Starting seeds, Part 4

Interesting... How much do you think it does speed it up? Your paper towel/baggie method sounds like what I do, the Deno method. Another nice thing about that is you only plant growing seeds, so there's no wasted effort on seeds that don't germinate.

Thanks, Pfg. I had to plant the bout 2 days before my 6/4 post Ok the Haricot vert beans were nicked & soaked on 6/1. I put them in moist paper towels 6/2 & the picture above was taken 6/4.

I think I'll try it this weekend on my beans. As I remember, last year I didn't get such great germination direct sowing mine, had lots of empty spaces in the garden. Also, I just discovered that this winter I gave away most of my Tromboncino squash seeds, thinking I only anted 1 or 2 plants. But now I want more, so every seed counts. I won't scarify, but I will use the baggy method to have mo control over what happens.

hey girls what is a good feed for your plants that don't cost arm & Leg HOME MADE PLEASE That I Can use more often .

Pfg, lmk how that works out.

Susie, the only home made fertilizer I know is compost from kitchen and garden scraps. It doesn't have to be "finished" compost if you're willing to bury it between rows. You can spot-compost in fairly shallow holes as long as you don't have dogs digging it up.

Or bring bags of coffee grounds home and either scratch it in, or just add thin layers on top every few weeks.

There's a fruit stand nearby that sometimes lets me scrounge a bag of scraps out of their dumpster, for my compost heap.

Guess I will have to start drinking PERKED Coffee again :) Tonigh I cleaned out my horse trough & going to put a Bag of manure in it then add water & Cover it for a week or two & Use that for my feed going to try it anyway .

I used to make manure tea, as it was called when it was popular years ago.

Place manure (any kind) in a mesh bag (or old nylon hose) and steep it in a bucket of water for a few days. The resulting water/tea is great for feeding all kinds of plants for a quick result. Use the leftover manure to improve the soil.

I have a bunch of seeds talking to me... Some are from this winter, some from Deejay's 2nd time around robin. I'd like to try starting some of them this summer, hopefully getting big enough seedlings to plant out before winter. Who has done this before? blomma, I know you have... When is the best time to start?

Pfg,
Yep, I have. The best time to start is in In late July, or in August to give the seedlings time to get settled before winter. If it takes long for them to germinate, start in July.

OK, thanks!

Manure tea: one of the ingredients is AIR. If the bucket is too deep or the cover too tight, it COULD get anearobic and that' defeats the purpose of creating beneficial micro-organisms.

If you just what nutrients (NPK and carbon or organic matter) from manure, put the whole manure, or somewhat composted manure, right into the soil or onto the soil.

A top-dressing of manure, slightly scratched in so it stays moist, when watered, leaches out aerobic "instant tea" each time you water it.

Well here's where all the seed-starters are, can't believe I took so long to find this forum. I'm going to try something new: germinating seeds for mid-summer or fall planting. First have tomatoes started, sometimes my sprint planted tomatoes peter out by August and I've heard of folks replanting new seedlings (plus I have a new variety that I mail ordered and didn't receive until last week.) Also I'm going to try germinating some seeds in late summer to plant in fall, things like sweet pea, rudbeckia and coneflower. In zone 8 I think this should work. Any pointers?

I suppose it depends on where you are starting your seeds. Will they be outside or in the house? Just make sure they do not bake or dry out. Let us know how you do. Maybe you will be giving us pointers.

Forgot to post results on the beans... They were only soaked for about 3 hours, starting with Hand Hot water, then Deno method. They sprouted in just a couple of days, but I couldn't plant for nearly a week, last Saturday. By that time I had 85-90% germination.

The Tromboncino and Ciuzzi Squashes did nothing, but the Ronde de Nice had about 50% germination at planting time. I put the rest in the ground too just in case. I won't t back there until next Friday to see what happened.

I want to start a new lupine area, and was lucky enough to find 3 Russell strain plants about to bloom for only 5.25 each. So I spread them out in the bed with a few biennials, and thought I'd take seeds from my favorites scattered around in other beds and see if I can get a real group going. Is it best to just drop the seeds, the way it happens in nature, or to cover them? And I guess I should do it as soon as they're ripe?

Just wanted to let you know that because I started the Trombocinos mid april in the greenhouse and planted them out in the garden, all of them are vining & have fruit in JUNE! Yea! Also, I soaked (but not nicked 5 cotton seeds, then put them in a damp paper towel in a zipper bag & 3 have rooted, so I planted them in pot in the window of the greenhouse.

Wow! That's early! I'm late on most all the veggies, herbs and annuals this year because I was so focused on the perennials. But there's always next year- that's the great thing about gardening, you always get another chance...

An out-of-print germination guide from Thompson & Morgan lists Lupinus as - 1/8" deep, soak or chip the seeds.

Tom Clothier says "nick AND soak, sow @ ..." and then gives optimum temperatures for different Lupinus species.
http://tomclothier.hort.net/page06.html#M

So my guess is that soaking and nicking helps most. Perhaps raking before sowing, and scattering a litle soil after sowing, might also help.

