2014 Seed Starting, Part 4

In one of those pics , in the background you can see a larger leaf that is really red , not just the edges . my pic taking leaves some to be wanted lately There's no poison , harsh or different conditions where the plant is located ..
Yes it had for two weeks been cooler here , Past few days upper 80's easily making 90 in the sun .

I cut those back earlier this year , and their about a good two feet tall or a little more than that . Slightly over knee tal
I had a red leaf yarrow going that a grasshopper ate ,

We can't have the plant here anymore because it has invasive status , that really erks me ,, I can't have a colorful weed that is already here anyway ,, ? grrrr
So home boy brewing it is
Red Leaved plant are often done and happen when the organic cell dye gets into the seed cell , The seedling than reproduces the coloration cell from germination ..
Each individual plant then changes at seed time and they do not reproduce true seed .
It took four or five hundred plants to get that little red leaf on yarrow that a grasshopper got to ,,
Usually it takes me as many as three tray attempts of hundreds of seeds , to get a plant I want to keep that way , I do not know how to do variegated ,, But am onto something interesting anyway ,,lol
And yes , I have seen a lot of plants start to turn red from harsh lot or roadside conditions for those of you slickers lurking ,, Going what is with , we see red plants popping up out of concrete all the time ! lol ^_^

Hey Kathy , that is a lot of typing wind , just for (I have not seen any with red leaves before )
Strange , I almost get fixated anymore , from info playing with me ! ridiculous isn't it ??? lol ^_^

Ju you trip me out with all these new techniques. Keeps me busy googling and trying to keep up!

Yup, just got some new info today...thanks Ju!

SWPD)Becky if you find anything interesting ? about plant or organic dye let me know ,,

Mipii Robin I am still trying to find out about the plant dye , Amaranth Red Dye #2 is illegal ,
and fluorescent organic cell dye is mostly for spectral infrared , (does not show visual to as a color )
So red Dye plant sunbaked in a solar type clear bottle in manure or compost natural salts and minerals , (home boy brew ) ( insane alchemy ) ^_^
only icky ooky , gucky , mucky ,, ewwww ,, like ,, really
lol ^_^

I actually fell asleep reading up about it last night! I couldn't find anything referencing dye-coating of seeds aside from the "crop protection" angle. Supposedly the dyes can be used to color code seeds that have been treated with fungicide, herbicide or insecticide. All boring, and I couldn't explain it any better than that. Lol

Anyway, couldn't find any of the fun stuff you mentioned! I like the idea of being able to change the pigment of a plant with application of a dye. Reminds me of the blue dye injected orchids that you see at the grocery store but cooler :)

It is not all complicated though , even food dye , if it could permeate the seed nucleus , the seed then produces that color as part of the growth process ,,
Dna -Rna that stuff .... I do not really understand it either though , The part about how ever many trays to get one ... says so , lol

They can see the fluorescent with a fluoroscope ,, the eye cannot see the color change that way though

This is interesting.
Can you explain exactly what you do, to obtain red leaves
on a plant, which normally has green leaves?

CLScott) So far this is , started with sphagnum moss ,
Generally acidic ph mix ,
Red Amaranth dessicated
that is it
That by accident really is how I got the red leaf Yarrow (compost thing) , grasshopper destroyed it , Seeds are my own though ,,
if the plant had been a little larger it would of lived , I will try again .
Years ago , using an acidic plant hormone , I got a pink leaved orange tree , of 400 seeds . About that ,, I wish I could remember what the hormone was ,,

One out of three to six hundred seedlings that stay that way is all I get so far , not a success .
I am missing one or two , have a few more to try ,
I have been thinking about Rna and Dna as possible add in
possibly nucleic acid ,
The way I play , I am not a professional at plants .
Trying for possibly something that will soak in to seed start) using nitrogen , without destroying the chemical (natural) element structure (cell , dye, etc)

Well in that case, you could use the Hopi red dye amaranth (liquid form of course) as a soak and hope it permeates through to the nucleus. Imagine the colors you could produce.. I'd love to see pics of the results if there are any to be found.

Yes, interesting. Didn't realize we had a genetasist (sp? oops sorry). I love for you to tell us more, and would love to see pix including anything that makes it to adulthood and their progeny.

