Germination of Aquilegia Seeds

ya right lol and all of those nice web site for plants that are available to us that is the scam hahahhahah

LOL - I don't let myself go there - WAY too tempting, and I've only got so much space! Of course, I forget that completely when I'm swapping and starting seeds.

ya me to I start twelve or more flats every year but now with the bigger property last summer I ran out plant I couldnt believe it never happened before so I just called up my sisters and they gave me a big bunch since they do the same thing

ah - a family of enablers!! Fortunately our house is so old that the electrical system is the older 100 watt (or whatever it is) vs. the newer 200 - or I'd have four more light racks set up, and then I'd be in real trouble....

use the energie savers they suck less hydro so you dont burn up lol

a true enabler :-)

how are the columbines doing for everyone mine are starting to sprout since I planted the flat and then I left it in the garage for three weeks then brought them inside to warm up yesterday the one came up and another today

so now I have two babies hoping for more since I put in about 75 seeds lol

Mine are going outside tomorrow, north side of the house, to see how they do "in situ". I may put up a couple WS containers of them too, haven't decided yet.

since I need to cover an area of 60 by 6 feet of them all mixed colors I hope that they do well will keep my fingers crossed

LOL I can't find them. Not in the indoor growop. I'll check the greenhouse again tomorrow.

I'm not expecting mine to germinate until the end of March/beginning of April

i guess if they come up that late the wont bloom this year

Most perennials don't bloom their first year... I'm not sure columbines would bloom their first year even if you started them indoors in January. :-)

But your patience will be rewarded!

only if you put them out early enough so cold makes them loose the foliage which will grow back later in the spring they will then bloom in summer

but that mean very early germination

hmm...or maybe fall sowing?

fall sowing doesnt make a diff on blooming since they will only germinate in the spring anyway

OK, the big rains are done here - so today's the day I'm gonna get some of those babies sown on the north side of the house. I've got some William Guiness, Roman Bronze and Road House Dwarf that I'm putting out to see how they do "au naturale". I ponied up some money a couple years ago for the long white plastic stakes, and will put one of those in the middle of each patch so I know where they're supposed to show up, and which ones they are :-)

Very good idea dryad. I'm constantly direct sowing things and then going 'hmmmm. I wonder what those are?'

I also remember from last year's Piggy Swap discussion that the Aquilegia with the spurs are the ones the hummers like, so I'm trying to focus on making sure I get those out there too. I've got a yellow with spurs that I'm trying to figure out where to squeeze in for the hummers....

I always use stakes to mark my stuff that I sow in the fall pulled to many perennials in the spring thinking it was weeds now I mark them usually with four small stakes and string

now I have learned to not pull if I am not sure of what it is lol hahah getting better in my old age

I grow alot of weeds thinking they might be something I sowed LOL

ive done that to lol planted some seed of something and they next spring I was all happy well it was not what I planted but some weed it never did flower by august I figured it out
oh well one mans weed is another ones treasure hahahahha

too true - a weed is only a plant in a location you didn't want it in :-) Unless it's poison ivy...

well do not have any of the three leaf stuff I checked that out before we bought the house
actually after talking to many people in the area none of them have ever seen poison ivy around here so I am happy with that since the stuff is so hard to eradicate
as weed is anything that multiplies faster than you can pull it out lol hahahhaha

There's another layer of snow coming tonight so I went and put the seed into just another ara of my garden for another test plot. This really works well with my bachelors buttons. I've gotten the earliest blom by waiting until the weather was in the 40's with anticipaction of new snow. The plants really don't like to be moved.

I was really worried about my winter sown ones. We had temps in the 60's here and I was hoping they wouldn't think spring was here and germinate early. So far so good although I did put another pile of snow on them. Cna't wait to post pictures of the earliest seedlings!

Oh Mindy - more snow???

I know it's still February - but I just don't want to deal with more snow. Perhaps it will have burned itself out by the time it reaches the east - my fingers are crossed. For the first time in a very long time, I was able to see my fish - oh and the birds were singing this morning. I am so ready for Spring - I have already been out in the yard looking to see what is growing so far - nothing yet - but one can hope!

about five weeks left before i will see signs of green

I have plants, I have plants :)

I took one of my winter sown container ones and left it outside just for two weeks
and then brought it in the greenhouse. I had to look with a magnifier but the top
layer of dirt is crusted up and I can see leaves - if you can call them that :).

