I'm considering starting some Rosemary indoors under lights this weekend. Thanks to Growjo, got a bit of a selection of all kinds of stuff already. So anyone else starting some stuff? Also, gardening bud Carol S gave me some perennial yellow flax that I may start as well. Need to wait until next pay day to send in my William Dam seed order (best selection for wintersowing & great prices)
Never started Rosemary before. Any tips?
edit: had to fix goofy wordage
This message was edited Jan 21, 2009 4:23 PM
Has the seeding of 2009 started?
Not yet here...soon though. Usually start some Tomatoes in the house. I've got a potato growing upstairs in a big pot under lights...just for fun.
That perennial yellow flax sounds nice!! I love the blue flax.
I'm just getting started with some Cannas, Heliotrope, 'Angel Wings' Rose, 'Radar Love' Clematis and Carnations. None of them have been sown yet but probably tomorrow!
I love William Dam aswell, they have such a great selection. I really like the 'Brazilian Carnival' Snapdragons they offer.
Never started rosemary before but I hope it turns out well!
I started a bunch of different things a couple weeks back and lots has come up. I have some seeds and bulbs on order that I am excited to get so I can start them too :)
Last weekend I started:
astrantia 'ruby cloud'
anemone sylvestris
armeria maritima 'sea pink'
helleborus nigra
verbena hastata
sedum album
viola x williamsii
viola sylettas
viola cucullata
Jo rosemary is not the easiest from seed. Start 15C, complete darkness. It can take 1 to 3 months for germination. I average about 20% germination. I find it slow growing too so not much to harvest before hard frost and I haven't been able to winter it over. Wow I'm just a fount of joy about rosemary, aren't I LOL? Actually it's one of my fav herbs which is why I've tried it 3 times. I going for plants this year.
dahlianut - Have you tried purchasing the "trees" of rosemary at Safeway around Christmas and just planting them in the ground in the spring?
I have some rosemary seeds coming in the mail, so hopefully I will have some luck with them.
Dnut, thanks for the tips with the rosemary. There's a lot of conflicting info regarding germination, no bottom heat, yes bttm heat, seed 1/4" deep, seed barely covered, complete darkness, soak the seeds first....a real mix. I may have to experiment and try a few different things. Do you pre-chill the violas?
I haven't started anything yet. Perhaps this weekend. It's exciting to start stuff now.
SW, I moved my cannas into an atrium at my kid's school. They are still fully leafed out. Should I pull them up now and store in cool storage or just replant them in March into big pots and put in my greenhouse?
T minus three weeks and counting before I start parsley indoors. I'm so glad I've got all my seed orders paid and in the process of being shipped to me. Last year I left it too late and got seeds in the mail past their latest sowing date so I've had to wait until this year. I just hope I can keep my indoor plants alive that long. Please hang on rosemary, lemon oregano and Vick's plant! :)
RHW thanks for the info on the Rosemary. I will look for them. Superstore usually has some good size plants in the spring for a good price.
Jo South I store my seeds in the fridge. I have good luck with violas. I grow different ones every year looking for those that will self sow or winter over. They do need total darkness to germinate though and warmth. They would be a good candidate for your heat mats.
Just finished sowing my hosta seeds and they don't need light to germinate either, so there are lots of trays taking over my son's bedroom for a couple of weeks or so! I did twice as many crosses last year so I can't wait to see what pops up. It's a fun time.
I tried storing the seeds in the freezer this year which apparently a lot of the hosta hybridizers do so I'm anxious to see if it made any difference in germination rate.
I wasn't going to do any wintersowing this year, but now that my hosta seeds are sown ....
Sandy
I was planning to grow spinach indoors over the winter but here it is late January already and I haven't seeded yet! lol Don't know how that happened!
This year I'll be planting only past years' seeds that I never got around to, both flowers and veg. - the germination rate will be lower but just out of curiosity I can't resist. The new crop of seed catalogues are enticing though ... sigh
Thanks for the tips on rosemary, dahlianut.
Shannon
Hey Jo I would just grow your Canna's on if you are able to. They grow all year in the warmer climes.
I will be pulling mine out of the basement in the next week to split them and pot them up, I barerooted them and stored in peat for the winter( less bugs).
I hope to start my seeds and a new one for me, Sturts Desert Pea next week too. Has anyone tried this one?
Ann
I have iris and lily seeds perking away quite well.
inanda
Has anyone tried to grow rain lilies from seed? I was hoping to keep mine inside, but I haven't had any luck getting them to grow as yet.
Jo, I would just keep growing on the Cannas and I'd assume you'll end up with some beautiful large plants this summer!
I also strated a few Calla bulbs from last summer, so maybe I'll get some early blooms!
I'll take a picture of them in the school garden. I thought they were going to go dormant, but I guess not. Do you think they will still bloom this summer?
Joanne
If your canna's are going now they will bloom for sure by summer. Remember they are heavy feeders and give them help once you can get them out side.
I am jealous that you have a place to put them!
Wow
Ann
I wish I could keep mine going through the winter aswell!!! I'd love to see a picture!
They'll probably put on tons of new growth once they get outside and they can really guzzle water too!
