When to sow spreadsheet!

I so agree! That's why we added the "Length of time to bloom' column. I think the information in that column might actually be more useful due to all our different planting zones. We can just take the time span, count backwards, and apply it to our own particular climate.

Weez it's good to see you girl! If you have more information for that column I would LOVE to get my hands on it. I'm sure Kelly will hook you up or I can even add if need be. Most of what we've recorded so far was found on various seed websites which means we couldn't find anything on a lot of the not-so-common seeds.

So, does the 'weeks before last frost' not work for up north? I would think that would be your 'set out date'... Hmm, I guess you are saying that you need to have your plants larger than us southerners by the time you set them out, since it's a short season? We'd love any info that you'd like to add!

Kelly, we do have to garden a bit different from the warmer southern areas. The last frost date is a good place for us to start but sometimes plants that take longer to mature have to get an earlier start. I started my petunias last year March 11th, this year I plan to bump the date up a few weeks to see if they will set buds by the time I get to set them out.
I started eggplants March 27th as an after thought, they did not start to set fruit till very late and the frost got to them first before there was any thing to harvest. I look for veg and flowers that mature fast.
I'm sure Weezingreens has it more extreme then I have dealing with her season, which just amazes me by the way.
Your spread sheet is a good source of reference and I view it often, I have also started my own for the seeds that I start for myself as I find it easy to set up, use and change the information as things develope from my personal experence.
Keep up the good work.
Chris

Yes, Chris is right. Since my season is so short, plants must be further along. There is less time, and they seem to grow slower in cool summer weather. Last year was not a particularly good garden year here because the daytime temps couldn't seem to get above the 50'sF. This can also affect bloom time, and as a consequence, my seed collecting was affected. I've been working on my planting schedule for years, as I sell plants in the summer. I have to start early indoors, and many of the seeds that I plant indoors you would probably direct sow. There are some that I winter sow because they have such special germination requirements.

As far as my indoor planting goes, I plant most seeds in sterile medium and keep them moist in domed flats under lights. If certain trays require darkness to germinate, I cover the tray until germination begins. I'll be planting lobelia today or tomorrow, and it really should have gone in last week. I just got my order of artichoke seed, so it will need to go in now too. I don't keep the basement very warm, nor do I use heated germination pads. I find the heat from the fluorescent bulbs seems to do the trick.

Have you gotten artichokes to overwinter in the ground Weezin? I'm trying them for the first time this year and was going to try to overwinter them in the ground.

I actually ordered some for this spring it says that it is hardy to zone 4 but it also says that even when shipped to colder zone the results have been that the tubers are just a little smaller the first couple of years because of the shorter growing seasons so you will be fine they will come back this spring at first I thought you where talking about globes which I had trouble growing in zone 6b hahah

Lilypon started them in SK last summer and I'm rooting for her overwintering success. I don't know if they are chinook hardy though.

That's something I've not had the nerve to start yet, but I have fallen in love with Cardoon: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/913/

I'm sorely tempted to try it in my front garden, but for the size....I'd have to dedicate about 15% of the front yard to it, with little things tucked around it...not sure I want to give up that much for something that just looks neat, know what I mean? Now if it were artichokes and I could actually eat something from it while it's looking neat, that's another story.

I'm losing my patience with my pansies....

well my patience will have to start and so will the pansy this week end since my daughter picked them out saying they look like little of men so pansys we will grow lol

Nice spreadsheet. Great for this indoor seed starting newbie. Or, maybe a wannabe. Not sure if I've got the guts!

ok feeling better today my daturas are up and also my morning glories, columbines are getting first true leaves and many other have started to sprout wow I am impressing myself but I do feet better whent hey get the second set of leaves since it means they are well on there way

Me too scicciarella. I always think they might be faking me out before that.

ya well me to I always think I did something wrong and they will never come up but so far so good on most of them I now have a full tray of columbines - diff color barlows and orientals with the long tails and regulars, also delphiniums blue purple and two reds are up, also morning glories and moonflower, this morning I found daturas are making an apearance and many lisianthus, some violas are up and monkey flowers still waiting on many others but some can take 8 weeks so will have to be patient on those

I have to get the dampening off stuff at the gardening center lost a few babies of each not many but I am greedy and want them all

still have about 8 trays to plant but not till next month when these ones are more stable so I can start transplating them in pots

I have a question on starting morning glories indoors. I've read that they don't like having their roots disturbed (can't remember where I read it) and I've tried starting them early indoors in paper pots or peat pellets to minimize transplant shock. The plants quickly outgrow the container and don't seem to do well once it's warm enough to plant them out. Do any of the way-northern growers have any suggestions? I've seen garden centers selling large pots of them but have never purchased them (I'm too cheap).

I started my in disposable beer cups so they are pretty big hoping that they will be ok till they go outside

I saw others using them in the morning glory thread but dont make the mistake I made I put in three seeds in each only put one since most of them come up so I hope I dont lose them when I moved some

Scicciarella -
Ahhhhh - bigger cups. By disposable, do you mean paper or plastic? If paper as in degradable, where do you find them? Or do you actually transplant them out of plastic cups? My apologies if I'm in the wrong thread/forum but saw some discussion on starting the seeds. Thanks for the suggestion!

