Cerinthe

I have heard some say that this annual needs to start early (sometime in Feb.)to give it enough time to reach its large size. Has anyone grown it? I am all out of room under lights and was wondering how this might do on a sunny window sill?

i started mine indoors last yr and they bloomed all summer.
they were ok-but im not growing them this yr. i dont have alot odf room left either so im limiting my seed trays.

notmartha, when did you start yours? I've got seeds this year, and was wondering the same thing as Alyssum...

girls id get them started now-i usually start seeds jan-feb here in the north country.
have fun

I have some started, they are about 6" high (I've been pinching them back to get them to fill out), in 4"pots, and I just started some more, sometimes they take a while to germinate, it seems like the purple ones sprout faster than the blues. I put them in a baggy with a little moist starting mix, so I don't waste pots on seeds that don't sprout. I think they tend to get leggy unless they are under lights, at least at first, I put them in a sunny window once they have a couple sets of leaves, and save my lights for the little baby sprouts. I might be doing it all wrong, but it seems to work for me!

Caren

Carena,
could you tell me what you mean by"in a baggy with a little moist starting mix'? i have some and would love to start them now too and you sound like you know what you are doing please help thanks
moretz

I put mine in a plastic cup w/ peat and perlite - buried them about 1/4 inch, covered it w/ saran wrap put it under lights and they germ. in 4 days. - Oh I did scar them a bit with a file.

This message was edited Wednesday, Feb 12th 11:01 AM

Alyssum,
i dont have any lights can i just put in a window sill? or what thanks for the info
moretz

That I am not sure of -- I am new at this too. From what have read I think you should wait until March for window sill germination - but I am certainly not an "expert" here. My light is just a $10 clip on grow lamp I got from Home Depot.

I'm so glad I saw this post on cerinthe as I wasn't planning on starting mine til late March. Have never grown them before but they look nice in the pic's. Of course everything looks good in seed catalogues, right.

Broots, try some, they are even prettier than the pictures!
Moretz, I usually start most of my seeds by putting them in a little ziplock bag with half vermiculite and half peat, I just bought a bag at the store, you can find it by the potting soil. I just barely moisten it and toss in a few seeds and check on them every few days. when I see them starting to sprout, I carefully plant the little babies into starter pots, and put them under the lights. I don't know what I'm doing, I mostly garden by the dunce method...but this seems to work for me and eliminates having a bunch of little pots sitting around for weeks with nothing growing in them.