Indoor seed starting - your successes and failures

I'm having no luck germinating Salvia coccinea. Sowed them about 6 weeks ago, and nothing! Tried heat mats and lights. Any suggestions?

Successfully germinated torenia, delphineum, zinnia zowie, zinnia profusion pink, celosia bombay orange, and an heirloom tomato. Verbena bonariensis just sprouted - I hope I can grow it on!

runningsprings...oh, that sounds like a lovely community. I lived in Topanga before I moved up north. My mother was ill and needed me, and I ended up living here since 1987...over 22 years, and now am married for over 20. Tell me more. Are you far from San Diego?

I just started growing from seeds this year, so I have a lot to catch up on. I have tomatoes, peppers, petunias, alyssum, lupine, impatiens, snaps, calendulas and cosmos started. Most indoors, but some have sprouted outdoors in 35 degree weather...I did not follow the WS guide, but I guess you could still call it WS'ing...they are on a shelf on my back porch, in containers and some of the containers I have opened after they germinated, and the lupine I moved from jiffy-starts to cell packs due to overwater on the jiffys....well, they didn't need soaking.

Elija, sorry to hear about your poor luck with Salvia coccinea. I started them in Jiffys, one seed to a Jiffy because the seeds are somewhat large. No heat mat, just under the grow light. I also have a flat of Salvia "Blue Bedder", a large (2, 2.5 feet) salvia. One thing about Salvia, the seeds MUST be fresh. Unlike most other annuals, Salvia seeds will not germinate after one year. I planted Bonfire this year, it grows about 2 to 3 feet for me, with large gladiolus-like spikes which make excellent cuts. Here is the package and the vigorous seedlings. All this leads up to the fact that I have extra seeds that cannot be saved because they will not grow next year, and I will gladly send you a pack or 2 of S. coccinea "Bonfire" for a SASE.
Happy gardening.

Karldan,

That is good to know about the salvia seeds, as I have started many things this year from old seeds, especially tomatoes. I will check all my salvia seeds and be sure to use them this year, as I am new to seed-starting, though I have done it on a limited basis, mainly sowing in situ.

I have started everything indoors this year, but I can't seem to start peppers. I have increased heat and light on them and this is the second flat. so far I have 8 pepper plants from two flats.
Any suggestions?

Hi Niki. I don't have a lot of experience starting peppers, but the few kinds I've sown have all sprouted within a week or so on the heat mat with light around 14 hrs a day, and under a dome. I don't remember but think I planted them no more than 1/4 inch deep, possibly less. Are you sure your seeds are good? You might try soaking the seeds overnight before planting.

Lesson learned for 2010. Use Promix BX for seed starting. The PGX was too fine, compacted too much and did not provide enough air to the roots. The plants were slow to grow, but once I transplanted them into the BX soil mix, they really took off.

Try this for peppers. take your soil and mix with water. Put into container that you are using to grow. Put your pepper seeds on top. Use vermiculite on top. Cover just enough where you can still see the seed. Mist whole thing again, I say mist so you don't wash everything out. They don't like real hot temps. so try to go for the 70- 75 degree temp. Cover with glass or plastic.

Successful seeding: Bat flower, passionflower , hibiscus, peppers, tomatoes, butterfly orchid, glomerata, canna lily, stapelia

unsuccessful: rosemary (last try I did better) , Gerbera Daisy (only 20% germination)

tishrh...How did you germinate your bat flower seeds? How long did they take? Where did you get them?

The first ones have taken 3 months, my green and black bat flowers. My white and brown haven't popped up yet but it can take up to 9 months. I got them all from e bay.

I have a rope soil heater which they seem to like. Keeps the soil temp anywhere around 80 to 85. I just water it and make sure there is alot of humidity.

Trish

Gerber Daisies are very hard, you have to start them in December under a doom and on heat mats to have any success with them.

I've finally manage to get some good germination on mine this year....

Janet

I had no problem germinating two plants - came up like nothing, but since I've put them in to the ground - they've stopped growing. I think it's weird. So quick to germinate, so slow to grow.

I think that I kept them (gerber daisies) too wet they do not seem to like too much water so some of my plants rotted. I put a fungicide on them and it did better.

