Here is a picture of my babies. Like I posted on another thread...plopping tiny seedlings in the ground where they have to fend off thunderstorms, the kids and pets just is not my style. These are Lunaria annua seedling (Money Plant). I have never grown this plant before. These seeds came from etravia (Maggie) in the swap.
- Brent
The seedlings were getting big and filling up their container but I was not sure if they were ready because they only had one set of leaves. Check out the roots on these babies! The entire container was full of roots.
- Brent
Brent, I'm glad you posted about these seedlings... I've got a bunch of Lunaria 'Alba' in a WS container that are getting pretty large, even thought they only have that first pair of nurse leaves like yours, and I'll bet their roots have filled the container likewise.
Looks great Brent! Don't forget to add your seedling pictures to PlantFiles.
Will do. I have potted up 3 containers and I have 51 seedlings growing in pots. Only 30 more containers to go! At this rate I should have plenty of plants for my garden, my neighbor's garden, their neighbor's garden...looks like the entire block will be covered with blooms next year! ;-)
- Brent
Potting up seedlings works well for me because it is something that I can do in the evening after I put the kids to bed. I potted up 2 more containers of seedlings yesterday so I now have a total of 81 potted seedlings!
I remember one year that I thought I was going crazy when I added about 15 plants to my garden. What do you think is the better deal? $120 for 15 nursery purchased plants or $50 for 400+ plants? Looks like I will need another bag of potting soil which will bring my total expenses for potting soil, seeds and fertilizer to about $86.
BTW, so far a 3.8 cu ft bale of compressed Pro-Mix potting soil has filled 37 containers (mostly 1 gallon), 81 four inch pots and I still have enough left for about 20 four inch pots. Not bad for $28.
- Brent
sorry...posted to the wrong thread.
- Brent
This message was edited Apr 28, 2007 11:01 PM
Update: 84% of my containers have at least some sprouts (31 out of 37). I have continued to pot up seedlings. I have potted up 12 of my containers and I now have whopping 168 pots! I am not sure if I am more worried about what I am going to do with those 168 plants or what I am going to do with all the other containers of seedling! I need to get busy prepping beds!!
What is everybody else doing with their seedlings? Staying busy?
- Brent
Well, I got you beat in potting up little plants! I have over 200 potted up with probably 300 plus to go (160 are impatiens seedlings).
DH is reading me the Sharpe series, while I make little paper pots.
Many of the seedlings are perennials which are growing slowly (thank goodness!) So everything doesn't have to be potted up at once.
On May 19, I hope to have a plant swap at my home. A lot of my seedlings will find homes with neighbours then :-)
I'll be popping lids off my containers and starting to pot up some perennial seedlings this week, I think. Yesterday, I turned a 6 inch salad container of Veronica longifolia into a flat (36) of nice little clumps of seedlings. I'll plant them out in the garden in probably a month or so... I WS'd some of the same last year, grew them along a border, and then transplanted them in among my oriental lilies this spring... I think they will make outstanding "shoes and socks" plants for that bed!
I've got several good "shoes & socks" plants among my WSing efforts this year... 'Blue Clips' campanula seedlings are still tiny, but germinating in nice dense rows (will probably also got potted up for a bit, although I may try a few HOS directly in the garden too). I got sparse germination in my tray of Penstemon davidsonii and also in a tray of alpine strawberries, so I'll probably let those seedlings grow on to a good size right where they are (potting mix depth should be sufficient for good roots). I've got some Saponaria, Dianthus, Silene, etc... will probably clump transplant those into flats also and let them grow on a bit before planting out... yes, I know all that transplanting is an extra step, unnecessary to some, but I'm just tickled at how easily I can end up with a whole flat of some yummy groundcover or border plant!
I'm also excited about a couple dozen seedlings of Berlandiera lyrata ("Chocolate Daisy" -- the real one, this year!) that are coming along... I'll definitely be babying those in pots before planting out!
Okay - I give up - what do you mean by "shoes and socks" plants?
Hi Brent,
My dad gave me seeds from my moms money bush, I sowed them last spring they grew but didn't flower, but this is what they look like this year :o) I was so tickled that they came back and bloomed. Now I have something that reminds me of her (altho nothing is needed for that) but she just loved this plant and I am pleased & blessed to have something that she loved growing in my garden bed. Just wanted to share it with you.
Smiles Connie
Critter: Talk about an absolutely gorgeous weekend with little humidity....that equals "planting out" weather! It's okay to pot up your seedlings into larger containers before you plant them out. It is an extra step, but if larger seedlings are easier to handle, look fuller in the garden & make you happier then...go for it! I don't need to remind you how important it is to keep them well watered.