I did not nick any of the lupine seeds and if I remember correctly, they all germinated. Inadvertantly, I did soak them however, as I used peat pots and they were way, too wet. I took them out (carefully) and put them into cell packs. That was a challenging time for me as then I knocked them all off the bannister and retrieved most of them, and they still did well. If you are more coordinated than I am, you should have great success! LOL!! ^_^

Maybe they thirve on abuse!

Someone couldn't get her tomatoes to furit until someone suggested "beating them up with a dish towel". The vibrations caused each flower to pollinate itself.

Her is one of my Lupines I planted from seed in late april I Did soak & Nick the seed this was the only one i put out in a flowerbed & It is in Bloom the others are in the potting shed & Have no Blooms so tomorrow I Will take them out & Plant them in the gardens . I also Planted seeds that I Had not soaked or nicked will let you know if any come up they are around in all my gardens .

How cute! Mine have never bloomed the first year from seed sown indoors.

Mine did not bloom the first year from seed either. Are they annual lupines? Those must....

Yup, it's the annual form, might it be: L. cruiswickii (think thats not the correct spelling tho, lol)....

Found packet...look up this susie:Lupine Hartweggii Cruickshankii "Sunrise", see if that's what it might be......

Pix: pods developing on my Dictamnous purpureas (Gas Plant), have to put a piece of nylons over the pods as they shoot their seeds when mature.....

I just loooove that gas plant! The flowers look so delicate and pretty! Have you tried them from seed? You gave me white- did you keep one for yourself too? I can't wait to see mine grow and mature. I know they are slow to get there...

I'm Not sure who sent these for i had many pks from different ones from the robin & I planted them all but the ones in Bloom I Soaked & Nicked planted one here by the house another down at end of driveway & That is Blooming also but the ones in pots still in the potting shed have not bloomed so will get them out in the ground yet.

it could be the same mine is more of a purple . but sure looks sorta like it.

yup I sure did save some for me!!!! My white should bloom next season.... I try to buy a few every year, attempting to make a patch.....or maybe several....

If it bloomed first year from seed is an annual type....most of the perenns need a winter of cold to bloom.

My little ones have grown a couple of new leaves, indoors under lights. We weren't her st the house for 10 days, I didn't want to put them out. Also indoors, the cuttings I took from the new double Platy are hanging in. No sign of progress yet, but still green. Now we're here until after the holiday weekend so I can watch what's going on and maybe tweak.

But yikes!!! The weeds!!! Lots of newspaper and mulch in my immediate future!!!

I was like, "what holiday weekend?!" H ah aha a.

Glad you're back.

xox

I would love to have some fresh seeds of the gas plant...does anyone have any to spare? White and/or pink....

Seeds are a couple of years away for me...

I can't believe how late everything is this year! I was blaming myself for being so caught up with perennials this winter that I didn't get my usual early start on the rest, but today I looked at some pics from last year, and our earliest daylily was blooming on June 17. This year they just opened within the last few days.

evelyn...if I remember to get panty house on my girl I might get some seed....the pink one. Guess I need to find some, just been soooo busy, weeds and digging and replanting Iris.....

Soooo... I just learned on the plant ID forum that what I had been nurturing as Bog Sage, Salvia Uliginosa, turns out to be Motherwort, Leonurus cardiaca. Thanks to altagardener...

I got the seeds in the robin last year, this is the first bloom. Apparently AmandaEsq got them too. Very disappointing, as the plants are in my new blue garden.

Forgot pic... As you can see, not blue :-(

Pam...did I not get you the Salvia (?) Nekan, sorry can't remember the rest of the name, remind me when I get ready to mail you some Iris.........

Yes, you did, S Azurea Nekon, and it germinated, I ended up with 1 good plant. It's in the ground doing OK but not more than that. The one Penstemon palmerii is also OK but not progressing. It's been so wet here lately, everything seems stalled, even the Platys, but it's supposed to dry up and warm up later this week. I hope so...

I'm saving some Matronis Hesperis plants until the seeds ripen for you. I have a good clump of a really pale pink, and a large area of mixed colors. I'm trying not to get much of the darkest color, since that's what you have already.

Also from last year's robin. This scabiosa has got to be the prettiest flower ever.

Amanda, I must agree with you it is just beautiful.

Phew! Took me a while to find this thread again.

I just wanted to tell you that I think that the Ironweed is another plant that will spread like crazy if you move it from a location. I mentioned this of the chocolate eupatorium.

I had four ironweed started from seed and plants in "the back 40" since our first season here in 2009. The plants did not spread, it was always predictable as to where they would appear. Last year I moved one plant which seemed to be languishing.

This spring a patch of ironweed came up in an area where it had not been planted. In fact the size and strength of this new growth was such that I didn't recognize it. It looked nothing like the mild mannered sprouts that herald the return of my original four plants.

Now they are springing up throughout the bed wherever! Of course I love it, but the plants in this bed are not all 6' tall and will find it hard to complete. It's already eaten a blueberry bush I put in two years ago. I have to go in and dig it out.

Help!!!