Portulaca seeds

Please some help with portulaca seeds that i sow 12 days ago and still nothing appears...i already have read some basic guidelines before sowing , but maybe something done wrong!..Notice that i live in Athens , Greece and i am keeping the seeds outdoor in my balcony , while the temp. here is about 15 C during day and about 7-10 C at nights..lately we have faced really heavy rains, but sunny days also exists between..another information is that yes! i covered just very little with soil and sow all seeds together in two small pots..
thanx vTr (Tony)

At 15ºC they will take longer to germinate than if it were 20ºC or 25ºC.
They do like heat to germinate so be patient with them.
Caroline

thanx Caroline i will try to be patient ...but i will return back soon .(there are more other seeds waiting inside the envelopes , and this was the first i opened..)
Tony

Good! There is lots of help available on line.

update : 17 days passed and still ..nothing....i wonder is there any way to know if i must wait any longer for my seeds?..help

This message was edited Mar 1, 2013 9:01 PM

Only thing to do is be patient. Seeds germinate when they are ready!
And if it is still cool there? It may be awhile.

the seed packet writes that they can be planted since february!....and have flowers from june....

This message was edited Mar 2, 2013 1:13 AM

But it does not say when they will germinate!
The only way to speed the process would be to move them to warmer spot.

I had mine on a seedling mat and they germinated overnight. The are hardy annuals, but will probably not germinate until they get warmer.

i have them in two small pots out in my balcony , and in a spot that the sun shines whenever we have sun here , and we have plenty...at nights i bring them inside home...i wonder if i have done something wrong ...the temp here is always around 15 C at day .. i am looking very forward , because i want many of them in my new garden plan , and i have many other kinds of seeds waiting....i will not begin another packet if i dont see them germinate!..
thanx anyway

This message was edited Mar 3, 2013 2:37 PM

This message was edited Mar 3, 2013 2:37 PM

The ideal temperature for germinating portulaca is above 20ºC to about 30ºC.
That is quite a bit warmer than what you have. They will take much longer
to germinate when at only 15ºC.

vTr,

I scattered some portulaca seed in my garden at the beginning of Spring (September 2012) and after waiting for what seems forever, I have one plant. After a whole growing season, it is about 5cm high. I bought some plants in the past, and I have never had any seedlings even though I saw some seed capsules...

Elsa123,
just one plant after some seeds?.....can you tell how long you waited?...and which was the average temp. range in your area when you sow them?

This message was edited Mar 4, 2013 9:13 PM

I've been lurking but after reading that last post all I can say is I hope they do better in the US. Lol

just a very important general question now , it has to do not only with portulaca seeds, but seeds generally..
i have just read a database about seed germination , as linked to the first sticky post of that forum..so, i read that germination temp. for portulaca seeds is 70-85 F ....and it takes about 14-21 days....so, my wondering is the following....
i also read that the average minimum temp. in Greece in 70 F (21 C) is ....in the begining of June!!...so according to that database i ought to sow my seeds at that time.....and i wonder now...if i made so , when those seedlings will eventually come up with flowering????
or there is a meaning to all this story with seeds , that we must germinate them in a greenhouse?


This message was edited Mar 4, 2013 10:55 PM

This message was edited Mar 4, 2013 10:58 PM

Yes, if that is when you get warmer temperatures----
---for outdoor seeding it might have been better to wait until later in spring.
Are they in the ground? or could you take them into the house?

If they are in the ground ----perhaps covering them with a clear plastic bag?
---or a sheet of glass or something to trap heat, but let light through?

no they are on two small pots , that i bring inside home at nights..but the question remains...lets suppose that the seeds germinate in June ...ok? so, when they will flower? or in other words...will they be ready for this summer?
notice that when we speek about summer in Greece we mean june,july,and august , and a little of september..

This message was edited Mar 5, 2013 2:20 AM

vTr: In my opinion, you need to bring the pots with the portulaca seeds inside and keep them inside. It's too cool for them to germinate outside. Put them in a warm spot--maybe on top of the refrigerator. I think if you leave them outside in 70 degree weather, the seeds may rot before they germinate.

