That's a good point, Meredith. More than likely it died because of no host plant being present in your container.
Join Us! Seed Swap Seed Starting & Conversation #3
Yes here is an article I found quickly: http://www.arhomeandgarden.org/plantoftheweek/articles/Indian_Paintbrush.htm
C-dawg - I like your idea, I may try that next year.. Hmm maybe I still can get an order in time.
Thanks Meridith, I've never known a plant to need a host plant like that, guess I better sow them in place too! Now I'm wondering if I have any more oxe eye left lol If not I can put them by them when I plant them, wish they would have put a few more host plants on there.
Many wild flowers are parasitic so I've read. They need another plant to attach their roots to gain borrowed nutrients, plants like grasses or woody plants. Sometimes the host plant dies in the process. When I bought my seeds from Everwilde, I started reading about these types of wild flowers.
I don't think I read that article. I did read about planting Bluestem seeds with the castilleja. I planted rattlesnake master around mine too.
I wonder if adding mychorrizal fungi would be any sort of aid to the wildflowers?
Never heard of that before. Is it a mushroom?
Been out of the loop, glad I finally found ya'll.
Wow, I learned something new..I had never heard about hemiparasital plants.
Cool!
Blows your mind doesn't it.
Kd, do not leave the seeds in the water more than 3 days. go ahead and plant them up too. Normally they are not viable after that. Don't forget to put the peroxide in the water too. Rose of sharon seeds won't start by this method.
For those of you who missed out on how I start Hibiscus seeds, you take a small bottle like a pill bottle, put your seeds in it, add boiling water at least halk way up, add about 1/4 teas. peroxide, cap it and let it sit for 48 hours. You will have tails coming out of the seeds, These are the roots of your plants. Lay the seeds on your dirt. The roots will find their way down. Or just cover them up with about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of dirt and water.
Hope this is a little clearer than mud.
Way cool!
rats - that's what I forgot - the boiling part of the water.....OK, off to try another little glass of Hibiscus seeds!
Cordeledawg - mychorrizal fungi is a "beneficial" in that it helps the plant absorb nutrients. Here's a rather geeky definition from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycorrhiza
The problem is, they're not cheap - so you have to make sure you're getting the right amount at the right price. I eventually got mine directly from Superior Grower's Supply:
http://homeharvest.com/orgfert.htm
I have never heard of hemiparasital plants either - so much to learn!!!!
Thanks, Robin. I believe, from what I read, the nature of the Castilleja is to latch on with its roots to those of nearby plants. The mychorrizal fungi information is interesting. I just don't know enough about either. You're right, there is so much to learn.
Robyn-Any kind of hibiscus?
So far it has worked for all that I have tried. But not the Rose of sharons.
Hi! Robynzest, did I miss something? Then what do you do to the Rose of Sharon?
I cheat and buy the ROS or get a start from someone.
Actually I haven't tried to start any of them But I would probably stratify or w/s it. Just like nature does it.
Good morning!
I just did a 10 day check on the weather and the highs here will only be in the 40s and the nights will still all be below freezing. The calendar goes out to March 2.
I want Spring to come! BUT I don't want a repeat of last year where spring came in March and then winter came back in April!
This message was edited Feb 22, 2008 4:04 AM
I am with you Suzy-I do not want that cold snap again-I was outside in the rain (I remember it rained a lot that day B4 it turned to snow), covering all of my existing plants (only 1/4 of what I ahve now) with extra towels, sheets, anything I can find, then I had cut garbage bags that I put over them, then stick nails/garden staples in them because it was SUPER windy-I know you normally aren't supposed to but I didn't want the towels to get wet, then freeze to the plants!! DH was laughing his A*& off at me!! BTW-that DH was not Dear Hubby-another D word!! He wouldn't help, just stood in the sliding door having himself a good ole time!! If it happens again this year, I don't know if I will be ablt to get it all covered up-I don't think I have enought sheets & towels this time!!
Thanks Robyn, My other hibiscus (texas star, dinner plate etceteras) did get tails with your method, all the Rose of Sharon (hibiscus Syriacus) did not and are potted up, for anyone else trying this method the Hibiscus Mutabilis - Confederate Rose did not either, these had the same type of "fuzzy" and "flatter" seeds as the Rose of Sharon. As well the wintersown lists show the Rose of Sharon as a good candidate for wintersowing so that is what I am doing with my remaining seeds. And thanks for the 3 day rule for leaving seeds in water, I am taking notes of all the rules of thumb you guys are sharing :-))
Suzy, how many or what percentage of wintersowing pots generally germinate for you, I was hoping for 60% of so reading the various threads. KD
I have done that too Fairy, running out with old sheets covering beds and special plants, I found it worked quite well to keep a late frost off, but not in the rain :-)) That would be a nightmare ... you are dedicated! KD
its a winterwonderland here...snow...ice later...Rutgers University cancelled classes which they NEVER do for any circumstances...must be the ice that did it! so I can sneak in more WS plantings today yahoo :))))))))
I gues it is because I am still a newer gardener so anything that comes up of flowers is like Xmas for me!!! You should have seen me last year!!LOL Just like a kid in Disneyland-all wide eyed and amazed.
