Okay, got seeds to germinate, got their first real leaves, got them planted in bigger pots (4 inch) and now they sit there. No bigger, no smaller.
HOW do i get them to the big lush seedlings that i see everyone posting pics of?
At this rate they will be the same size next year. I'm obviously doing something wrong, lol.
Pathetic seedlings
MSJen, please post a picture of these seedlings and give us some more information.
Do you have them in a window?
Under lights?
What soil did you use?
Have you fertilized them?
(I fertilize mine when I pot them up,,, I fertilize everything, all the time, but don't you dare say I'm the Queen Of ..Manure!!!! ROTFLOL I have to laugh at my own jokes cause most times they are so stupid there wouldn't be anyone laughing if I didn't.)
Judy
This message was edited Jun 3, 2005 8:25 PM
I guess it doesnt really matter where they are or anything that i'm doing with them.
Apparently, i'm not in the "in" crowd enough for the ones that know how to grow them to answer.
Didnt quite realize that the brug forum had turned in to such a "secret society" and that only newbies and "in" crowd members were allowed questions and multiple answers.
i'm not a in crowd or newbie,, dumby is what i is but usually get answer.. thought Judy did answer..i use miracle grow fert.. or what ever got cheap peters is one schultz. think 1/2 day sun 1/2 day shade lots water thats all i know i'm trying too i have lost lots so think its try and error...trail and error.. just keep trying is key -- it think.. hope something here helped.maybe not secret society but clicks???? i do not know if is one , hope not..... sorry ??
hope and judy i do appreciate the posts. i'll try using more fertilizer.
Jen: When they sprout, I move them to square 1" x1" peatpots. Water with root starter solution, liquid you mix with water, follow directioms. I keep them under florescent lights, unless you have a windowsill with semi-sun(not to cook them through the glass). This gets them off to a good start making roots. Don't keep too wet, as they get more leaves, I move them up to 3"-4"pot, then fertilize when you do need to water, should get them off and running. Hope this helps.
Gloria
MSJen,
You obviously didn't know that I am the Queen of the In-Crowd also..... so when I answer that is all that is needed.. ROTFLOL (just kidding with you)
Sorry you are upset, DG has been super slow today with downtime at 2 PM and many people just said "forget it" and haven't been posting. Please don't take it personal.
Judy
Hi Jen, I've had that problem too. Got some seeds months ago, PB X RQ. Of all the seeds, only 2 seedlings sprouted. And then, same thing that you're experiencing. No real progress - and they seemed kind of like they wanted to croak but they never did. But didn't really grow, either. So they sat in suspended animation.
Meanwhile, I had (for educational purposes) fertilized a flower on my pink seedling brug. All I had blooming at the time was Madeira, not the most wonderful pollen donor but it was all that I had. The pod was ripe in 4 months and almost every darn seed germinated (maybe 30). About 5 seedlings grew so fast, they were soon bigger than seedlings I had started months before.
Another 6 were slower, but quickly outpaced the PB X RQ. The rest were kind of pale, tended to be more yellow, grew slowly. Because this is my experiment and all, I pitched the small wimpy seedlings and now have the 11 others. They are all bigger than PB X RQ but the surprise is, the PB X RQ's suddenly decided to live, grow, and get on with it. So I am wondering if it's the genes in the seed as much as the environment that regulates growth.... Just my rambling thoughts and ideas of course.
I'd like to hear others' opinions or knowledge of the subject.
Eileen (edited to break up into paragraphs)
This message was edited Jun 3, 2005 5:51 PM
all seeds i tried to start ,i got one coming up i hope it is one.they are a headache sometimes but well worth it.. love them
This message was edited Jun 3, 2005 6:11 PM
Judy,
Now all along i thought you were my friend. You know the you "sit the fence" on friendships, girl. Whats it gonna be? lol
Maybe i moved them up to 4 in pots too quick? Do their little roots get overwhelmed? I started them in peat pots in Jan, i think, and moved them to the 4 in. pots about april?
They've been outside since i took them out of the greenhouse. Thinking tomorrow i'll move them to a deeper shade and just start fertilizing the heck out of them?
