I only had two others that I wanted to start lol I just can't believe that I did something so stupid LOL I raked the bottom of the bowl with my hand before I put it in the microwave but guess I just didn't hit that spot where the pansies were hanging on!
Gardening: Cottage Garden Seed Swap & Chat #30
Thanks, LeBug. Can I use seaweed/fish emulsion? I have a ton of it left. Bought a gallon or so last summer.
I managed to kill my son's fish that he left here when he moved so I have two fish tanks that I'm using the water out of lol I've kept them filtering all winter just to use for this LOL
SO how did the fish taste..LOL
Gemini, regarding the Salvias, try pre-soaking the seeds overnight until the gelatinous coat swells up and then plant. They are little sticky to deal with but I get almost 100% germination from even old salvia seeds that way so it's worth the trouble to me.
LeBug, Yes, Salvias need light to germinate. I surface sow and put a fine dusting of vermiculite over mine but the light can get through that. Like I told Gemini, I like to pre-soak mine, especially if I don't have many seeds. They come up faster and more evenly, so you don't have the "when do I take off the humidity dome" crisis. :)
Most Salvias I've encountered are sown the same way but there are a couple from cold climates like S. patens that want a couple weeks of cold stratification.
perenniallyme, Seaweed/fish emulsion is what I use at a diluted rate and they seem to like it. I like it because it doesn't burn.
Thanks Danita. That's good to know.
Tubby, LeBug must have left the dead fish in the tank if that's what she's feeding her plants. Not how does it taste - how does it smell?
Oh no, no dead fish in this tank but they are outside fertilizing my plants lol I warned my son to take them home several times so his bad but it really made me feel bad to kill fish he had had for years!
Thanks Dianta :) I remember soaking mine last year now and having pretty good germination from them but I was worried about them drying out with that ring of fuzzy around them but they did fine :) It was the first time to soak those last year.
perenniallyme, I use fish emulsion on my seedlings. Its mild and they respond very well to it.
Lea, I believe Coral Nymph does require light like most Salvias. I surface sow all Salvias and they seem happy with that.
Danita, I don't believe I did soak those, but I did water with H2O2 solution. I'll soak the next batch and see what happens.
Thanks gemini.
LeBug, maybe those fish died of old age - especially if your son had them for years.
Hi everyone I have alot of time into starting seeds today! : ) I was wondering if any one has the best temperature for germinating Asclepias currassavica or a.k.a Bloodflower? Tom Clothier says 65 to 70 degrees F. In my Journal I wrote I used a heat mat last year and I did end up with good germination but it was spread out over at least a month. I was wondering if any one had a way to get them to sprout more evenly? : )
I do mine under a dome Meredith no heat mat, but they still just come up when they want to, I don't think I've ever sown any milkweed seeds that came up all at the same time , I remember sweating them too much!
Lol Okay I do use a dome so I should be fine. : )
Meredith, I don't know if this is relevant, but after having my asclepias tuberosa seeds in the fridge and freezer briefly, I soaked them overnight and had them on the heat mat under dome and almost all came up very fast - in maybe a week or so.
Le Bug. Awwwwwwwwwwwww ya poor thing, ( turns head adn giggle s away and hope she don't see) sounds liek somethign that I would do.
Don't worry I got plenty more pansy seeds ya can play with. : )
Now about yoru nuked seeds. Don't knwo if you have the room or not, but go ahead and sow them. One of the ways to get a recombination of genes and maybe pul hidden trait s form out of a cultivar is to disrupt it's gene sequence cycle. Xrays , microwaves and radiation are ways to do this.
If they haven't been cooke d to death, it is possible that they wil germinate and very possibley you could have some whole brand new and unique cultivars . I say plant them puppies. Go for it, who knows ya might become famous and can have the first Pansie called LeBug. : )
Meredith, change that to definitely under a week - possibly 4 or 5 days.
perenniallyme - thanks! I think it's odd - but I've had A. tuberosa (even without any cold treatment) germinate more quickly and evenly than the A. currassavica. These ones are just those sporadic type I guess. I have a picture of the seedlings and their are some that are 4" tall with a few sets of leaves, with some newly emerged seedlings - all which were started the same day.
OK Star, I saw you giggle that sure wasn't what I was doing when I found them! I'm surprised everyone didn't hear me LOL I always try and not say those words on Sunday LOL
I have room so far I'm on my first seeds this week, I'm so far behind the rest of you! Guess I better go do another pot for them and we will see! I never though they would be alright to plant but it is worth a shot :) I'll let you know what happens lol
I just checked my Journal and last year when I started the Asclepias tuberosa I actually kept good records for once! : ) I didn't do any pretreatment to them http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/viewentry/175874/
set up more shelving this weekend so I can now start more flats of seed yes fun fun for tomorrow
most of what I seeder has come up and is doing ok for now
mona
Well Meredith, I'm glad at least something is easy to start - and I'm not at the point where I can guess what'll grow and what won't.
If I soak my pansy seeds will I have better luck, I've never seen anyone say if they soaked them? They are about the only see I don't think I've tried. I'm in the midst of planting them now lol
Lea - i don't think you should soak them. I think they are too small and if you have pelleted seeds the pellet part wil disolve off if you soak them. Then you'll be left with teeny wet seeds to deal with. : )
They aren't pelleted but thanks I'll go ahead and plant them, guess that's why I never heard anyone mentioning soaking them :)
Agree with Meridith, Pansy don't get soaked. They would drown. Then ya might have two batches on opps on yoru hands. LOL
Thanks, I just sowed them last night :)
It's a nice 17 degrees out this morning!