You should've seen me this last year trying to convince DH that perennials DO come back year after year-he still doesn't beleive it-boy will he be surprised this spring!!
I had to drive my 40 miles in in slick roads and slush-which always sticks in the tread and creates a slick surface so my tires can't grab anything!! I was all kinds of nervous this morning!!
glad you got to your destination safely. I'm going to sort through more of these wonderful seeds too that I'm STILL looking up and logging in and planning for lol
I ran out of plastic cups to use in WS so I have to go buy more. I was using up some xmas cups I found. The deli style chinese soup plastic containers are a bugger...they don't burn holes easily, at least not with the glue gun.
LOL! You kids are all so funny, not the driving, but the WS container-making. I was like that last year, too, so maybe laughing a little at myself.
KD, 100% of the purchased seed came up, about 85% of the collected normal seed, like Marigolds and Nigella, but only about 20% of the collected name variety-kind of seed...most of which seemed to be perennials like the Ligularia 'Othello' , etc. that I got in a trade. I assume the poor performance of that last batch had to do with the collected seed and the triploid sterility of the named varieties. Also the collector probably didn't know what a Ligularia (or whatever) seed should look like.
Thanks Suzy, I have got a lot of named variety traded seeds, so I will keep records of what worked and not. On the upside I am soaking the canna seeds you sent and all seem to be getting "puffy" ends which I am guessing is a good sign :-)) Although after nicking the canna seeds with an oversize nail clipper I moved onto castor beans and absolutely crushed the first one - much softer seed shell ... Learning lots :-) KD
Yes, let us all know -- it isn't a reflection on the person collecting, afterall, who is to know if Helenium 'Mardi Gras' or Helenium 'Coppelina' seed will germinate? Who's to know if if Helenium 'Mardi Gras' looks like Mardi Gras unless somebody grows it until it blooms and checks it against picture on Google images or Plant Files? Nobody until it happens!
I figure if I have the plant and somebody wants the seed, then they can have it. I am especially concerned with people who got my Yellow Butterfly Bush -- the seedlings will probably all be Lavender, but what if they really are all or mostly yellows....wouldn't that be cool? On the other hand, everbody might also have a pot of nuttin'. Never know unless you try.
Last year I grew Ragged Reggie marigold from collected seed and only had one germinate (sterility is an issue with F1 hybrid seed) However I did have one, so it isn't totally sterile. 1 in about 25 or 30 seeds. The Japanese Beetles LOVED it. I mean they nestled inside those flowers so far you couldn't even see them. The flowers were a mess and I was thankful more didn't germinate because I would have planted them all and had ugly, chewed up, Marigolds front and center in my garden.
KD, You asked about containers germinating, but you didn't ask how many I would have had live through the germination, then the week-long Easter freeze amonth later, and the answer is probably 2% of everything would have lived and the rest woudl have died. Mr. Clean helped me wheel them all into the garage -- it was like 7 or 8 loads in the garden way cart. They stayed in there for a full week. Some people did the same as me, but other people left theirs outside and I think had very heavy losses.
Suzy
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we don't have anything like that this year - my garage is detached so it gets colder in there than outside! I'd be trudging up and down the basement steps with as many pots as I could carry each time, and I'm sure Ms. Clean would be hiding in another room so she wouldn't have to see the mess I was making, and checking the weather online to find out how long I'd have the basement all messed up - LOL!
I have put all my jugs in old recycle bins in batches of nine so if Spring is erratic I can quickly lift and move to the garage, I am off to the landfill again in search of more old recycle bins :-)) KD
That's a great idea!! I wonder what I can find locally....hmmm......
Suzy, I had to think a minute about how I dealt with that awful freeze- I think I'd blocked it, LOL. I remember now that I threw moving blankets over them, and left it there for the whole frozen week, and had no significant losses.
I stood at the window and sighed - the only thing I wanted to protect were the big fat buds on the wisteria....the pink dogwood and rose of sharon came through it without a hitch.
Don't know if any of you already have this as a reference for seed germination, but this site has very good info.
http://www.hardyplants.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=SP
Myself I don't think I will be able to trust spring again! Not until about May! You should have seen me last year trying to bring everything in that I had in the little big lots greenhouses, it was a site in the house, I had flowers, tomatoes, peppers and everything sitting all in the livingroom, my mom's room and the tv room! Our house is small so we hardly had any room to walk in the house, I knew to bring the tomatoes and peppers in cause I left them in the grhouses and covered with blankets and still lost quite a few of them.