I really do appreciate the answers. I'm just beduffled as to what to do. I started some of springsongs seeds last year (may) and they are just as pathetic looking. Some have acutally developed hard wood, at only 3 inches high....i'm such a bad brug momma.
I'll take a pic of both when my camera battery is charged. I forgot to turn it off today.
OK after re-reading my post I thought maybe a picture would help - don't mean to hijack your thread MsJen. The little one is PB X RQ which was started last fall, the big one is Experimental Seedling B started in February.
Msjen have a glass of wine! It helps :)
You aren't a bad brug momma. Sometimes it just happens. Kristi has a good idea. LOL! I might try it myself.
I fertilize mine pretty early, and add, Superthrive and epsom salt. Remember they are heavy feeders. Even the babies.
MSJen, I also started seed and have been overwhelmed keeping them potted into the correct size containers. I use regular potting soil mixed with a handful of alfalfa pellets (this tip came from MaVie Rose last year and now I use alfalfa pellets on all my plants) and a shake of osmocote. Mine are growing very quickly. Problem is I don't want to give any away but do not have the room to plant them out. I counted 31 pots today and about 16 planted in the yard. I will never try to germinate so many seeds again.
Are yours outside? All of mine are out and get morning sun and dappled evening sun. Hope this helps.
Hi Jen,
I'm sure no expert by any stretch of the word...lol...but I would love to share how I grow my seedlings....I do just as Rylaff, I wait until they have their 2nd set of leaves and use half strength fertilizer at first. Of course, as they grow you move to the next size bigger...I usually plant mine out in the yard inside the pot so I can overwinter the first year. I use part water/part Peter's, and Epsom Salt also. Mine, I don't get the real growth until I put them out in the yard...usually I plant with a mixture of 100% cow manure, peat, & Mushroom compost.
I hope this helps. I am just seeing this thread or would have replied sooner. I would be glad to share what things I've learned through trial and error with you if you need anything feel free to ask...email me or whatever is best for you.
Hugs
Julie
MSJen .... I didn't think I understand what you meant.
Sitting on a fence would hurt my skinny behind, I try to be nice to everyone but with some it's real hard. I also do a lot of sitting back and watchin'. Some people are just as predictable as can be. It's kinda like living in a small town, after awhile you figure out all the secrets and where the bodies are buried. Ohh that's spooky isn't it!!! lol lol
Judy
I looked and I have some brug seeds just sprouting and they are weird instead of sprouting up looks like they are going to go in a circle.
What about this.... some of these hybrids just aren't any good and we should trash them???
Brugie, what do you think?
MSJen, I use tomato success kits to bump my seedlings up, works for me. This is my second year to use the tomato kits and I love it. This batch (of seeds), I've started in rockwool and I'll put the seedlings into the tomato kits when they have a couple of sets of leaves, leave them in the shade and keep the kits watered. When they are about 18 inches tall, I'll put them in the ground. I did this on my own, when I was green as grass, no one on the forums told me how to do it, I made up my own rules. I wanted to get a faster start, so I tried lots of options and decided on the tomato kits. The people on the forums can only do so much for us - I drove them crazy the 2004 growing season, questions, questions, when I should have been exploring the options in my own garden. I learned tons from this forum, but lots of it, I didn't learn until I made some really dumb errors. IMO, trial and error, personal experience, is the best teacher. But, wadda I know, I'm an Arky...
Maybe there is hope for them afterall. Hit wally world tonight and got more osmocote, gonna double dose them tomorrow, lol.
What is a tomato kit? I have some winter alfalfa pellets left over at the farm that i can use. Can i just sprinkle those on top along with the osmocote?
I would really like to get these euros planted and blooming, and would like to see something more than pink. I was so happy to see gretchens banana split, that was so pretty!!
I decided that rockwool is trash. Some people have luck with it, i dont. My seeds either mold or they just sit there doing nothing. I still have 1 3/4 sheets left that just sit there. Maybe i'll try plant some other seeds in there to see if i can get them to grow.