I have greater success with germinating seeds by doing lots of research. Here are a few websites that will be helpful in germinating seeds:

http://www.hardyplants.com/seed_starting_.html

http://www.robsplants.com/seed/starting.php This has two areas of information:
1. Click on the words: Baggy Method I think he explains this method of germinating seeds pretty clearly.
2. On the above website: 1. Click on the word seeds. 2. Then click on the words: by plant 3. Scroll down until you see the plant you are interested in. 4. Click on that particular plant. He doesn't have all plants listed, just the ones he has had experience with.

http://tomclothier.hort.net/index.html This one is good but brief.


http://www.backyardgardener.com/tm.html Scroll all the way down to get to the plants your are interested in.

http://theseedsite.co.uk/

Lastly, here's a short list of hardy plants that can be sown early. These plants are called "hardy" because they can take cooler temperatures, and you can sow these seeds sooner.

http://www.echters.com/Reference/FrostHardiness.htm This is for Denver Colorado but you can apply it to your area.

If you are short on space for germinating seeds, the baggy method is probably a good way to get several seeds started.

Good Luck. If you have any questions, Dave Gardener's love to give advice!!

vTr,

Our temperatures range between 25 and 40C from Spring into Summer. We had a "cool" Spring, but our Summer is extremely hot this year. I came to the conclusion that even though it would be wonderful to have a high germination rate on seed, it isn't meant to be. Imagine how plants will take over should they self-seed and have a high germination rate... Anyway, that is what I tell myself.

I don't know if it will flower the first year. Maybe a flower or two, but the next year will definitely be a show stopper.

From what I read in a catalog I have they germinate at temps between 70* - 85* They like the heat. I really think you need to bump up the temps to get them to germinate. They may grow in lower temps but they need high temps to germinate.

birder17,

Thank you very much for all your informations and help.. i just finished read of "baggy method" which i found very interesting ,but i am afraid it needs time and some devotion... Unfortunately the little free time that i have , i am trying to spend it equal to all parts of gardening..and now that sprink is coming, i have to be as efficacious as i can, if i really want my garden to be ready mostly by summer time..and there are so many things waiting under construction!..
to return to our subject now.. i thought of seed germination recently, as a cheap way to have many flowers for colour, but i now realise it isnt so easy...thanks to you and other friends here already learned and i will surely learn more in future...i have bought recently some various seeds packets, according to their height and colour , and i decided to start opening them with portulaca seeds..
Now i realise that it was too early to plant them , and i am sure they must have rotted by now.. i feel that the most important reason for failure is the tempareture subject..
...when the minimum temp. for germinating is 70F , then i think we mustnt look further for other reasons.. from what i have learned since now , i suppose the right temp. is the number one rule for succeed in germination..still, i have a question about it...as i have arleady written in above post , the right temp for portulaca (70-85f) just not exist here before June!..so , if we suppose that portulaca seeds succeed germinating in June , i wonder when they will finally flower? ...you see, i want to be ready in summer!...if not enough time for flowering , is that means that this is a general rule for every seed , not ready in time?..so, just must buy the plants we want?...hope to understand my "bad" english..and the meaning of my thought.. i will return back later..dont think i give up!..NEVER!...i am very stubborn guy lol
Tony
really , DENVER COLORADO and Athens,Greece have same climate?

This message was edited Mar 5, 2013 10:58 PM

This message was edited Mar 5, 2013 11:04 PM

This message was edited Mar 5, 2013 11:07 PM

The source that says the temp recommendations also says to start them inside. If I waited until the temps were right to start my veggies like tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers I'd never get a harvest. So I give them a head start by keeping them on a heating mat. You can't always rely on nature, just stick them someplace warm to germinate. I do that with a lot of my plants to get a head start.

to continue my above post now....

1lisac ,

-Firstly i dont have any doubt that the right temp. is the first condition for succesfull germinating seeds..and as you wrote you use some technics to raise the temp.(like heating mat)
I dont know exactly what it is , but i suggest it uses electricity , which is something that costs enough , (here) when the bill arrives..... perhaps it comes more dearly than buying the plants ready..of course its the feeling of satisgaction to raise from just a seed, so if i start my seeds when mother nature temp. are right to germinate , will be long enough to flower the plant on the period that blooms? that's my question..
and there is a following question that comes now into my mind.....let;s dont forget we are talking about annuals plants... i haven't find anywhere in web , to mention exactly how long it takes for any kind of seed , not just germinate , but to flower!..so, when i see for example portulaca plants in nurseries in summer , i can imagine that they have raised in a greenhouse with various technics...am i right?...so my question is very simple...if let nature to undertake , should that means , in other words that we would NEVER have portulacas in Greece?....
...as i speculate your answer is a big YES , i would start wondering which are the plants in my country , that when i sow them at the right temp. without any help , would eventually bloom on their natural period of flowering?...hope you all get my point..
Tony

This message was edited Mar 6, 2013 2:00 AM

I think we like to push nature sometimes. I started my portulaca seeds on top of the freezer. They were some of the first to germinate, but then I was shocked to see what they looked like. Little tiny slivers of a plant like a very fine grass, I thought there was no way they could ever grow into anything. But they did survive and bloomed nicely! I planted some in warm weather and I think they germinated in three or four days.