I had great success with Gerberas. Every year I like the challenge of growing something new, I never grew before. Among others, this year it was Gerberas, a pack of seeds from Aimers. The seeds were large and Marigold-like. I planted one to a Jiffy cube, on the heat mat. They all germinated and grew rapidly, and were transplanted into 3" pots to grow on. Last weekend all were transplanted into the garden. Here, they often perennialize, especially under a mulch of pine straw.

Karidan

Great picture, mine are still tiny tiny... I'll be lucky to get any blooms this year if they don't hurry up, but then if we are lucky and get some warm weather I think they will take off.

Janet

I think I will start mine in summer or January, which would be better, for next years blooms?

Beautiful! I may have to try germinating them that way late this year.

Karldan ~ What date did you start your gerberas?

I started them Jan 25. That's the seed packet of Aimers, BTW. They grew fast, put into 3" pots, and now in the garden. Older hybrids from years ago took a year to bloom, the newer hybrids bloom much faster. DON'T bury the "crown" of the plant deep. And Miracle-gro often.

Thanks for your good advice! I am starting a gardening- seeding calendar, for next year, and trying as well to kep up with what I have started so far. yesterday, I knocked over a flat of lupine seedlings and I almost cried. It takes so long for some things to start and they can get damaged by one thing or another in an instant...like dry up, damp off...etc. though we all do our best to prevent those things, sometimes we just get in our own way...LOL!!! ☺

What went wrong?

First year for seeds. I have a good place - sun room next to pool. No soaking, baking, peroziding, etc and yet got a good percentage to start. Problems occur between first and second leaves when I lose the most. I sprayed religiously, set them in and out depending on weather, etc but they died. Underwatering? Will all seeds grown? Are older seeds "bad" or harder to grow? The ones from the Texas Wildflower company had the best success.

Many thanks in advance.

Normally if I lose small plants around the one leaf or two leaf time it is from underwatering or overwatering. Though sometimes it is from having it too cool temps. You said you set them in and out depending on weather. Did you put them in direct sun? Sometimes some plants will get "shocked" from a different lighting and atmosphere.

I've got basil that is dying off one plant at a time. the first one I thought was maybe due to overwatering but really they aren't watered that much. The stem was black that was in the soil.

Now I've got another one that has wilted but the stem isn't black?

Anyone have any ideas? I can take a picture when I get home from work tonight and post if ya want to see.

Janet

Yikes! I went to the top of the thread to re-read it, and it reminded me to check the things I put in the "mini-frige" on the back porch. Alos on top of it, I have some old Lupine seeds in "Deno-bags" .

Janet ~ In my inexpert opinion ~ It sounds like damp-off to me...anyone agree or disagree?


TTYL!☺

Sorry! I don't know how these duplicate posts occur....??



This message was edited May 10, 2010 11:13 PM

I agree - sounds like damping off - the fungus that attacks seedlings for a multitude of reasons.

funny thing is two of them did die but the rest are ok so will plant them and see what comes of it...

thanks folks

Janet

Is there a book or site showing plants in various stages of growth? I grow both veggies and flowers from seed but this year my wonderful granddaughter (who lives with us and "helps") combined all the seeds into a huge pile. Now I have okra growing beside cosmos, tomatoes and yarrow. Most of the stuff, though, I can't identify - various perennials, wildflowers, herbs, etc . I'd like to transplant now but am unsure of the plants. Thanks

I want to try Janlynn's method with the peat pellets. So I soak te pellets in warm water with hydrogen peroxide. I am assuming a 10:1 ratio. I'm wondering if she put the seeds on top of the pellet or buried it?

the depth is determined by the seeds you are using. read the back of the packet.

Janet

another successful seeding: pumpkin on a stick and easter egg plant . - just transplanted them into bigger pots

The lupine in the plastic bags worked great...though I did not record the results and some of them did not make it, but it was a great way to germinate them. I won't be trying them in peat pellets any more. Though that method worked fine in spite of the fact that I got them too wet...most of them germinated anyway as well. They are very slow growing though as they are now in cell packs. maybe since the weather is warming up I will just find places to plant them. I read that they are good in part shade. Most of the native lupine are in part shade as well, so I will go with that as it gets very hot and dry during the summertime.

Does anybody know if CFL's give enough light for seedlings? I live in Florida and it's still too hot to put my fall veggie seedlings outside.

Indoors with the a/c going, it is about 75 or so but I don't have a window that gets any sunlight.

But all my overhead lights have CFL's, so I wondered if they would work the same way as regular fluorescents do for plants.

thx