Thanks again,
Jen
p.s. datdog, southern comfort and cranberry tonight, lol
I planted some Brug seeds in a big pot filled with my special potting soil, put it in a clear plastic kitchen trash bag, put it on the porch where it would get indirect light. When the seeds sprouted, about two weeks later, I opened the plastic bag, then a few days later I slipped it off. The seedings are about 4 inches tall now and I need to move it to where it will get more light.
Logic: we plant tomato seeds in the ground, so why not several Brug seeds in a big pot and see what happens.
Judy
has anybody tried direct sowing them in the ground?
msjen,
Here's a great link to a thread that talks a lot about fertilizing brugs. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/230961/
Osmocote is great as long as too much isn't used. I found this out the hard way after II burnt the heck out of some of my plants last year when I put too many granules into their soil.
One thing is that I noticed you mentioned something about moving them into deeper shade. I wonder if they'd benefit from morning sun and afternoon shade.
Jen, I mix the alfalfa pellets with my potting soil when I am potting the small plants. Then when they are larger and beginning to get root bound I transplant into the ground. I dig out a huge hole, add more pellets and osmocote and mix with the soil in the hole then plant the brug. I use cypress mulch around the base of the plant. Once they really get going I use various fertilizers on hand thrown around the mulch. I spray them once or twice a week with a mixture of water, dish soap, alcohol or hydrogen peroxide, and a bit of Miracle gro. This keeps the bugs at bay. Works for me. Jenny
I have learned that if the seedling is growing right, it probably has a genetic defect and won't change. It hurts to have to toss them once in a while, but there is no need to was a full year waiting to see what happens. I did that last year on a seedling and this spring I finally tossed it. It had grown to the ripe old age of 15 months and was about 9 or 10 inches tall. I had that feeling that this would be the one that was going to be special. It was alright. LOL!
MSJen, I am in your boat too, I have a lot of brugs planted outside and only three are growing, I have also lost some of my best ones from some bug I guess, the leaves are all chewed up, then I caught a squirrel eating on one, I can't find Neem oil around here but our Garden supply had All Seasons Spray Oil that he said was about the same thing so I sprayed with that, we have had rain and I Did Fert. with MG a couple of times a week but at this rate I will either lose them all or they will not be big enough to be any good, if it would warm up I know that would help it has been staying between 50 and 70
Someone asked on the coleus forum if kong coleus were worth all the hype. It brought to mind these durn brugs.
They have beautiful flowers, but are time consuming, heavy feeders, need heavy watering, provide endless brug buffets and provide many many knife wounds in the back.
What *are* we doing this for?
The majority of the time, I've had great luck with rockwool and I'll continue to use it; however, I've discovered something that seems to make a difference. The first time I bought it, I got the cubes and decided I could do better with the sheets. Well, I think I was wrong and unless something changes, I won't use the sheets again. The cubes, I have, have a hole in the bottom, and because of the way they are made, like an upside down plastic thingy that are used for seeds at a nursery (the little black 6 packs), I think the seeds take off better in them and, if 'conditions' are not right for one seed, it seems like they are for other seeds, wherein, with the sheets, they seem to all have it real good or real bad, in that at least some seeds sprout in the single cubes with the holes in the bottom. I'm sure that didn't make sense, let me explain it this way. I had six packets of seeds I bought from an organization. I used the sheets for 5 packs, ran outta sheets and used the cubes for the last pack. Not a single seed sprouted in the sheets and EVERY seed sprouted in the cubes. Bu-bye to the sheets - it's cubes forever for me...waaaaaay later, 1 seed sprouted in the sheets, all of which I saved and found by chance...
I've had good luck with the slab rockwool for some things. The cubes work great for me when doing small cuttings. I'm talking the individually wrapped cubes. I've never tried the sheets of cubes. I think growing from seed is totally individual. What works for one might not work for another due to environmental conditions or even the way we each treat our own seeds. But...to go on to what I wanted to write....I just released my Praying Mantis babies. I don't know how many there were and I'm sure some of the egg sacks still hadn't hatched, but they are all outside now. Wait and see....this will be the year of NO bugs. Guess I shouldn't complain if that is the case.