If you let nature take it's course I don't know if you would have them in Greece. To be honest I don't know how long it takes for them to flower. I have read that they do well in hanging baskets so I would assume that if you germinate them outside when it's warmer you could bring them inside when it gets cooler. Or put them on top of your fridge or water heater, or some place else warm, to get them to germinate.

1lisac is right. If you want to grow plants from seeds, then you have to start early, --inside your house--usually 6 weeks before last frost date. OR, you can start them outside After last frost date. Last frost date here, for me in zone 6b, is April 10th, but last year, we had below 32* on April 11th. So, I wait until April 15th which is pretty safe.
Take a look at some of the pictures in this "Seed Germination" forum on the post entitled: "Here goes stating seeds for 2013". There's lots of pictures showing how to grow seeds inside.
OR outside like this:
You can read a little bit about Winter Sowing: yet another way we work with Mother Nature to try to get seed germination and seedling plants.--
Both ways work.
Really, I would recommend a lot of research in your evenings after work to read up on this stuff.
Although temperature is quite important, a good seed starting medium is equally important. You can't have soil that is full of fungus or soil that is too "heavy" that it doesn't give little seeds enough space to sprout. Also, seeds have enough energy to start life on their own (like an egg gives enough food to the baby chick until it hatches). If a tiny seed is planted too deeply, it will sprout, spend its energy trying to reach the surface but may die off because it ran out of food to make it to the surface. That's why some directions for tiny seeds say "plant on the surface" or "needs Light". Lastly, seeds need "some" moisture. If the seed starting medium becomes too dry, then the little"sprout" will shrivel up and die.
So, in review: Light: be it darkness or "light", temperature, seed starting medium and moisture are all important factors.
No not necessarily: Athens Greece and Denver Co may or may not have the same temps. I was trying to give you a list of some plants that are Hardy and can be started earlier than other plants. Example: You can start Sweet Pea Vine (Lathyrus ordorata) or you can start Snapdragon (Antirrhirum majus) earlier than you can start Portulaca seeds.
Then, Tony, there's some seeds that like to go through a very cold temperature say, 38 degrees for several weeks before the seeds would want warm temperatures. An example of this type of seed would be Penstemon digitalis.
It's confusing at first, but will finally fall into place with experience and research.
BTW, I think your English is pretty good!

Tony, more than likely the annual seeds you plant Will bloom for you in your summer season. Usually, a seed pack will say: Plant in a certain month, for example: plant in April. The seed company puts that information on their seed packet for information for you to plant seed at a certain time to get successful bloom in the summer.
One cannot predict with certainty when the seeds you plant will bloom. It will depend on the environmental factors which are unpredictable.
My advice: Try it. You don't have much to loose since you have already bought the seeds. You will learn which plants to plant in the future. Experience is a good educator.

When you see plants 4 sale they are usually blooming, even if it's not the right time. They push them to bloom bc they look prettier and sell better. I'm never sure when the right time is here bc each year is different, that's Texas.

Tony, portulaca is one of those flowers that germinates both by being exposed to warm temperatures on a heat mat and by wintersowing.

In 2007, I sowed portulaca seeds on the surface of potting medium inside a vented milk jug in February, when temps sometimes go down into the teens Fahrenheit. They germinated in April, long before our temps stay in the 70s Fahrenheit. They have been self-sowing in my garden over a dry rock wall in the years since. (my favorite winter-sowing website is www.wintersown.org - I like the way they organize their information).

Once reason this works is because portulaca flowers quickly from seed - relative to other flowers that need a longer start from seed before last spring frost. It helps that we have horribly hot & humid summers, but I still think you have plenty of time in your part of the world for portulaca to flower from seed.

What I like about winter sowing (and spring sowing will work with portulaca as well) is that it requires no electricity, I had no need to bring pots indoors and outdoors repeatedly, and I had no worries about damping off fungus, which can be a problem with trying to germinate or grow plants indoors at warm temperatures. Plus I don't have room indoors to start as many flowers as I can by wintersowing outdoors.

