seed germination-DAYlilies

BUMP!!

Sorry had to bump, I go crazy trying to find this thread..

Thanks TamiF and notmartha that was exactly what I was looking for.
Janett

I created a folder in my bookmarks under the name of "Propagation Ideas & Methods" that's where I keep these kinds of goodies.

~* Robin

Good Idea Martha. It's so informative and I have got a few seeds to practice with.

Welcome Janett

Aha - will have to try this!! Just got reminded about it! ~ Suzi :)

I have canna seedlings that have developed fungus gnats. Will the hydrogen peroxide solution get rid of them. I have watered one time with it and still have the gnats.
Thanks!
Susan
=^..^=

darn gnats, don't they have anything better to do than mess with our seedlings. I don't know about the peroxide solution. I use it from the beginning and haven't had problems. Don't know if it works after they are on the soil.
I wonder if some sort of houseplant insecticide spray would work. There are some that are for red spider mites.
I'll be looking for the answer also.

Well, I've got an evil smelling soil drench for them. I hate to use it because it gags ME. LOL
Wondered if the canna seedlings would take offense also, don't know about their sense of smell.

I was hoping the hydrogen peroxide solution would be the magic trick. The more I read about this, I know I will trying it for my seeds this year. Still trying to figure out the correct recipe, but I'll find it eventually.
Susan
=^..^=

Try some of this for those Knats


http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=10831&N=62728+62730

As I've said many, many times; over and over 'My tried and true recipe' for

Fungus Gnats:

Mix one teaspoon of household strength peroxide to 8 ounces of non-chlorinated water.
Put into a clean spray bottle. Spray liberally onto potted soil and bottom of stems' of the plants. You will hear popping and crackling in the soil as it kills the bacteria & Gnats eggs. This will not hurt you plants. Chlorinated water can burn your seedlings' tender leaves.

You can also use Diatomaceous earth because it will cut them up going through it when they try to pass into the soil.

diatomaceous earth: A light-colored porous rock composed of the shells of diatoms.
A powder made of the desiccated shells of diatoms, used as a filtering agent, adsorbent, and abrasive in many chemical operations.
a light soil consisting of siliceous diatom remains and often used as a filtering material.
**
di·a·tom: Any of various microscopic one-celled or colonial algae of the class Bacillariophyceae, having cell walls of silica consisting of two interlocking symmetrical valves.
any of a class (Bacillariophyceae) of minute planktonic unicellular or colonial algae with silicified skeletons that form diatomite
microscopic unicellular marine or freshwater colonial alga having cell walls impregnated with silica

I've also used Vermiculite for the same reason.
Vermiculite: Any of a group of micaceous hydrated silicate minerals related to the chlorites and used in heat-expanded form as insulation and as a planting medium. (It also keeps the heat in the soil. (( yay!)) :^)

~* Robin

I also use the peoxide dilute for fungus gnats. I don't recall ever hearing popping and cracking tho. Once in a while you will see one flying and I spray it in mid air. I do not know of anything that works after only one try.

I use it for the spider mites too. Don't know, maybe I am drowning them. Come to think of it tho they do not like water or humidity.

Jeanette

tomorrow ... watch out.... here I come with my handy peroxide spray bottle.
Those pesky gnats won't stand a chance!
LOL
Thanks for all the advice!
Susan
=^..^=

I have birds and before most of the companies started vacuum sealing the bags I would get seed moths in the birdroom. The birds would get excited about them and be extra loud. One time I had so many I had to put fly paper in the room. YUK!

Robin
Thanks for the recipe- this summer I had them really bad and besides hanging around my potted plants they were also holding "Welcome to the neighborhood" parties in my kitchen sink drain! I added liberal amounts of Baking Soda and White Vinegar to the drain and let that stand for a while, then rinsed with hot water. That seemed to help but just to be sure a few days later I used one of those garbage disposal cleaners- one of the main ingredients is bleach so they didn't have a chance.

I can't wait to try your recipe.
Thanks.

This product is what I use and it works. I also use the yellow sticky cards on stakes to catch them. Thanks for the recipe on using the H202

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=12433&N=62728+62730

Ok.....who's still watching this? Anyone? The links above are not working and there is just not enough information for me to figure out the secret method........I wanna try too.......

I still have it book marked but it has been awhile..I have used this method to spray all my plants with peroxide/soapy water and I have not really seen too many pests on my potted plants and even noticed a big difference in the greenhouse this last winter. I also had great success this last year starting seeds which I had not been able to do very well..So much great info. here...

I'm watching...

~* Robin

Here you go. I never used the peroxide method myself. Just stick them in soiless mix water and wait.

You could sow them outside right now. :-)

http://www.gracegardens.com/ggseed.htm

http://www.dianeseeds.com/daylilies/starting-daylily-seeds.html

http://www.ofts.com/bill/hybrdize.html

Yes, I still get it. I think the peroxide is pretty good for most seeds in the winter. Melissa is right in that right now just stick them in the ground. But then the seeds know it is time to grow now.

Melissa, you mean I could put them in soiless mix and sow them straight outside now without doing the peroxide thing? I didn't know if it was too hot here.....I'm not so good with seeds, but i keep trying. I'm determined to keep working on it until I get it though :) Fran

Yes Fran. I don't do the peroxide thing myself. I'm so forgetful sometimes that I'd end up leaving them in there til they were mush. :-)

Just mix up your soiless mix, find someplace outside that isn't in direct sun and sow them. :-)

I want to make sure I'm getting this... If I sow fresh DL seeds now, will they germinate this year, or will they come up next spring? I thought DL seeds needed a cold period before they would germinate, but I could be misinformed. Thanks!