I couldn't stand waiting any longer; I started a couple of pots of morning glories a few weeks ago. Both cultivars of Ipomoea nil, so apparently a bit better behaved for growing indoors. They grow like weeds...
Joanne
Wow...the 1st babies. So cute
ahhhhhhhh.
I am planting my mgs tomorrow (I hope) to give them a head start :) They didn't grow very well last year although the weather was not very nice. What a first summer in Calgary -_-
red, if you're planning to put the mg's outside in the spring, it's way too early to start them now. Early April is plenty early enough unless you want a jungle indoors. LOL. The ones I started indoors last year did very poorly outside as well, but it's because it was really cool and wet in May and June. MG's need warmth.
The mg's I've started indoors (above post) are to stay inside as a house plant.
By the way, the best morning glories I had last year were a bunch of Ipomoea purpurea that self sowed from the previous year - that's a picture of some them below. They didn't pop up until about mid-June when it finally warmed up and then they grew like mad.
Joanne
Very pretty :) That purple one looks similar to one I grew last year.
I just planted my mgs last night :S Guess I will have to 'suffer' from having a jungle inside hehe. Oh well. :)
LOL - take pictures of your jungle if you can Red. Which morning glories have you started?
Here's Heavenly Blue that I grew and kept indoors in 2007...it lasted until about October of that year.
Very pretty :) I have two Milky Way that are already popping up and I have two pots of each of Royal Ensign and Kniola's Black. I grew the Kniola's Black and Milky Way last year and they turned into quite good bloomers when I brought them inside when it started to get cold :)
This year I will be trying several kinds of tailing petunia's indoors....I am not sure exactly when I should start them....any ideas? I have never started petunia's from seed before. I am also trying the Silver Falls for the first time.
I am going to grow bacopa again - it did so well from seed last year. Also some dwarf snapdragons....
DawnLL,
Petunias: Do you have grow lights indoors? If so I would start the petunias by the end of Feb. They will need to be transplanted in about 4 weeks, so you will have to have room to accommodate that. They will be blooming in April/May and be pretty big. I fertilize with diluted fish fert once a week.
Silver falls: I would start Mid Feb. It is slow to grow, but once the hot days arrive they will take off.
Snaps, Mid March
If you start them earlier, they will be bigger for planting out
Here's a pic of silver falls (they don't like it too cool & wet. Grow better in warm humid conditions.
Thanks a whole bunch joanna - lots of great advice. Your photo of the petunias and silver falls is just beautiful - that is exactly how I want to plant them on my fence boxes.....
Yes I do have grow lights inside....
This message was edited Feb 1, 2009 9:47 PM
YEAH!!! Seeded my 1st tray. 72 cell
alternanthera purple knight, dichondra emerald falls, dichondra silver falls, licorice silver mist, ng impatiens tango, heliotrope dwarf marine, cobaea scandens cup&saucer.
This year I am going to try to keep organized and label everything.....this of course will only work if I get my seed orders in at different times. I tend to get sloppy when I try to seed them all in one day. So far so good. I actually made labels this time.
How can you NOT label your plants? Gosh I would be so lost!!! LOL!!
Dibs on a cup & saucer vine if you have extras, pretty please. :)
They are your seeds so you can have as many as you want :)
In celebration of the germination of ameria maritima, I decided to seed a 'few more' things yesterday.
thalictium aquilegifuleum (meadow rue)
seseli gummferum (moon carrot)
penstemon NOID
penstemon strictus
penstemon digitalis 'Husker's Red)
stokesia laevis (Stokes Aster)
heuchera 'Purple Palace'
lychns awkwrightii
geranium 'Silver Shadow
polemonium 'Apricot Delight'
amsonia tabernaemontana (blue dogbane)
ruta odorata 'rue'
white scabosia (probably big mistake because it will flop and I will hate it)
geranium 'ballerina' (crap shoot because I think its seed is sterile)
crocosmia 'Ember Glow'
anchusa leptophylla 'Blue Shower'
lathyrus nervosus
saponaria ocymoides
salvia lyrata 'Purple Volcano'
lychnis cahlcedonica 'Dusky Salmon'
adenophora amethyst (lady bells)
adenophora bulleyana
sedum 'Turkish Delight'
anthemis sancti johannis
coreopsis tinctoria 'Mahogany Midge'
eryngium leavenworthii (sea holly)
delphinium 'Blue Butterfly'
delphinium NOID light blue
delphinium Pacific Giant tri-colour (from cool mutant I had this summer)
NOID yellow aquigela
ps I have no idea why I keep seeding penstemon cuz they hate me.
A "few" more things! Eeeks that list just made my head spin! Hahaha good for you....you are going to have such beautiful gardens!!!
Ok now we know why "nut" is part of your name!
LOL
You sure have gone to town.........I'm just a bit jealous and overwhelmed by the sight of your list.
What is a moon carrot? That name is giving me some interesting visuals.
Ann
LOL Ann
A "few" is right lol. I don't think I have enough space under my two little grow lights to grow half that much. Although I am usually surprised how much really does fit :)
Yes I guess you can put quite a bit under those things...I got a lot of plant under one grow light last year....I plan to get another light this year. I really enjoying sowing indoors last year.
I am waiting for some seeds and then I will fire up my second light...I think I need to do some resowing in some of the things under my light now too.