Jiffy seed starting flats versus Burpee

lol! glad I could help :) I actually was given her site from a DGer -- I couldnt restrain myself once I saw all the seeds she had to offer! LOL!
Happy planting, oh and no fair stalking the mailman until the seed arrive :o)-My mailman still runs from me :o)

LOL Diane's does have a neat collection of seeds. I hadn't realized she added so many to her inventory in the past couple of years.

If you like seeds, you might like 'Specialty Perennials', too. They have a very wide range of seed offerings, but the shipping is quite erratic and often takes a bit of time, though.

http://www.hardyplants.com/

Did I mention I planted a mess of seeds today? Both under lights and wintersowed. I'm trying to develop my 'seed sowing skills'. But I'm such a klutz at it...knocking over dishes of water, can't see the seeds, and so on...kind of fun though.

BTW I read on another thread that instead of nicking seeds or soaking them to hasten their germination, you can freeze many perennial and biennial seeds in ice cube trays for a couple of days and then plant them and it works quite well. I'd like to try that since I cut my finger trying to nick away at a hollyhock seed!

Can you freeze the ones that dont need to be stratified (sp) first? I thought that the freezer thing only worked on seeds that needed a period of cold before they will germinate?

I've heard that if you are going to wintersow them you don't have to statify them. The weather will do it for you. Now, remember, someone told me that so who knows. I do know I ws some that I knew what was to be stratified and they started popping up after 2 months. Guess it takes them longer if you don't statify.

I think it depends on the zone, I dont think it gets cold enough in my zone even for winter sowing. I have some alaska flowers that I have to freeze first cause its too warm here.

And wintersowing and stratifying depends on the kind of 'weather' in your zone. If you soak or stratify wintersown seeds in our wet winters/springs there is a possibility that the seeds may rot out before it is warm enough for them to sprout, or perhaps sprout too early and be subject to a late freeze.

Well, in the article I read on Hume Seeds site they made it sound like freezing the seed was for perennials and biennials that were originally from moderate and cold climates. I doubt that they were talking about perennials originating in warm areas of CA...but they didn't really specify.

I am doing it with liatris, rudbeckia, echinacea, hollyhocks, and other sort of 'native' type garden flowers. Definitely not tender annuals and that sort of thing.

I hate the peat pots too. I love the pellets - they work nicely for me. But the pots drive me bonkers, and they DO dry out altogether too fast for me - and no, they don't go away in the garden. I think you can compost them, but you have to rip them up to do it, more than with cardboard!

My Jiffy greenhouses fill up fast. I transplant into 4.5" pots when they are properly sprouted though, I don't wait for the silly leafy look they show in the pics. Then again, I don't use lights, either, so mine are usually a bit leggy, as they want the light from the windows.

But I've had no problems with germination in them, unless the seed was bad.

-Sev
May Princess Kathy always have many germinating seeds!

I recently tried the peat pots and I hate them as well. They dry out in a day it seems under my lights. I know I wont buy them again. Another problem is that they seem to be quite tasty to my 3 Schnauzers. For some reason they like to sneak in and take ONLY the peat pots and eat them, plant and all. I've had to shut the door to my room to keep them out.. They dont like the solo cups at all. LOL

Poor babies, must not have had enough dirt to eat when they were babies!!!!

My problem has been the kittens, if I'm dumb enough to plant straight into a flat. They think it's a litter box

Angel, I am discovering that the peat pots also dry out in a day when they arent under lights! lol! I have to constantly spray them down to keep them wet. I have 3 trays that never germinated! UGH!
going to try the pellets next, I only have 72 of those so I'm gonna do the trays and also the recycled plastic 6 packs to see which work better for me. I think alot might have to do with location and humidity in the air too?

I also find that the peat pellets never completely breakdown, so I do use the peat pots. While germinating under lights they are on top of plastic lattice pieces that are in some container which can be plastic, cookie sheets, anything you have, with water in the bottom to keep the humidity up. Then when watering, I can bottom water and it drains into the bottom container or sheet or whatever.The alternative is to put pea gravel on something, water, and the peat pots on top. Again, bottom watering and drainage.

hi Dun1kirk, I work right down the road from you in Piedmont! :-)
That is a great idea with the plastic lattice, I have some of that here, that I can use in my trays. What are the pros/cons of bottom watering? I've seen several mentions about it, but dont know why this method is used instead of regular ole watering on top?
The peat pots work better with this method?
Anyone here ever tried the cowpots? I have some ordered in the co op, I never heard of them until I joined DG. any pros/cons on those?

dun1kirk,

Where can you find the plastic lattice?

~* Robin

Robin, we have plastic lattice at our Lowes. I don't know if you have them there or not.

This message was edited Mar 6, 2008 6:51 PM

I believe we bought ours at Ace or Home Depot....

mine came from a neighbor. No help there, but he may have gotten them at TAP plastics.

Now, here's the age old question, How much?

Thanks,

jlp222 & oneanjl

Lowes is near Walmart (which my kids call Wally World) in another township 5 miles away.

Ace Hardware & Home Depot are closer by in town; I'll check them too.

All of my bones hurt from trying to move trays with the pebble sized lime stones in them. I'll just have to remember to add a little lime in their water feedings.

~* Robin

What's this I need to know about adding "a little lime". Specifics, please. Anything to keep the little ones happy!

Okay, I just revisited a catalog I received a while ago. They have seed starting mats, heat mats reusable cells AND peat and jiffy pots and they even have the jiffy ones WITHOUT the netting that never composts. They have domes and flats and everything I need for great prices, especially in quantity if you can find someone to split with. www.hpsseed.com. Enjoy!