I brought two of my plantstands up stairs to put seeds on and wasn't thinking about the heat, I turn my heat off, except for a little in the mornings to get me warmed up in the morning, then keep a small electric heater on thru the day, at night it's like 50 in here without the furnace running I have some of that reflective film I'm going to drape over the sides and the ends of the stands do you think that will keep my plants warm enough so they don't go into shock at night lol I may have to put my stands back downstairs! lol I have to put the reflective film up for the kittens too to try and keep them out of my plants should be interesting :)
Last year we paid $800 every other month three times for LP gas, this year I have only filled it once instead of two by now but now I'm wondering if my plants are going to be warm enough, didn't even think about that.
If it stayign 50 in there at night that fine. Plants wil continue to grow until they reach abotu 42F then they just sit and sulk til they get warmed up again. I runnign lots lower temps than 50 at night and all mine doign fine. Can't afford to run so much gas either. Gas umps cam edown but hoem fuel sure didn't it was 300 bucks for 100 gallons this here last time. I rationing it.
Isn't it awful to have to freeze in order to save money! lol The seeds I'm really worried about are my lisianthus but then in the fall they do fine up until frost, on the other hand my gaillardia shoud be good to go! lol
I figured you could inlight me on the night temps Star, you're freezing like I am lol Thanks!
Good morning ^_^
LeBug, thanks for the Centaurea info. Your microwave story isn't funny, but I have to admit the way you told the story was. Let us know if you get a "LeBug" hybrid from your possible new genetic combination technique!
I'm going to try growing a goji plant. I'll let you know how it works out. That and my other "new" thing this year is to plant a Chocolate Garden (plants that are dark tones). I'm going to have to order seeds, believe it or not, for a few 'chocolate' plants.
I'm excited to finally be getting some swap seeds started. I scattered an entire, generously full pkt of California poppy seeds thinking they were yellow, and THEN I read the part that says "may contain other colors". I hope they are mostly yellow because I tossed them in an area with yellow, orange and lavender tones. I get caught up with these specific color ideas in my mind...
Good morning everyone . . . well I spent the weekend in bed sick as a dog . . . some sort of upper respiratory infection. So very little has been accomplished, though I am on the mend now.
However. I can report that the following hardy hibiscus have germinated: Blue Moon II, burgandy hisbiscus, Lord Baltimore, and one other . . . . sorry I am at work and I can't recall the name.
Wind, I'll be happy just to get them to germinate lol My luck pansies with isn't very good LOL I couldn't get them to germinate last year and then I went and nuked them!
Seandor you aren't suppose to be sick when you're off just when you're suppose to work save those good days for your day off lol Hope you are feeling better!
I'm getting ready to plant my gaillardia seeds, thinking they aren't going to mind my cold nights in here :) It should be perfect for them.
I have this reflective film to clean today, that's going to be a trip, guess I'll have to put it on the bed to spread it out, it's in big sheets, had it on the floor last night and the kittens loved it, oh no!!! Someone made a comment that kittens don't like foil well this is just like it, I think they like it :) Of course the foil is crisper and makes more noise. I just hope I get something figured out to keep these little demons out of my plants up here LOL Did you know that kittens love to see their reflection? Mine do! I have very vain kittens!
Hi everyone I was hoping someone had a picture of what echinops ritro seeds look like. I was just about to sow some but I have the flowerheads not just seeds and I can't find anything that looks like a seed.
Hey Meredith,
this should help:
http://theseedsite.co.uk/profile489.html
Thank you so much seandor - I just started searching through again and I already found one! Thanks so much : )
Well thank goodness you came to my rescue - I ended up finding twelve seeds! : )
Lea, how many Pansies were you hoping to plant out, and what color or colors? I have a feeling I'm going to have way too many, be happy to send ya some.
Don't worry about them Neal, I have plenty of the orange seeds so what I get out of those I'll plant, going to put them in my orange garden if I just get a couple they will probably reseed for me next year but thanks! I already had pansies and violets reseeding from last year, if I don't get any out of my seeds I'll just transplant a couple of those :) I just though a touch of red or what ever the Ruby ones are would be nice, appreciate the offer :)
planted pansies two weeks ago and they are up and so cute the little buggers they look happy and healthy I have started now opening the dome a few hours a day by the end of the week they should be ok with the temp of the house and will get a second set of leaves by next week
now up are
lisiantus
violas
pansies
penstemon
moonflowers
columbines
larkspur
delphiniums, red, pied d'allouette which is off white, and giant pacific mix
datura golden queen and triple purple and lilac
mimulus
patunias wave white, pink, purple
morning glories of many diff colors
ensign three diff color
now the coleus is up to yes
still waiting on
heuchera
astilbe
hosta
been told these only come up when they are good and ready
still need to start 8 more flats
plus vegis lol going to run out of room more shelves more shelves hahahhaha
mona
This message was edited Feb 24, 2009 9:51 AM
nice job mona ^_^ I better get planting!
I hear ya on the 'more shelves' thing, but I don't have anywhere to put them should I acquire more. I'm just going to have to rotate the flats under the lights and hope that 12 hours is enough to make everybody happy. I spent the morning transplanting and have decided that with a few exceptions I'm done with flowers and any remaining space is going to be claimed by peppers and toms.
Hey Neal, how tall can I expect your wine/lavender dahlias to get?
vegies can not be started for a while yet usually I start those when the perennials can spend the night in the garage and outdoors during the day so beginning of april so that solves the space problem since halve of what I grow is always perennials