Old Seeds

I misunderstood the use of the pan under the planting tubes. As long as the mix has contact with the ground, capillary action will keep it moist enough this time of year. Very clever :-)

Pfg All is good , You could also set the cubes in these , I use them for a sprouter. etc. used mostly indoors I don't poke any holes in them ..

If you put the cubes in these , you have to use a little chewing gum or similar to hold one end slightly open . Last time I rolled up a little ball of duct tape , and put tape over one end to hold that slightly open , I like them, there easier than milk cartons , and hold more cubes, But, we are back to having to transplant . Which of course if it does not stop snowing here I may be doing anyway .
So this winter I could be defeated for a while , But I don't contest with nature anyway (like I would really even believe I could ..lol

They work great for starting moss in also (no holes in container required for that either ) That is really this containers best use (moss)

This message was edited Feb 9, 2014 1:16 PM

I found the TP tubes a little weak this time , the materials are getting thinner , That was why usually the paper towel or wrapping tubes their thicker (usually )
However tubes are wrapped with old paper this time ,
This is all contrary to what I had in mind as to transplanting and so on ,, as said before ,it all depends on the weather (I've heard that someplace before )

The paper is the clean side of a used envelope (lots of those )

This message was edited Feb 11, 2014 9:53 AM

Love the way you are re-cycling. Creative. Good for you.
Good info.

I have saved info to make your own pots with some newpapaer too. Have I done it?? NNOO
It probably works pretty good. I should look into this.

Just hauled all of my "junk" to the re-cycle center this AM

Evelyn...just to let you know my papaver orientalis were started inside under lights....4+ days to germination. (four varieties started this year, Mixed colors, Brilliant Red, Marlene and Coral Reef (took 9 days)).

Juhur, my snaps are up too, again 4 days. Lights and warmth....(four varieties also, majus Royal Bride, Madame Butterfly, Plum Blossum and nanum Black Prince)). Pix is Black Prince from a few years ago spose to only get to about 18" but mine were 36" in this photo... am excited to see the Royal Bride as they are the only variety that is fragrant!!!!!

Sorry that you all are snowed under mounds of that white stuff now...lol. was 62* here today. I'll enjoy it while it's here, (the nice temps.). The mountains have been getting blasted with the white stuff, reports of 2, 3 and even 4 feet of snow in the past week....

I don't have much trouble Germinating seeds , My choice has become the outside starting as have a terrible time moving little plants (the seedlings.

WWK; Sounds wonderful !!! Snapdragons here , sometimes they return ,, too hot , too cold , having trouble placing them correctly ,, extremes ... I had some small ones going at the end of last season, I'm hopeful they will return , Tall mixed and a named white , that escapes me at the moment , I have seeds for black prince ,, going to have to try .
I planted some milkweed incaranata (ice ballet), dug through the snow , set the cubes , put the bottles over them , and covered them back over with snow .. I never got the last dozen cans and bags on my outdoor table planted ,
snow ,, snow ,,, and more snow ,,, it snowed three times this past weekend , one not forecast ,, now it's 40 degrees ..bright with all the snow ..
Here also , we have had nearly 5 ft , of snow this winter ,, 3ft of it is still here , be a while melting ..
I've been making soil cubes , setting them on the porch , until I motivate or can see where I want to plant them ..
Might of got to the Delphiniums to late , last group I tried took four months to germinate in stratification ..

I started the pink form of Asclepias incarnata, or should I say tried. Nothing yet but also started the white form Ice Ballet an those sprouted just fine. Not sure what happened with the pink so I think I'll try again. The pink are suppose to be fragrant and taller. Got the seed in the seed trade, sure hope they're viable and I goofed somehow.. Have you grown them before? My white Ice Ballet seemed to be short lived (3 or 4 years). Don't know if that is normal or just a fluke that I expereienced.

WWK , not sure , that I have grown it or not ,The incarnata I have , every year , I would swear at the end of the growing season ,that it is not going to return , goes dormant early here .. It is a reddish purple bloom , Red Swamp Milkweed .. I believe my incarnata will be 4 yrs old this year
The only fragrant plant I have , thinking about it is the tall green milkweed ,, They perfume 25 yrds , of area in bloom ,,
My first try at ice ballet this is ..
I always try starting a few of my Red Milkweed seeds ,, (as before about return) My Thalictrum seems to have lived ,
and The Ironweed outside I will be a while finding out about..
I'm thinking about starting a few peppers , and flowers
, So early BF's will have something to eat ..

Is your personal pix the pink variety of Asclepias?