As soon as I get my seeds together I have some yarrow to try , A few pots are not as likely to yield results ,
So far, that Daucas above is it as far as pics ,
I did have the yarrow on a forum last season ,
As said I play , I enjoy it , (you all have the years of experience , to know , it takes , time , sometimes it works , sometimes not,
This comes from things I gave up at , but never really did give up ,,
I am happy to read though , about those of you that found that interesting .
I don't always say what I find interesting around the threads ,only a lot of you talk about things around here reminded me about some of this .

WWK, Kathy if I was actually doing Genetics ? lol,, Everyone would probably look like the Dwarfs from sleeping Beauty or the Card People from Alice In Wonderland !!!^_^

juhur you crack me up. Keep on experimenting!

not very large tiny just germinated ,, Bamboo carea fargesia ..
pic just above center, center left , and lower left corner ,, root , tiny showing ,, Hope , hope hope ,,
mlmlakestevens , only keeping it light , a little fun ,,

Bamboo from seed? Might have to try that sometime. Shoot I didn't even know bamboo produced seed! Lol

Finally got a chance to sow some of my most coveted seeds from various trades. I'd been waiting til the veggie garden let up a little, and freed up some time to baby these guys. I did one cell each of forty different varieties. Multiple seeds in each cell so I'll be separating and potting up some extras for our local roundup this fall. Here's what I started:

Achillea millefolium; Yarrow 'Rose'
Aloe maculata; Soap aloe
Amelanchier alnifolia; Saskatoon serviceberry
Angelica gigas; Korean angelica
Aruncus aesthusifolius; Korean goats beard
Asclepias curassavica; Mexican milkweed 'Silky deep red'
Asclepias incarnata; Swamp milkweed
Asclepias syriaca; common milkweed
Astilbe; False spirea (pink)
Baptisia australis; False indigo
Brugmansia; Angels trumpet 'Moonlight'
Brugmansia; Angels trumpet 'Painted lady'
Caesalpinia pulcherrima; Pride of Barbados (orange)
Caesalpinia pulcherrima; Pride of Barbados 'Phoenix' (yellow)
Calia secundiflora; Texas mountain laurel
Canna x generalis; 'Black knight'
Canna musifolia; Banana canna
Clematis, small flowered 'Rooguchi'
Clerodendrum trichotomium; Peanut butter shrub
Echinops ritro; Globe thistle
Echium wildpretti; Tower of jewels
Elaeganus; Goumi
Erythrina herbacea; Coral bean
Hesperaloe parviflora; False yucca, yellow flowered
Lemon 'Ponderosa'
Leucanthemum x superbum; Shasta daisy 'Victorian secret'
Lonicera periclymenum; Honeysuckle 'Serotina'
Melampodium leucanthemum; Blackfoot daisy
Millettia reticulata; Evergreen wisteria
Mimosa tree (NO ID)
Parkinsonia aculeata; Palo Verde
Phoenix dactylifera; Date palm 'Medjool'
Plumeria (NO ID pink)
Poncirus trifoliata; Trifoliate orange 'Flying Dragon'
Punica granatum; Pomegranate
Puya alpestris; Sapphire tower
Rhododendron Cumberlandense; Cumberland azalea
Rubus leucodermis; Blackcap raspberry
Rudbeckia maxima; Cabbage leaf coneflower
Senna alata; Candle bush

Brugmansia! Echium! Puya!
I need to move!

A very impressive list!
I have never seen some of those!
Keep us posted on how they sprout and grow.
Caroline

Looking forward to your success Becky! Your list is sumptuous.

LOL yes most of the seeds came out of a bag I had labeled "Dying to start!", but I hadn't the time or space to go forward with them. I'm very excited about them and will post pics as they germ.

And Mipii, thanks so much for the great seeds you side traded me during the robin.. The Cumberland azalea, date palm, honeysuckle, blackcap raspberry and clerodendrum are all just from you! :D

I didn't know azaleas produced seeds. Mine started blooming again last month and still have quite a few new buds. I'll have to check it for seeds.

Your welcome Becky, thanks for all your goodies too. I now know what seed heaven feels like, lol!

SWPD Becky I read that list thinking WOW !!! ^_^
Good Going .. !!!

