starting seeds at this time.

Pass it on!

Gita

http://theseedsite.co.uk/db1.html

I didn't get geranium seeds this year, but I had excellent germination from them last year... however, they didn't all sprout at once, even on the heat mat. Be patient and see what happens.

I WS'd some seeds from them this year, but I started petunias and vinca inside... seeing tiny sprouts now!

For anybody else starting vinca, i covered them so they'd be in the dark to germinate.. be sure to check them early & often, especially if you're using a heat mat... I had germination in just 2 days at 78 degrees... you may not see leaves at first, just fuzzy white filaments that are probably roots. Took the cover off (but left the humidity dome on), and they're greening up nicely.

yeah for your sprouts Critter!!!.. I only grew vinca once a few years ago

a few of my geraniums are popping up now and then... one just did in the raspberry ripple yesterday

here they are this morning

Nice looking bunch of seedlings! Those labels are pretty cool, too.

thanks... made with a brother p-touch

Critter, do you mean Vinca rosea (Catharanthus rosea)? Or Vinca minor? Thanks!

I am behind on a lot of seed-starting....besides my tomatoes and peppers I have started some Aladdin Blue and Aladdin Yellow petunias from Swallowtail Seeds
Oxypetalum 'Blue Cheer' and 'Foxy' Foxglove T&M are in the small fridge on the porch
Abutilon 'Boule de Niege' T&M , Lobelia 'Regatta Midnight Blue', L. 'Crystal Palace', L. 'Blue Moon' SS have germinated and making way for 8 varieties of sweet and hot peppers on the heat mat now...so many seeds and so little time. I know that a lot of them could have been started a month or two back, 'specially the petunias and geraniums....I have a lot more to do, but so far, so good....I am just learning as to what the timing and needs of seeds are, as I have grown tomatoes from seed before, but not all these other things...some of the seeds I have had for a while now...

sorry, should have been clear... I'm talking about the annual flowering Vinca rosea (I ordered Mediterranean Lipstick XP Mix).

Onewish, I was just getting ready to look for a labeler. Do you like the Brother? Are they weather resistant?

the model # of the ones I use is TZ-S631

they are industrial extra strength adhesive ... and I have had some in the garden for years and they look brand new.. I even stuck them on the metal eon markers.. all good.. but they cost a bit more

http://www.brother-usa.com/accessories/accessories.aspx?ASKU=TZS631

oh my machine was a cheap one .. think it was $30.00 when I bought it.. three years old now and it works great .. but not sure if you can get that model anymore

http://www.brother-usa.com/ptouch/ModelDetail.aspx?ProductID=PT1010

Kelly, I've had a brother p-touch 1180. I don't think you can find that model now, but it is a small handheld model. I've never had trouble with it. The labels have been on the metal plant markers for years now. I went on ebay after I'd had it for a year or so and hubby decided to label everything in the garage and his basement workshop and bought a ton of labels. I think I'm set for life in the label department. lol

I have never used the labels for my seeds I start in the basement, but onewish's labels look nice. I might make up a couple for ones that I start every year.

I had my names wash off the labels once... I am making sure that doesn't happen again.. nothing like having 20 trays of seedlings and have no clue what is what ... I almost cried