Brugie, where in the world did you get Mantis egg sacks?? Mine is sitting right were it was two months ago when I brought it home. I REALLY want some. As of this week, I have Lady Bugs all over the garden, they were not nearly this plentiful last year...
Sherry, I ordered them from Planet Natural. I put them in the oven with only the light on, inside a big bowl with plastic wrap over the top and it didn't take long. I had been keeping them at room temp, but I think they needed that extra warmth to hatch out.
what size cubes did you use? did you buy them from the same place that sells the sheets?
i plan on sowing some common seeds today by direct sowing them
I used the 1-1/2 inch individually wrapped cubes, but they get a little expensive if you are doing a lot of planting. I've found I have great luck using sterilized soil and just pushing the soaked seeds into the surface but not covering them with the soil. I then put the whole pot in a plastic bag and tie it shut so the fungus gnats can't get in and once they sprout and get two true leaves, I transplant. Monika is the one who showed how to do it this way and it does work very well for me.
I read on a forum somewhere that all you have to do to get your brugs to shape up and start growing is to place them in a window facing your compost pile and tell them bluntly if they don't start minding there peas and q's this is where you will end up. I heard this did work well for this person. Give it a try what do you have to loose.
I never tried it because I don't have a compost pile.
Linda
IMO, the sheets of rockwool do not have any room to 'breath', if it's too wet or too dry, every seed gets the same treatment. I find it highly unlikely that 6 packets of seed, from six different hybridizers, with 6 different crosses would end up with no germination from five packets, grown in rockwool sheets, with exception of 1 seedling, and every single seed germinated in the 6th package, which were in rockwool cubes. I know anything is possible, but it appears, to me, that the rockwool sheets are in someway at fault. I know this - I'm not using the sheets again, I don't have the time/energy to trust the sheets again, unless I have seeds of my own. BTW, Brugie, the seeds that germinated were yours, lol!!
At 7am today, I planted some peeled seeds in rockwool cubes and put them in tinfoil loaf pans with plastic tops. A local pal told me that instead of soaking them, to let them dry out some before planting and I did that, for two days. I just walked in after checking them and, believe it or not, every seed is beginning to sprout. Hey, I cannot believe it either, but some did show signs of sprouting while I was peeling them. Can't photo these babies because I don't want to take the top off and disturb them in their GH...
linda, that is too funny about the compost pile.
sherry, are you saying that your seeds sprouted in less than 6 hours?? thats it, i'm going to get some tin foil pans, lol.
actually we were at shoneys the other night and got carry out trays for the food we didnt finish. they are bout 3 inches deep, with a clear dome about another inche high. gonna try a few seeds in those to see if i can get germination. just have to sterilize it because i dont think old grease would do them good.
Jen, I'm as shocked as anyone, they were dry and hard when I put them in the rockwool cubes, their color was light brown or dark cream - now, they have white poking out, which I can see through the clear tops. My pal did tell me to use warm or hot water on the rockwool when I planted them and I did exactly what he said. I do not know, but I would think a dish such as you describe would be fine. Gretchen gave me the idea and she might know for sure if they would be okay. My tins/tops were used for earlier seeds, in fact this is maybe the 4th or 5th batch and I run them through the dishwasher right before use, my dishwasher sterilizes. I have them outside, in the shade, on a baker's rack, held tightly by bungies, just in case the cats get big ideas. IMO, the quick germination was due to:
perfect spring weather
peeling the seeds (I do this so I don't waste my time watching an empty one)
drying the seeds
adding the hot water
the tinfoil loaf pans with plastic tops
rockwool - which I think is the main reason they sprouted so quickly
I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch, but it sure was a fun shocker!!!
Sorry Jen I am still playing catch up with all the threads. Once mine sprouted and got 2 nice leaves I put them in mum pots for a month then one gal pots. I use potting soil with slow release fertilizer. I have mine outside on the front walkway. Not doing anything special. I don't like fussy brugs
are you feeling any better?
what size pot is a mum pot?