Stratify them for 21 days,I put mine in the fridge.Have fun !

How close to my first frost date should I be sowing them? I have some that I can put in the fridge now, but others are still maturing.... In your zone, do you keep sowing fresh seeds through August (after their 21 chill days), or when do you quit and just keep the seeds in the fridge until spring?

Thanks!

Hi again,
I actually sowed them in flats in January/February.Some sprouted within 3 days some others 3 weeks ,some not.
Hopefully someone else can tell you more about sowing them into the ground right away.

I may just do the same. I grew some DLs from seed last spring, and I am having such fun watching their first blooms now!!

The first time I sowed daylily seed, I put them in a glass bowl with perlite in it, dampened the perlite and enclosed it all in a plastic bag and placed it in the fridge. They started sprouting and then I would take them out and place in the ground.
It took three years for mine to flower, but it was worth the wait. Now I just sow them after having the seeds in the fridge all winter in a regular seed packet with no water just for cold treatment. they are placed in pots of potting soil and left to grow on in them in spring until I think they are big enough to be on their own in the ground. If you plant them in the ground in summer, just be sure to keep them watered when it is dry out.

Thanks for keeping this thread alive, All.

Hi Critter - Often if I plant young seedlings with roots not too far along after the middle of July around here, although they may look settled in by autumn frost, their roots often get heaved up on top of the ground by the alternating freezing and thawing we get here. However, for some reason, sweet william does fine treated like that - probably there are other exceptions.

One way around the havoc that alternate freezing and thawing play upon young seedlings planted so late is to wait until after the ground surface has frozen and then put down mulch to keep the ground frozen so that thaws don't toss those babies around. But that's not necessarily foolproof.

Although immature rootlings are hard to get past alternate freezing and thawing, I have had success with striking cuttings of cold-hardy herbs like santolina and peppermint in the ground under glass jars in September and then wound up with beautifully rooted plants in the spring.

Hope this is useful - Karen

That makes sense! I had a few plants that were languishing in flats on the deck and finally got planted out rather late last fall... I ended up trying to stomp them (gently!) back into the ground every time I strolled around the yard during a warm spell last winter. I've got bunches of plants in nursery pots on the deck... guess it's time to start planting them out!

I've gotten in the habit of potting up trade plants and babying them up on the deck until they've filled a pot with roots before setting them out, and I'm doing the same with some small starts I got in a late sale from Parks/Wayside. So, plants cycle onto the protected end of the deck and then go out into the garden, but they are then replaced by more newcomers that need a little TLC... so the practical upshot is that DH has been complaining all summer that it is hard to get to his grill. LOL

My only experience with daylily seedlings has been the ones that I started from seed in February of 2004, and they were planted out in early summer last year.

I think I'll start my daylily seed next April so they can go outside right away. I see a lot of ideas here that look less cumbersome than my old technique - sow in medium moistened by boiling water for sterilization and then cooled. Put trays in 30-gal plastic garbage bags in frig for 6 weeks. I have to confess that many seedlings appeared before I got down to the cellar to check, were white since no chlorophyll, but did fine anyway.

So, taking advantage of foregoing advice, after harvesting seed this summer, I'll let it dry in air for a week, then store in the frig until I soak them next April in a hydrogen peroxide solution as above. As soon as the first 1 or 2 show signs of germination, I'll pot 'em all up and expose them to sun as soon as their first leaves appear.

For anyone who is just starting out with daylilies on a non-existent budget, I can't recommend beginning with a pack of daylily seed from a recognized breeder highly enough. Park's Seed was our source back in the 70s and early 80s - they have really gone downhill since then in their selection and affordability of seed. Perhaps another seed house like Chiltern's? I've noticed on the DG Daylily Forum that gardeners are getting gorgeous, futuristic results out of buying seed on eBay auctions. From Parks way back when, we got the entire rainbow in the clearest colors - from very pale to black-toned - and quite a range of shapes, sizes, and patterns out of those 3 packets of seed.

Hi, I just came across this and was trying to read up on this method, but the link is not taking me to a valid site.

Is there another way I can get the info you shared so I can read up on this?
Thanks
Maureen

Did you go to "stolen ideas" down a dozen or so on the menu? I do believe a lot ofthat is on this thread but you might look. I am not too sure what else you are looking for Maureen.

Maureen, Ive tried too. Not working for me either. hhhmmm. If you get it let us know

Mary

Just found this thread. The method sounds new, but none of the links to
the method description work any longe :(
I would like to try this method on candy lily, DL crosses and some hibiscus seeds.

Would somebody describe the steps, please?

Enya, go down to "stolen ideas" in this propagation thread and have patience and read it all and you should be able to figure it out.

Roughly, they are using approximately 3 Tablespoons of peroxide to 1 quart of distilled water with a drop of Superthrive in it. Soak the seeds in some of this mix in a baggie, or a paper towel for a day or 3 or so. Just watch them to see how they do. Different seeds take longer.

Jeanette

If you look on this thread for entries by Melissa_Ohio (about 18 entries up from mine), she has included links that work.

I think the first link that melissa posted is most similar to the (no longer working) link that started off this thread.

Here it is again, to make it easy to find. http://www.gracegardens.com/ggseed.htm

In the link that started this discussion, the peroxide and water solution was put into clear glass jars (with lids, I think, so evaporation wasn't an issue). Once seeds started sprouting, the jars were put where they could receive light, and I think they waited until the seeds had major rootlets and long green leaves before planting. Personally, I just soaked mine until I saw the first sign of sprouting, and then stuck them into moist potting mix.

Thanks Critterologist!!! Much love to you. I need all the help I can get.LOL..;)