I didn't get to cover anything in the yard and my wisteria was going to bloom for the first time, full of buds, wanted to see them so bad but the freeze got them, my daps, alliums everything that was going to bloom in the spring! Thank gooness the columbines weren't blooming yet or my ground covers lol
Suzy, I planted a jug of yellow butterfly bush last year and grew a bunch of seedlings out to see if I could just get one out of it with no luck, not sure which one it was, the white profusion comes true, that's the only one that I know of so far.
I don't remember having any losses in my WS jugs, I still had way too many lol I may have just wiped that part out of my memory lol
We had sleet and rain on top of snow for the last two days and everything is a mess here, did you get any of that Suzy? I was going to get some more jugs today but our driveway is a solid sheet of ice, we got gas for our tank just now and they wouldn't even park in the drive where my car is thank goodness! I did have to go out and fuss at him he took the hose to the gas right over my plants where I have markers so had to ask him the next time to go between the garages like he usually does but he was sliding too much on the ice that's why he did it LOL He could just barely stand up and here I was fussing at him LOL Poor guy!
The more I think about it I think I put my WS jugs in the garage that were coming up, I don't think I lost anything that I can remember.
Here's hoping we don't go thru the same thing this year! I won't put anything out until the last of April anyway unless I hear different about the weather!
Fairy, glad you made it ok this morning and still in one piece lol I have two tubs outside full of old sheets for the spring lol When I moved in here with dad I found all kinds in the drawers with holes in them and ones that were about to have holes but no good sheets, the one dad had on his bed had a big old hole at the bottom LOL They never threw anything away and guess I'm just as bad I just moved them to the garage lol Now I'm wishing I had kept all of the plastic containers I found stored downstairs! You wouldn't believe how many I found of those, it took about 4 trash days to get rid of all of them! I wasn't WS then.
Kd, I just sowed my rose of sharon under lights last year, if you don't have any luck with them let me know I have some 'blue satin' seeds you can do in the spring if you want I'll hold on to them for you :) From what I understand only one out of about five may come true. I saved quite a few of them that I planted last year but gave a few away now I'm just hoping I get one that's a true blue satin, I can only deal with so many pots though and I had a bunch last year to water!
LOL
Well, I am always nervous about sending out/trading seeds and plants (because I generally don't know what I'm doing and my learning curve is pretty steep). I just hope people are understanding and take free/traded seeds with a 'grain of salt'...after all--we're not horticultural professionals, just obsessed!
Thanks ansonfan for the link---
Personally I love Specialty Perennials ---- http://hardyplants.com/seed_starting_.html
a wealth of info on germination and how to sow seeds and a wide range of seeds available to purchase, but so many customers seem dissatisfied with their customer service (so Beware!) I have several packets of seed on order from them (and have ordered from them several times before), so we shall see how it goes this season...
I just checked my 'seeds under lights' and noticed my Tithonia 'Sundance' have germinated--oh, no! I was expecting them to germinate in a week or two--not 2 days! Also some Japanese Morning Glories that I thought would never germinate are 2 inches tall. Too early! Oh, dear!
t, I had one seed that it said it would take 1-4 mos. and I have one seed that germinated in 6 days! So far that's the only one and hoping the rest wait a bit lol This is going to be a larger plant too, too large for under lights lol The package said 18" but Suzy brought it to my attention that this is loosestrife lol
Tab, I alwyas order from www.hardyplants and just expect a 3 week delivery time. He always sends extra seeds, though :)
I looked up Tithonia 'Sundance', it sounds like a darker and more scarlet version of Fiesta Del Sol -- pretty!
The Japanses Morning glories will grow in the house somewhere sort of near a window just fine. Just pot them up when they get old enough with a tree branch to climb on. I'm not sure how they transplant into the garden, you might want to start over with new seed, or play it by ear.
LOL OK Sounds like my seed sowing project is going to require a lot of TLC from me and I won't be able to spend as much time gabbing on DG (doing virtual gardening!).
Yes, I caught the Tithonia bug after all the threads last summer and I am starting four kinds for the garden. I have room for all of one T. plant in my own garden so I will have to find homes elsewhere for them...oh, well...
I also caught the Zinnia bug after all the threads last summer, Maineman and Al's lessons and our lively (some might say 'obsessive') discussions about them and I have about 15 different packets to try and compare. I keep telling my DH that we need a sunny farm-ette somewhere so I can obsess with abandon and he's about ready to succumb (in my dreams!)
No seed sowing today. Guests coming for dinner so I must clean-up my Miracle Grow mess in the kitchen and create something for dinner that's edible.