I use the plastic beer cups the large ones it works great for larger seeds used them last year for cucumbers and zucchini the fast growing stuff, so when I saw that on another thread they are using them for morning glories and moonflowers it clicked in my slow brain that it would work lol oh and its ok that they are not bio since I re use mine from last year just washed them and put the stack in the garage so many years of use and then if they break recycle

mona

I used those Solo cups for sunflowers. And yah, they get reused too.

well this week need to start my zanias and gazanias and also african daisies love the colors and man can they handle the heat and sun without much water my favorite is the white since the foliage is so dark they are so amazing

Mona/Mrs Ed -
I can do plastic beer cups and reuse. Just washed/sterilized 200 9 oz. cups for planting up seedlings. Do the morning glories resent transplanting though as I had read or can I stop obsessing?

ok stop obsessing just put one seed in the cup off center I use kabob sticks the longest ones sold at the dollar store I think its about 18 inches or so in the center of the cup a sunny south facing window sill and you are in business

I soaked my seeds in warm water for about two hours and carefully planted the seed about a quarter inche down and they came up in three days

so now take all this info and grow the best MGs ever ok

mona

Mona -
Yes ma'am. Hey, what do you do when you run out of vining space on the skewer? I've had that happen and all of the individual cups of MG started co-mingling. What a mess. Can you pinch back MGs?

yes you can which will make it bushier which is good so when you transplant out they send up so many more shoots but remember to give them enough space dont plant them to close I give mine 18 to 20 inches lol I dont measure but about that

and what happens is at they go up they also shoot off to the sides so the colors get mixed I love that

I also use a small paper write the name and tape it to each cup so I know what i am planting out to co ordinate colors

and when I plant I use mulch to keep moist so the bottom leaves dont die off as they grow make a better looking plant

How warm do you think it has to be to germinate? I have grow lights in the basement that my coleus are under and they are doing well. But concerned not warm enough for seed starting.

Thanks for the input. Years ago when I first dabbled in seeds, I planted both traditional 'Heavenly Blue' MG and moon flowers together right in the scrawny dirt in full sun, growing up the supports of a 2nd story deck. I ended up with vining monsters, easily 20 ft. They twined around the railings of the deck and I had huge blue flowers during the day and huge white flowers at night. They definitely thrived on neglect. I spent a lot of time cleaning up the dropped spent flowers off of the deck as there were so many that it presented a slipping problem. I'll probably wait a few more weeks before planting seed since they can't go out until second half May.

I have unwound clothes hangers to use as MG stakes so they had something to climb on and not get mixed up together before I could get them in the ground.

nice!

Dahlianut -
Nice indeed. I'll have to see if I still have my secret stash. I have used them in the past for small plant supports in the garden. I use plastic hangers but have saved the metal ones from dry cleaning. Have also used them (in smaller clipped pieces) to anchor soaker hoses too.

I use them for peony support too.

Can someone please answer Mrs_Ed. I need more info on germination temps also.

O I missed that question. Different seeds have different optimum temperatures for germinating but I find that 70 is optimal for most warm germinators. Some use heat mats to maintain higher temperatures for specific seeds. I group seeds with similar germination requirements in the same flat so I can move the trays around to meet their needs.

The spreadsheet says 68-72°. I'm wondering if that is "ideal" or MUST. I'm sure it's only 65 or something in the basement.

Most things will germinate at slightly lower temperatures but with a much lower success ratio. Can you use a little heater to get them going? Once they've germinated you can turn it off as cooler temperatures are better for most seedlings I find.

Okay, I can probably find something. I'll put thermometer down there today and see what the temp is.

I'm sorry I have checked watched threads lately. Dahlianut, I grow artichoke varieties that can fruit in the first year, as wintering them over isn't an option for me. It would be too costly to keep the greenhouse heated. I believe Imperial Star is one of the varieties: http://www.reimerseeds.com/imperial-star-artichokes-pvp.aspx

Concerning the temperatures for germination and seedlings, I have found that my light racks help to keep the shelves warm for indoor germination. If the germination temps need to be lower, I start them on the lower shelves closer to the floor. If they need lower temps after germination, I move those trays down to the lower shelves. It seems to work fine for me.

Mrs_Ed,

Your lights will generate heat so you are probably ok

I just put them in a south facing window with the heat went under that shelves it is just right everything I planted has some up and more everyday it is so exciting

how much risk is there of keeping the soil too warm? i've been using a heat mat and have it set to stay around 78-80 degrees. i've sowed many different types of seeds in these trays, so i'm hoping it usually doesn't hurt to have the temps this high.

The recommended temperatures really vary. I'm keeping mine around 70 for the large part of things I'm sowing now. Earlier I had a bunch that liked it a little warmer. Just trying to group by preferences... Then there are some that say 60°... don't need a heat mat in my house for that at all.

I dont ever use one I just put a dome on the tray and that is it till I see babies then I open one end for a few days and then more till most are up and strong enough to be in open air