The rest of them are all nestled in the inch of snow we got last night - lovely :&
I just also potted up 380 trees I received from DNR, my cup overfloweth and I need a bigger
greenhouse already! thank goodness for winter sowing!

I live in an area (Southcentral Alaska) with a short growing season, so I start most seeds indoors. Aquilegia love my climate, and it is one of my favorite perennials. I start them indoors under lights. I chill seeds for a week or so just to give them an edge, and after I plant them in trays, I leave them under lights in domed flats, misting as needed, until germination. If they don't germinate, I put the domed flats out on the porch when the temps start getting in the 40's F. I usually have more columbine seedlings than I need.

well mine sat in the garage at -16 to -39 for three weeks brought them in and I just put them in the basement where its about 15C and two weeks later all kinds now they have a second set of leaves and doing well about inch and half tall four different kinds in the flat I just put the soil directly in the flat and it works great now I also have four flats of them sitting outside in the snow they will come up when ready those I will plant late summer or early fall for next year blooms

Had to grin at your "I usually have more columbine seedlings than I need." Weezingreens...

I've SEEN pictures of all the plants you "manage" to get going. I don't think it's just columbines that end up being more than you need. Just send that bit of Elven magic to my place will you?

Mindy

I always find a place for every single little baby I grow with 2.5 acres it will take me 10 or more years to have it all done

They mentioned that dratted word AGAIN Carolyn. At least we are only getting a few inches here and there. My Aunt that lives in BoothBay Harbor, Maine is still trying to get back to normal after the dumping they had!

I definitely had enough season for all my winter sowing projects!

Here's a tale to make you grin:

A packet of Globemaster alkiums must have dropped out of my shopping bag last fall when I bought all the leftover seeds from Walmart. Hubby was using tractor to get the snow off and I saw the package
just before he dumped it. Thought it would NEVER germinate so I tossed it in the compost pile. Went to turn it over and here are these three seedlings desperatly trying to get some sun. I rewarded that kind of effort by potting them up
....
....
....
....
....

Looked this morning and only ONE is surviving - CRAZY! Guess benign neglect is better than providence :).

Mindy

I think I will start another flat now that the fist ones have two sets of permanent leaves
maybe its time to start more counted have about 82 of them so far not sure it will be enough to fill the area so I am thinking a second flat would make sure to have enough for the area and if any left over oh well I have space in other areas

not bad 82 out of 100 seeds Im happy with that

That's a good return on seeds, Scicciarella. You must have the knack. Every year I plant columbine seeds of all sorts, thinking my little pots of them outdoors will not winter over, but most all do. Consequently, every summer I have a table 4 ft wide and 24 ft long full of aquilegia of every kind. I'll never sell them all or set them all out anywhere. I have short-spur, long spur, clematiflora, stellata, flabellata, and much more. They love our cool climate and always do well for me.

Weezingreens - I'd love to see pictures. They must be gorgeous when they are in flower.....

well here are mine they are doing just fine

the flat when seeded went into the garage for three weeks then back in and they came up within a week and now some are working on third set of leaves

second flat is just coming since I started those a month later and

I have two flats outside that will not come up till the end of april

This message was edited Mar 4, 2009 9:39 PM

they look wonderful! I think I see what I am doing wrong. How long are they out before you bring them in and how long are they inside before they go back out? I ws'd some more and I am beginning to think that I will need to bring them in for a couple of weeks and then go out again. I always just left them out in the past.

I sowed them in the flat itself with 3 inches of soil damp and put them in the garage which was really cold left them out for three weeks and then brought the flat inside allowed it thaw over night made sure there was enough moisture and put a dome on it would check soil and spritzed it as necessary it only took about 10 days and they all started to germinate as soon as the baby leaves started to come out I opened the dome a couple of inches for a few days and then a little more at the end of a week I took it off
now they are sitting in a east window so they only get sun first thing in the morning but bright light all day and they are growing like weeds

second flat I just took the dome of this week end so they are about a month behind but will catch up by planting time outside this is the third time I have done them since this is my third house after the first one are out I just transplant babies in the spring since I just take the seeds of the mother plant and add them at the base for more plants the next year

I didnt get a change to put the seeds out in the garden last fall that is why I am doing them inside this winter could have saved myself so much work, all perennials can be sown in the late fall just before the first snow storm and they pop right up in the spring

mine have been outside -one set for about 3 weeks, the other I just sowed earlier this week. I should probably bring in the ones that were done last month.

typically, I would just scatter the seeds when they are set by the plant and then go from there. These are seeds that I rec'd in trades this past winter.

Thanks so much.