Winter Sowing 2010 What's Sprouting #2

Terese, bachelor buttons should be just fine to be set out. I have volunteers in the garden that show up in fall and just stand firm all winter. They're quite tough and cold tolerant, so yours should be fine.

Bachelor buttons would definitely be fine now. Like Neal, I've had volunteers winter over in my yard too.

Karen

The local Lowe's didn't have superthrive. They seem to be stocking only by brand, not by chemical. Very aggravating. I'll have to try home depot, KMart and the other local shops. Maybe they have their things listed online? I'll check.

I hate to have to order by mail, pay shipping and pick everything up at the post office. They don't deliver mail here, so I have to trudge up and down the hill to the post office. I have been having respiratory problems lately, so I haven't gotten up there as often as I should.

I was also looking for sulfur. They had a very dilute, overpriced, earthy crunchy natural sulfur spray -in a line of overpriced, dilute natural sprays. I wanted the regular, old fashioned 100% powder.

I found the best price on suprethrive through amazon. They listed a number of vendors, and different prices and shipping costs. Did a search and didn't find anyone w/ lower price.

I saw posts that said they sprayed the soil around the plant and not the plant itself. Is this tonic supposed to be used in the place of fertilizer? Is this for plant shock? What is it used for?

Anita, what tonic? Surely not the Superthrive. To spray the ground with.

Superthrive is for transplant shock. Or, I will use it for a plant that might be reviving from a disease, bugs, etc. Sickly plants. Not a fertilizer. A vitamin. Vitamin B is for stress. B12 I think. Correct me if I am wrong or if it even matters which B. But, it is a drench for the roots. Or, I will soak plants like roses with Superthrive when I get them bareroot. I clip the roots, mainly to give them a fresh cut to soak it up. I have also soaked the pruned ends of the bareroot rose.

Tonics quite often are used for both killing insects and their eggs or larvae. I guess tonics can be fertilizers too. So, most can be a folier spray. All depends on the ingredients.

That question was directed at Terese, I'm sorry. She posted a link for the tonics. I was asking if it was just used for sickly plants, transplant shock or as fertilizer. The epsom salt is used as a fertilizer as well as the compost tea. So I wanted to know how I should apply the tonic before I began using it. Most of the recipes listed beer, not sure of the purpose. I know it helps rid your hostas of slugs. Not sure of the use of ammonia. I know sulphur is a mineral. So I'm just asking to make sure I understand. LoL

Anita... as i stated in a previous post... I dont know the hows and whys of this tonic... but i do water soil and spray foliage.

I have not yet had the time it will take to read both those huge threads to figure out what each product does.

I do know ammonia does kill slugs and the eggs... but it is a 'contact' killer. I do not know why it's in the plant tonic for Brugs.

I just used what i had on hand in the house.

BUT -- i have spritzed seedlings and there has not been any ill effects.

transplanted a bunch of Coreopsis and put them all in one pot for a plant trade.... they were quite wilty... heavily watered it with the 'tonic' that i had made up... and within a few hrs, they had perked back up again.

I've been using it on my WS seedlings / seeds and the ones sown in the house... no adverse effects on any of them.

maybe one day I will know what each of those items "do" that others are putting in their "recipe".

hope this helps,

Terese

OK Sorry.

Ammonia is a nitrogen source, so it does fertilize too. It can burn if used too strong.

Okay thanks all. I was just curious. I'll go through the thread to read what each ingredient provides. I did write down each recipe. LoL I'm all for anything natural that helps my plants. Its an interesting combination of ingredients. I would love to know who came up with this tonic. Its seems like something a chemist would have invented. LoL

I found my Super Thrive at a hydrophobic store. These stores are popping up all over the West, and it was a larger bottle and less than Lowes. I looked into Amazon but the shipping was outrageous. The nurseries had it and their price as also outrageous. I do not plant anything with a soak in super thrive and kelp fertilizer, which was a gift.

I will use the SuperThrive when i ship hostas. I can't recall if i posted that in this thread or not..

but after digging them up, i was the soil off the roots then soak them in ST. when i wrap them for shipping, i'll wet the paper towel with the ST water then wrap with siran wrap, then ship them off.

Whoops.. sorta OT here.

I will have to give ST another shot. I tried it along with the sea weed and I didn't notice a significant difference. I have a couple of plants tha could use the help. I bought a Mandevilla that is not looking too good. If this tonic helps bring it back I will be forever grateful. I was opening up my jugs yesterday. I have a few more sprouts coming up. I took a couple og pictures to share. My neighbors have been peeking at my jugs wondering what was inside. Here's the pictures. I don't have chia pets yet but they are really coming along. The first a picture of most of the jugs with sprouts. I'm trying to keep them together to keep a closer eye on them.

In my post of 4/9 I was talking about hydrogen peroxide and what I used to use? It was Oxygen Plus. Expensive bottle to squirt twice into a gallon. All it was is the peroxide.

Also, the same post, was the "Start up" Vitamin B. It was a quart bottle and sold for around $3. I think it is the same stuff as Superthrive. Just re-packaged and re-named and re-priced.

Jnette, did it work? The tonics sounds like its made up of the things you would have in most households. I started looking through my cupboards for the ingredients. I was suprised to find most of the ingerdients in the tonic. I happened to notice that I had 6 bottles of peroxide. LoL I read that peroxide with water or chamomile tea worked wonders for damping off. Here's the picture of the Cherry Brandy rud seedlings. I am so amazed at how easy the WSing is compared to trying to start seeds inside for all these years!

Did what work Anita?