Well, portulaca (rose moss here) is one of my favorite flowers so I hope you won't give up and will keep trying to get this one growing.

Tony: I have done some more research and will share with you the following information.
From my research, your temps don't get very hot: about 80 degrees at your warmest. I do not think Portulaca would be a good plant to grow in Greece.
However, there are lots of plants that would grow beautifully in your area. Instead of Portulaca, try Campanula carpatica (comes in a blue and also a white one). I think it would grow very well there.
I think your weather would be similar to the state of Oregon USA. It is zone 8 or 9 but has mild winters and cooler summers. Someone from Oregon can give their opinion.

Another flower similar to Portulaca would be Abrieta deltoidea (purple) and also Iberis sempervirens (white), and Alyssum saxitilis (yellow). All of these plants bloom about the same time and would look very nice together. They all grow prostrate (low to the ground).

Winter Sow with the website given above would be a good way for you to germinate some seeds. As was stated, takes very little room, very little care and is pretty successful.

Here's the info I found:

Europa Hardiness Zone Map
and
http://www.travelinfo.gr/greece/info/climate.htm

Keep asking questions!

birder17 , according to the map zone 9 very close to 10 exactly where the arrow show...will return soon
...i will check your plants ..just checked!..in cursory glance , very very beauntiful ..but i am sure it will be difficult to find them!...



This message was edited Mar 7, 2013 8:18 AM

This message was edited Mar 7, 2013 8:38 AM

I've been to Athens and I can tell you it's hotter than Connecticut. Birder, 80 degrees is plenty warm enough, but I can understand that it's nowhere like the killer summers you have! I bought portulaca last summer and loved it. This will be my first year trying from seed.

Vtr, really the baggy method is easy. The bag keeps the seed moist until it sprouts, you don't waste soil on duds. Also it's easy to stick the baggy somewhere warm, maybe in the sun on a windowsill,,for instance. Once you have seedlings, you plant them carefully and at that point they can grow on in cooler conditions. Maybe not quite as cool as your day temps now, just wait until it warms up a little more.

According to this website they bloom in about 10 weeks from seed.

http://www.seedman.com/aportulaca.htm

Good luck!

Pam

I live in zone 6b,and I have bought portulaca plants from the garden store and they come back up every summer. I was very surprised seeing these little fern like things coming up.

A truly beautiful low growing ground cover type plant is called the Portulaca or sometimes known as the Sun Rose or even the Moss Rose. Portulaca plants are native to Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.

Portulaca flowers tolerate many kinds of soils but prefer sandy well drained soils and love the full sunlight. These plants are excellent for high heat and drought tolerance and will seed and spread themselves very well. Some control methods may be needed to keep portulaca plants from becoming invasive to areas where they are not wanted.

You do not need to water often for proper portulaca care. The cylindrical foliage of the portulaca flower retains moisture very well thus regular watering is not needed. When they are watered just a light watering will do as their root zone is very shallow.
When planting the portulaca seeds it is not necessary to cover the seed at all and if covered only very lightly as they need the sun to sprout and grow. The seeds planted in the gravel mulch in my rose bed were scattered by hand over the gravel and the gravel lightly rocked back and forth with my hand to help the seed reach the soils below.

This message was edited Mar 10, 2013 5:55 PM

Well , the following pic is dedicated to everyone helped me, with my questions in this thread...

No! it isn not portulaca seeds , but Alyssum violet seeds , that i sowed with winter-sown method in just 9 of March!..they just appeared yesterday 12th of March , which means in exactly 3 days!...The flat is a plastic bottle made following Winter-Shown guides , and much more attention was given in temperature condition , this time..now need your help , again for the future of those just born babes-seedlings..
Tony

This message was edited Mar 13, 2013 9:04 PM

Tony! Congratulations! Winter Sowing, to me, is the easiest way to germinate seeds. You can do one of the following. Others can add to this information:
1. Wait until the seedlings have two sets of leaves: 4. Then, you can plant them in "wads" in your garden. The strongest plants will be the ones that will grow.
2. You can cut some of the plants off with a scissors so there aren't so many together.
3. Or, you can divide them and pot them up into individual pots. When they recover from being separated and transplanted, plant them in your garden. This will give you many more plants, but it is much more tedious/challenging.
5. Often, gardeners cut the tops off of the plants to create bushier plants. That is, of course, after you have more than four leaves per plant.

It is good you found seeds that will germinate quickly in your climate. I am sure there are other seeds you can plant now. Most seeds will germinate around 68 degrees.