The pic , Is of a moth hummer at Asclepius Syrica , Tall green , strongly scented very ..
I've lost the photo original .. Probably on a disc now .. Snapped that this past summer , One of them baby's got over 8 ft tall ,, Every bee and BF I know of was at them ,, The Moth Hummer also , of course ,, That is Neat Bug !!! Looks like a flying Crawdad ,, lol
Three years to let those plants bloom like that , powder puff , about like skates , or winter caps the Gals wear ,,,

My pink Asclepias incarnata is also from the trade, and did nothing before I left last Saturday. Maybe I'll have a nice surprise when I get home again this Sat. But maybe not...

The orange one came up right away.

So far I have sprouted: A. syriaca, , tuberosa and a varigated one, (thanks pam). Still waiting on the A. i. Pink. Redid seed and will see, oops just looked, I didn't restart them so will do that today...
Wow didn't realize that syriaca got that tall. Pam how tall does the varigated get?

I'm not sure it's variegated :-(. There was no marker in the pot at the nursery, must have been a local grower trying to help the monarchs. It looked just like swamp milkweed, but white. 4'-ish

Ok, thanks Pam, will mark the packet,(said varigated)..

Evelyn...yup both of those are easy.... in fact I need to give my snaps a hair cut and get them potted on... They are some of the plants I put outside early cuz they can handle the cool temps in my greenhouse (s)., if I also need I can cover them with a frost blanket on cool nights.

I picked up a box of rolled plastic at Home Depot, 10x100feet (6 mil) and need to get it up on the back side of the garage (horse stall) and my 8x10 greenhouse. And I have 2 short cold frames on the back side of the house if I need them this year 3ft^x3ftdeep and 8ft long. These 2 will get moved this year so I can maybe finish planting the backyard this year.. Kathy

Yeah, I cheat with my "Square Foot Gardens", since I have no cold frames or greenhouse. My SFG's are 4' X 4'. I have started some seeds in August, and have planted some of them out. The smaller ones are still there, with more rows of sown seeds.

I need to get them ready for spring, and dig out the seedlings and some plants that were there on account of the move to the fenced area due to deer damage. I have since sown more in there, but in only one of them, since I use these beds for veggies.

OK! I had better go now...off to the seeds, I must go!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldest_viable_seed

oldest viable seed, according to wikipedia.

Makes our 2's and 10;s tiny .. thank you.
Now I am going to wonder how to get Artic Campion seeds .lol

I just germinated some "special" sock drawer seeds from 1988. Who'd a thunk.

I will be going through my huge box (under bed storage box) of old seeds. Many from 4 yrs. and older....we'll see. I have been so busy painting my pots I haven't taken the time to start more seeds, and that needs to be done soon!!

Right now the lupines and the beets on the porch have germinated. Tomatoes are waiting to be potted up....so many things to do at once....YIKES!!

Lol, 'special' sock drawer seeds???? Are you growing socks now? (sorry just couldn't pass that one up)

Plastic is up on the horse stall area. And should have warmed a bit in there so will begin to move things out there in the next few days. Potting up some things (Peonies, Phlox ). Bought them early enough the sprouts aren't all goofed up, many of the Peonies had 10+ eyes... Sorry off topic...oooops.

Am trying to germinate some older seed of Ecalcarata semiaquilegia, they were started on 2/16 and still nothing... Sure hope I can get a few to sprout!! Anyone else out there ever grown them?
I'm thinking the seeds are about 15 years old....maybe a bit less.

The trick with growing socks is picking them when they are right size, LOL.
I was transplanting some hellebore into larger pots today and there were little seedlings coming up under them, so cool, I love lenton rose. I get enough of them I can start planting them in the ground under the trees.
Never heard of ecalcarata semiaquilegia, have to look that one up.

I always have trouble with growing socks , They get Tags & Fray , There is almost always hair drag around about a Foot of space , I don't even want to think about "Dampning off" or "mold" P...U.....!
and they get holes in what seems their very Fiber ,, Darndest Thing with those .. ???

Planted a couple of Ponderosa Lemon seeds today. Have them in mind as gift to someone if I get them to grow ...

Lol....you two are hilarious!!!!

Ecalcarata semiaquilegia= a spurless small flowered columbine, cute tho.....sure hope they sprout so I have seeds to share in the future!!!!.... (mine are purple).

I'm surprised kathy hasn't grown any socks, it's legal in Colorado. I have to have a special license here in California.

LOL !!! LOL!!!^_^^_^^_^ HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA LOL!!! ^_^

Kathy would only grow the most interesting kinds, the ones with extra syllables in their names, lol!

LOL....are you all making fun of me?????? Or are you talking about that left handed stuff? Gosh am I slow or what??