I also planted a lot out in my garden this weekend, such as, Poppies, Hollyhocks, Dianthus, hardy Geraniums, Cup & Saucer vine, Coral vine and 2 types of Butterfly weed (can't think of the Latin botanical name at the moment). I'm letting a lot of my baby seedlings just grow bigger in their original ws containers. I know that some people are shuddering at the idea of overcrowding their seedlings. However, I got several plants to actually flower in the 1st year because their roots were over crowded such as Tricytris, "White Tower"!!!
Seandor: "shoes and socks" are affectionate gardening terms. For example, you have a large growing plant, such as a Clematis ("shoes") and then surrounding the base of the large plant with the "socks", which are much lower growing plants such as Heuchera, Violets, creeping Sedum, etc. However, some creative gardeners actually have planted in old shoes or boots in their garden. Maybe dirty old smelly gym socks help to "mulch" the plants. Couldn't say for sure as I never have tried this.
Connie: What a beautiful plant to remember your Mother. Did your Mother name it the "money" plant because I remember this variety of plant with paper thin white colored blooms. Do you know the Latin botanical name?
This message was edited May 7, 2007 10:12 AM
LOL at mulching with old gym socks!
Some plants just get leggy or bare at the bottom and need something to fill in around their "feet" -- hence, "shoes & socks plants."
I haven't planted anything in an old boot... yet... but give it time! :-)
Shirley: I am pretty sure the picture is of Lunaria annua, which are the seedlings that I pictured to start this thread.
Connie: Thanks for the picture. I have never grown this plant, but most sources list is as a biennial, so you may want to be sure to harvest seeds if you want to keep it around. It may reliably reseed, but I don't know.
My seedlings have really grown a lot and soon I will be planting some out. I seem to have had a lot of my purple flowering plants sprout first and I need some other colors to mix in. Potting up seedlings works for me, but it does add cost and time to the mix. Many seedlings will outgrow their pots in two months, but I have also kept seedlings in their pots for 18 months. When I moved to my new place in April 2006 I had about 40 plants in pots from my Spring 2005 sowing season to bring along.
- Brent
Brent these money bush came back from the plants, I was under the impression that they were annual lol and I was really surprised they came back, and I do plan on saving seeds from them :o)
Connie
I found a perennial Lunaria in PF! http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1360/index.html
Is that the one you have, do you think?
Sometimes I'm also fooled by annuals that self-sow readily... they "act like" perennials in the way they come back faithfully in the same spot each year. In fact, my MIL refers to self-sowing annuals as perennials, which causes some confusion on occasion! There's a certain logic in it -- if they come back each year, whether from the root or from dropped seeds, then you'll continue to have them in that spot of your garden, and that's what matters when you're planning and planting.
I WS'd seeds for both white and purple flowering Lunaria, most probably L. annua, and I've got nice sturdy little seedlings in quart containers. LOL, I guess they can join the growing line of plants waiting to be planted out in the garden!
Brent: We are both correct. "The mature seedpods resemble papery coins and are used in dried flower arrangements. Other common names for this plant are 'Honesty' and the 'Silver Dollar Plant."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunaria_annua
Here is a picture of my growing collection of plants. I think I missed a few entries in my spreadsheet but the count there is 216 plants.
- Brent
And here is the other half of my collection. I took these pictures this morning and they are already out of date as I just finished potting up 21 more plants. Now I just need to find a place to plant all these!
- Brent
Fun to see the photos of all the little pots of happy seedlings, Brent!
I have a question for you WS pros. Many of my WS containers are fairly crowded now with hunk-o-seedlings and it's about time to set them out or pot them up. Do you just plant out little "plugs" of the HOS in each location, without thinning them? Wouldn't the resultant seedlings and plants be too crowded together for good bloom? Or does one seedling sort of "take over"? Or should I try to tease the seedlings apart? Some have really long roots!
I'm so used to thinning seedlings before planting them out in sowing under lights, but that's when only two or three are growing together.
Thanks,
Emily
I plant in clumps -- bigger ones if they're going straight into the garden, smaller clumps if I'm potting up. Sometimes the strongest seedling will take over, as you said. But some plants grow naturally in clumps anyway (phlox, coneflowers, grasses, etc), so planting a clump of seedlings will give you the look of a larger/older plant sooner.
I think some plants actually grow better when they have root contact with other seedlings, maybe it kicks up their survival instincts (so to speak) to have competition nearby. I wouldn't tease apart those long roots; I think you'll do more harm than good that way.
Good luck, and have fun with your seedlings!
And Brent.... WOWza! You've been working hard, and you're going to have a zillion sturdy little plants to set out! Whooo!
Thank you, critterologist, for the advice on HOS. Now if the darn RAIN would only let up, I could get out to get at those jugs!
--Emily