Ok this is a 911. I am not only out of seed starter but potting soil too. Can't get to store right now. WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO. i FEEL FAINT

Quick Lorraine, run into your closet & grab an old pillow, you can start seeds in the Polyester!! ...... What? You've never seen it work???

Because the plants are in the house, their availability to Lime is cut short. I don't understand why it works, but it does - just a pinch in the water works wonders. The Lime pebbles leach it into them very slowly.

Lime Use for Soil Acidity Management: http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/pages/publicationD.jsp?publicationId=112

SoilFacts Soil Acidity and Proper Lime Use: http://www.soil.ncsu.edu/publications/Soilfacts/AG-439-17/

Spring is right around the corner! http://www.novoselenterprises.com/default.asp?page=1492

~* Robin

This message was edited Mar 7, 2008 6:28 PM

dun1kirk--

for whatever reason, I couldn't get your link to work. But I think it must be the "Gardener's Supply" catalog to which you are referring, right? I love that catalog, too, and just spent last evening lusting over all the different bits and pieces to buy to 'enhance' my garden! A lot of fun!

Can you really start seeds in a polyester pillow? I bet it's possible, since gardeners start seeds in perlite. 'Bout the same stuff...

tobasco and others: No it is not gardener's supply. It is Horticultural Products and Services. Ph. 800 322 7288. www.hpsseed.com. Note the 2 S-es.

Dun1kirk, try putting a space between the .com and the period at the end there.

.com./ is a password-protected section of their site, probably a directory listing the admins use.

.com works nicely.

-Sev

May Princess Kathy have a pleasant day tomorrow!

I am sitting here putting seeds into wet paper towels. I never knew I could sink so far. Still looking for old pillow. How bout duck feather pillows.
Oh, the things we do. I'm afraid there's no hope. No hope at all

Lorraine, you must go outside with a shovel and shovel some up :) Look in the peat pots from last year...the ones that never broke down?! LOL! Steal some from the neighbors! Whatever you do, you MUST germinate those seeds! No stopping! keep the rythm....! LOL!

Neither rain nor sleet nor snow shall keep me from my rounds, or something like that. I've been tempted to do just that, go shovel up dirt!!! Nah, can't go that far. I WILL GET THOSE SEEDS PLANTED. Never fear. Lorraine is here, seeds and all.

Oh, HP is a very nice website, isn't it? (I don't know why Gardeners' Supply came up when I tried to cut and paste the link--oh, well).

Now about 'obsessiveness' on the seed sowing--- I had to go to 'post-op' at the hospital last night to get the stitches out on my hand (cut while opening a can of tomatoes) and while the nurse is removing the stitches with these very nice tweezers I asked her if she was going to throw the the tweezers away afterwards and she said 'yes'. 'Can I have them?' I ask. She said 'But, they aren't sterile!' and I said, 'I know, but I need them to pick up my little garden seeds to plant them in the seed trays!'. 'Oh, my God!', said my daughter (mortified) who was watching. And the nurse said 'Oh, they would be good for that! and she wrapped them carefully and gave them to me, along with a sissors in case I needed to scarify seeds too. She was a gardener!

She told me not to cut my hand doing it, though! Ha, ha. Believe me, I'll try not to!

A "Blizzard" is going on outside right now. We haven't had one here since we moved to Cincinnati from Los Angeles four years ago. Very cozy but I'm glad we have a strong house and a good furnace.

We are 'shut in' today so more seed sowing for me. With my new Tweezers!

Oh, tobasco, you are a person after my own heart! I laughed so hard! My husband got out of the hospital 2 weeks ago and I did those same kinds of things. We both laughed, hard. Wonder if they recycle ANYTHING?

hmmm, can I germinate seeds in hospital gauze? LOL! I HAVE been known to steal those rubber gloves to use as gardening gloves! :-)

However, I wouldnt suggest anyone running out and cutting their hand in order to get free tweezers and sissors! LOL! We must show just a tiny bit of retsraint! LOL!

Ha, ha. Well, I haven't gotten my hospital bill yet and maybe those tweezers really cost me a pretty penny!! You know how those hospital bills are!

I don't like the peat with mesh either & seeded everything in soil mix this year. I have found that the little seedling's roots start out growing through the mesh, but as the seedling/roots get bigger, the roots does not continue to grow through the mesh. I also found the boughten bedding plants that were started in the peat plugs also did not have a well established root system. Last year, when I was transplanting them, I tried slicing the mesh on the sides & bottom, which helped, but took a while to do. The other problem with the darn mesh is if any of it is above soil surface after transplanting, it becomes a wick & the water will not go into the space of the peat plug. The rest of the pot can be saturated & if you pull out the plant, the peat is dry. So I tried trimming the top mesh before transplanting, again extra work. Anyways, this year I did not use them at all. I don't think there are very good.

I've been reading some of your comments about peat pots.Last year I used them for the first time.They do dry out fast,but I put domed lids over them & that slowed it down.You want to keep the pots damp without soaking the dirt inside.A very fine line.

When I planted them,the roots were growing through in places,so I couldn't tear the whole pot off,but I tore the rim down to where the dirt started.I still found last fall that the some of the pots remained fairly intact.

This year I'm only going to use them for plants that don't like to be transplanted,like sunflowers.I will stick as much as I can with plastic cells.

Lorraine,

Will this work?

~* Robin

Or maybe this?

~* Robin

roflmao! Now I know you all ARE crazy! lol! but now that you mention it, there is alot os dirt stuck between the keys on this keyboard !! hmmm..... and it stays pretty warm.....

Smart alec.....What are those things?

why Lorraine, they are germinating seedlings! We used to do that to our employees keyboard when they returned from vacation! LOL!

Now I know it's time to go to bed. I'm in the twilight zone with a bunch of crazy people. The space pods who have taken over their bodies may come after me.