I wish I could say the same about the WSing. I finally put mine in my little 4 tier mini greenhouse out on the deck. Maybe they will get warm enough during the day to hold over the 20s at night.

I still have 5 shelves of seeds started in the house. Petunias, verbenas etc. Those are seeds I don't want to take a chance on. I have only 2 things sprouted in my WS. For some reason I am even having trouble with the seeds in the houe. Only about half of my seeds are germinating. I just don't understand 3 out of a 6 pack will sprout and not the other 3.

Any suggestions anyone?

Jnette, I never tried the peroxide. Usually by the time I figure out I have a problem its too late. I'm terrible about keeping track of the germination period. LoL. In the house I have tried to start two different kinds of dahlias. I have maybe 3 that germinated. The 3 that sprouted are going strong. I've had horrible luck with the Gerbera Daisy seeds. I had a few outside that I brought inside and a couple are doing pretty good. I'm not sure where I went wrong with the seeds.

Here's the Dahlia Unwin

I brought a jug of my WS in the house a couple of days ago, some ornamental grass, and it is up about 4 inches. So, it is alive.

I noticed all of a sudden today one of my tuber dahlias was up about 10 inches. I cut it off at a leaf note about 2 inches up. I always pinch my dahlias so they will bush and then I don't have to stake them. They don't have quite as big flowers I don't think, but they have more flowers than just one tall one. I planted several seeds one of the DGers sent me and I see one of those are up today. I really like growing dahlia from seed. They turn into tubers by the end of the season. And that's cool.

Forgot to add that I plant mine in containers 'cause I can't dig them.

This message was edited Apr 11, 2010 6:24 PM

I always root the cuttings from the seedlings... just makes more

Are you saying like the one I took out of the middle when I cut it off? LOL, I never thought about it but I did stick it in the soil. I doubt if it will start that way. Might. I will be surprised. Should have put it in water or something?

I always root them in some type of planting medium... rooted them just like a coleus.. remove the bottom leaves... just leave 1 or 2 sets at the top... dipped in rooting hormone... and stuck in medium... rooted pretty quick too... last year they were just in perlite.. but have used seed starting mix or what ever I had around in the past.. I always start my dahlia seeds super early inside to get enough to cut for cuttings.. so the one set of seeds that germinated.. are now two

THAT is a gorgeous picture! You need to submit that in the photo contest this year.

I agree with Stephanie, that is a beautiful picture! So, Jnette, are you saying that the first shoot from the plant should be clipped? I'm trying Dahlias for the first time. When is a good time to snip the center stem? Right now my seedling is pretty young. Should I wait until it has it true leaves?

thank you... but it was in last years contest ....

I do them when they have a few sets of true leaves... if it has 4 I will cut off 2 sets

Thanks OneWish, I'm going to wait a little while before I snip it. I'm going to follow your lead on the rooting the cutting. Do you do the same thing with the tubers first shoot?

don't usually get mine started soon enough to bother.. but I don't see why not.. in my book if I am pinching might as well try and root it

:)

I think I read that some place, maybe in the dahlia forum. I didn't realize dahlias were so different from other tubers but it makes perfect sense just like with the coleus. I had datura last year for the first time. I may try it with those as well just to see what happens. The datura had several blooms but I was a lot more lenthy than it was bushy. I would prefer them to be more bushy than tall.

I just never thought about starting another dahlia from it because I always pinched them just to make them bush so I didn't have to stake them. But, I don't have the room to start them that early. That I would have more growing. Don't know what I would do with more anyway. But, yes, I don't see why they would be different. I was just so shocked to see that dahlia had grown any because I had just planted it and put it on a lower shelf out of the way. So it would have been a leggy plant anyway. No light or anything.

OK, friends, does anyone here know how to grow dahlias in the southwest desert?????

Grow them in pots like I do. Containers on the deck, or put them in good soil and plant the pot and all? That is what I do 'cause I can't dig them.

Sharon, with the absence of humidity there, I think Dahlias will perform quite well.

Yesterday I was emptying a few containers from last year that I had held out hope for, thinking they may surprise me during the summer, and they ended up sitting out there out of sight all winter. I couldn't believe it when I opened the one labeled 'Columbine, William Guiness' and there were 2 seedlings!

Wow! Gemini,good for you! One of the MG grew up working ina greenhouse. She said thay would throw seeds in a pot in the fall and forget about them. If they survived the winter they had flowers. I guess that makes sense, just like winter sowing with with little protection from the elements.

I am beginning to get so many sprouts! I have one hh in a jug. Its starting to form leaves that are different shapes from the originals.

Now that so many of the jugs are germinating, I'm wondering where in the world I am going to put them all! LoL

Hello all! This forum has been quiet today. Is everyone out in their yards getting beds ready?

Yes. I'm still digging out volunteers. I feel like I'll never finish.

Karen

Well Karen, my temps out there are in the low 60s which is really warm for us. I have my seeds all in my 4 tier mini greenhouse the last 4 or so days, but they still have not sprouted. I brought one in a week ago and it sprouted. My lantana I brought in right after I put it out and it has not sprouted and probably will not.

Any suggestions?

Never tried lantana. It's one of those heat lovers which, it seems to me, might do better inside with bottom heat. At least here, where the growing season is shorter. It might not be an issue, just a guess on my part.

Karen

Well, what about the rest? Do you think they will ever sprout outside? Maybe in July or August? I really don't want to lose my seeds. I have so many seeds, tomatoes, petunias, geraniums, etc. in the house I don't know where I will put them if I have to bring them in the house to start them. I guess I could move the mini greenhouse in here but it wouldn't have any lights. Darn.

might be better to keep the seeds for next year... don't they take a while to mature?