Yup, impressed here too. And excited for you Becky! I'll be on the lookout for your photos.

I have just such a 'stack' of seed packets too, lol.

Shorty, I've never grown azaleas before, but they supposedly form seed pods after spent blooms drop so start checking them out after blooms fade.

Yes Robin, we are in seed heaven and I'm a total pig -- already getting worked up with anticipation for the next robin! Hope it can fly without any layovers next time ;)

So far, I have sprouts of coral bean (soaked in water 2 days), pride of Barbados 'Phoenix', and mimosa tree.

Excellent work, Becky. Thanks for sharing.

mimlakestevens ~ Really? I guess we all have zone envy from time to time. I am looking for a place with cooler summers.

My envy is of areas that have roundups. Maybe once you've found your place up here Evelyn there'll be enough of us!

Thanks Evelyn! Having a lot of fun playing in the - um - starting mix ;)

Trust I have major zone envy of everyone right now. Ground is dry as dust here, and grass is crisp beneath my feet. A few neighbors wells are running dry and I'm in stage 2 drought so not allowed to use city water for outdoor irrigation. It sucks. Royally. I plan on keeping these guys indoors this winter and praying for an end to this drought next spring when I can plant them!

Sorry no more Debbie Downer from me, okay?? 😜

Seeds are germinating slowly but surely. The latest to say hello are asclepias syriaca, echinops ritro, yellow hesperaloe parviflora, and plumeria. I'm a proud mama!

You should be proud! Let us hope that the appearance of new green, bit by bit, will bring back the moisture.

Over the past two weeks I've germinated amaryllis seeds in water and a few nasturtium. Actually I only had five nasturtium seeds from the robin. I direct sowed four of which three germinated and one was trampled by an animal. The lonely one in this picture is going in my front yard.

I'm really excited about the amaryllis as I received them from someone in China. I just wish it didn't take so many years for them to produce flowers.

My plumeria seeds didn't make it. I'm making a boat now to try to float them to germinate.

Thanks for the info Becky. My azalea is really confused blooming this time of the year.

Oh turtles, I hope so!

Good job shorty! Here I didn't been know amaryllis set seeds! I wana to try nasturtiums this year too, were they hard to start? I remember seeing a vining one that caught my eye..

Also the plumeria germinated quick for me in its little cell of seed starter mix, barely covered with soil, lightly moistened and under lights. Room temp is about 75. Hope this helps, but I'd like to hear about your floating technique if it works. I've seen people do that before and it looks easy peasy :)

Had a few more sprouts yesterday: aloe maculata, senna alata, and am particularly excited that the ECHIUM sprouted!!!! Yayyyy I feel like doing a happy dance! 😄💃🎶🎉

Now if I can get the puya and clerodendrum to sprout, I'll be the happiest girl in the world!!

Let's see the happy dance :~D !

Well I'm cleaning up , saying goodbye to this growing season , only a few successes for me this season ,
I did a terrible job with my seeds ,, more to try though ,
My white coneflowers ae going in the ground for winter
ice plants coming into a green tank ,,
one small goji also the tank .
my palm and the lemon wents over a died ,
My only success in that catagory is one small albea carea Bamboo plant and it is tiny ,,

As always a few plants I don't know , lost id , I will try and pot and set those in the ground ,,
lots of easy annuals did very nicely ,,
my garden ran away from me this year ,, whole vegie garden is covered by Bean vines ,,
my motivation has been hiding from me ,, lol

Wow, reading about preparing for winter is so strange for me. While we've had a heat wave the last several days normal temperatures are still in the high 70's to low 80's during October.

All of my flower beds are a disaster and my seed projects all failed. My mom had a massive heart attack on 9/5 and passed on 9/25. I've got weeds that are bigger than my plants.

Motivation is a problem for me too.

It is difficult to stay motivated on gardening tasks when there
are other things going on in your life.

But there is always next year with gardening.
I have started to plan for next year's garden, and ordered most of the seeds that I will need.

So, so sorry you lost your Mom Shorty, I can well imagine how that kind of trauma wicks every ounce of motivation a body could have for everyday chores. Losing a loved one is a huge life adjustment, I wish you well through this critical time of grief.
Robin

Time to start a new thread for 2015:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1382767/

See you there!

Pam