Kathy; I was not making fun of you , only laughing about growing socks ,, I every time I read or see that , I keep laughing for thinking isn't that the Darndest thing ! ^_^ lol
I know , that has gotten to be an "old one" by now ...
How's the seed , seedling , room(s) coming along ,
I got to set mine outside today , 67 degrees ,,,
I am waiting a couple more weeks to start most of mine ,

Actually it's the first time anyone has referred to it..(so is my guess correct?) (Me Duh....) LOL!! Right over my head.....

Babies are doing good..I really need to get to potting things on tho... My 'maters are begging for new pots... A few things that were old seed did start but maybe didn't get as many plants as I was hoping for. So today found a few empty pots of things that had germintaed but....poof. You know how it is sometimes....Darn LOL. One that I'm trying to get going is Malva sylvestris ssp. Mauritiana Bebor Fehlo. (Royal purple-veined magenta) Packet doesn't say what year it's from but I know it's been more than 10 years since I've had any in the garden. And didn't collect seed....my naughty! So only have about 3 seed remaining.. So far I know I have 1 plant.. not sure if I want to save the rest of the seed for next year or just sow them and hope for atleast another couple of plants...

Haven't put much outside yet.. Those things I got at H.D. and Wally World got potted up and put in the Horse stall area...(Need to come up with a different name. Sounds funky calling it that but that's what it is...lol) Oh ya, also put my NEW... Salix Gracilistyla out there too. ( the other things you sent are tryin to root, some have.. Everything has been sitting in pots, vases and glass jars of water...seeing roots on the Salix interior, nothing on the others but buds are popping and leaves are beginning to sprout,. Hoping I see roots soon!!!!! Need to take some of the Salix water and add to the other containers to help promote rooting... Fingers are crossed and hoping for the best!!! HOPE>HOPE> HOPE Got my peatmoss so am ready next time it warms up I'll pot the others....or should I wait to see if I get roots before doing so? Mr Experience, I need your advise...lol.).

Yes, you... But not making fun, just a little fond teasing. You've grown just about everything there is, why not socks too? If anyone can do it, it's you, lol.

Lol Kathy , Sometimes it takes the Mulberry (morus) a while to root , then when they do , if they dry out even the least bit (midsummer) they die , Sometimes they will die for no reason ,
Most will usually live , the Salix interior , need protected for a while from direct blazing sun , takes them a while to make a tap root , easy , but , all those hairlike roots do not equal a good tap root ,
Both of these apply to fruit trees . Keep them evenly moist if you can , most will root and grow . Most people do not like rooting trees because it takes an entire season of attending to them.
Only it is wonderful when most grow and in about three seasons you have wonderful little trees , Some bloom , and some can be made into a variety made by the individual who grows them

I laughed , at Mr Experience ,,^_^ All that makes me laugh , thinking , Having been at that off and on , since very young ,, An old joke to me ,,lol ^_^
I have a couple salix Discolor that have set forever , the wood is still alive , I am really hoping I get a couple of them to re-sprout and root . That and for every other critter to quit eating them ,

Kathy; I forgot . To the question , Pot them ,, A okay . Keep them moist , not wet .. like under mulch , not as swamp ,
Although two of those will and would grow in a swamp or desert , once they get good roots .
(interior or Morus)

LOL, Pam..... Yes, I can hear you from here!!!! LOL.... and what are you doing up sooo late? lol.

Juhur...Ok, next time it warms up outside I'll pot them up and put them out in the greenhouse til mid May. After last frost I'll put them in the front of the garage where they will only get morning sun....
That's where I put all my babies til I get them planted... Makes watering easier, in summer I water things there atleast once a day, sometimes twice depending on how warm it is.... Come fall I'll plant them in a bed on the N/E side of the house for the winter and leave them there for a few years til I see some good growth.... Right now that area is filled with many things I didn't have time to get into beds last fall.....So still have to move the perenns this summer so I'll have room. I'm soo excited about all of them....but the mulberries will be VERY special!!! YUMMMM! Thanks! Can ya tell I'm kinda partial to them?! LOL.

I planted some Brassica Nigra (mustard) outside today Last year the slightly larger plants , from the Old Seeds that started this thread did well down to 20 degrees ,
If they get growing they take the cold , no problem ,
I will cover them if they come up in the cold , covering them a few times will help them get large enough to stand the cold ,
I might not be to popular though , when all the Cabbage white Larvae , start eating all they neighbors greens , lol
But they prefer the mustard and actually stayed away from some of my cabbage type plants ,
Like the Dulcemera vine keeps tomato worms away from my tomato plants , they like their native food a whole lot better ..
Yes I know , the Cabbage white is not native ,,

Most things I grow are not pretty bloomers (eye of the beholder )
Anyway , I planted a Catgrass Variegated Friday night , It sprouted last night ,,
Looking around for Goatweed , Hogwort , Croton Capitatus , Host plants ..