Impatiens for 2010 - Anyone?!

Ok, impatiens, for me they are impossible to start from seed.

I got a six pak (big spender me! LOL!) in the spring of 09 and now am wintering them over in the house in pots!

I just took cuttings off of them and have had several start in the summer.

So ok, hows yours doing? What kind, show us your plants! Whats your secret?

This was my dark pink.. I have since lost those....Im an impatien killer! They dont usually do well at all for me! How I got a few to survive this fall so far is beyond me, so ok, until I kill them...lets talk impatiens!

I miss those dark pinks! Well, maybe 2010 I will get some more.

I usually do a bloommaster pot with 38 impatiens each year for my backyard gate - very little sun.

Here's from 2007 (bought bedding plants)

Here's 2008 with boughten impatiens

2009, I managed to successfully seed impatiens. These are Envoy Orange Star from Stokes Seeds.

Why do you have problems with seeds? I usually start mine in 72 cells that you can get at $store or WM. I sprinkle on a nice layer of vermucilite over my seed starting mix then sew seeds on top so they don't get covered but have plenty to snuggle down into.

I'm still using seeds from a package I bought in'07.

I will need to try the vermiculite layer

I'm doing...or rather I'm trying to do my annual seed purchase list for next year's market.My head is reeling from all the different varieties of impatiens.

Damping off.. its think something in my water...too hard to full of iron and probably nitrates...? They damp off as do most of the PUNY seeds I try to start. Bigger seeds, no big deal, most of the time the larger seeds are fair game for me to get going, but I have NEVER had luck starting impatiens from seed. Im a ceral killer whenit comes to starting those.

murderer

LOL! Yup, you got the picture.

Soz, ok, how da I quit this killing spree? I keep getting buzards flying overhead yano!

This message was edited Oct 26, 2009 6:49 AM

Big buzzards... large numbers of them!

I didn't have a problem with damping off, the seeds just did not germinate. Last year I had 1 pkg germinate and others not.

Joanna, sounds like lac of wanna!

air circulation helps

That could be. I have no problems with other stuff, just the darn impatiens

This is the indoor seed starting

3 tier unit

Hardening off in the spring

Ran out of room in the greenhouse, so the veggie garden held extra trays for a while (easy to cover for frost protection)

Petunias and Tomatoes overran the greenhouse

Tomatoes

I would think temperature would be a great factor....so Red, do you cover the trays at germination?

According to my greenhousebook, it says that the germinating of impatiens can be difficult. WELL< DUH! Kill me once! They are very sensitive to moisture stress. WELL< DUH! and kill me again! It also goes on to say that since light is required,(no kidding, light!!!!) the seed will not germinate if covered heavily with a medium to retain the moisture, but a very fine covering will help them from drying out. (Soz Red yer on to something there!!!!)

Sez, germination probs are particularly acute when the temps become warmer in late spring and summer. (I just gotta add my oOOoooh really here! Like DUH and a half and so now what?)

OH to qoute more, the book sez>>>damping off is particularily frequent in a flat tray and when transplanting. Sez too that they impatiens are very sensitive to fungicides, recommending 1/2 the recommended strength. Never used them to start with, but I suspected the algea in my water....Kill me again!

Sez putting them in shade with PLENTY of air circulation helps reduce damping off. Well... shoot~

Sez too, due to their succulent nature, they are easily bruised in transplant from seed and cant be fat fingered. Well there ya go, theres were I do down again.

They dont like soluble salts....guess I gotta quit eating tater chips while I am trying to sow. And quit with my water?

They like temps of 65 and temps lower than 55 will result in yellerish growth. (Oh how I can reckon with that....Im a dead woman.)

Joanna, nice GH BTW!

But anyta hoooo!

The book sez more... like if you have trouble germinating the impatiens, you will find the seed to be rather expensive (DUH DUH DUH!) Then sez go out and buy some plugs! Like man, no kidding!

Yano, here I am thinking, ya read the book on them, and the dang seed just dont no how to follow the book! So kill me again... Just stab a fork in me and eat me! I sits in the GH, reading to them, yano, talking to plants like they really listen and they take nothing into account and how they cost me the price of that book! LOL!

I have dun dun DUN give up. No more reading to them, no more watering them lil seeds, no more trying, it jest AINT gonna work here.

SOZ, ex-a-cute me cuz I am a cereal killer I got no more patiens for impatiens when it comes to seed. I cannot do the impossible, but I have been able to get a few cell plants to grow, but heretoo also not always!

I got a few that are in pots now in my office under lights....

The six lousy lil plants I got in the spring.. only the orange beast survived.....

REAL REAL REEEEE-AL NICE GH THERE!

(I am so jealous!!!!!!)

Heres what my water dun dit to my mature plant.. well not eggaxtally, more like fatfinger me with a heavy dose of water.

I did get the thing to bounce back though..

Joanna,
nice set up and so neat and organized. No matter how many time I organize and clean my greenhouse it winds right back up a mess. It's in pretty good shape right now because I've been cleaning and inventorying for a couple of months now.

What's the purple leafed plant in second picture? I have a thing for variegated,purple/black and gold foilage.

Variegated tall garden phlox

Toots,
pinch off those leggy stems and strick them

DUN! The plant rejuvinated after I did that and dried out to its tolerance, its doing ok for now.....its under grow lights in my other office and dun made it a houseplant.

As for the cuttings I gave them away....Until I kill something else I got no more room in the house for newbs...

Looks funky with its hair cut, but filling in!

Nice Phlox there, what color is the bloomers

Thanks all. I love the GH, new last fall. The 1st year that I went a little over board with seeding, I made a greenhouse out of the kids swingset. Worked great and went thru a few snow storms without any casualties. Bought a small 6'X8' GH the next year and then sold that one and bought a 8' x 12' last fall. I start it up the beginning of March. I need to clean it out and wash it down before we get too cold. I don't run it during the winter. Good way to kill any bugs. I'm hoping to have electricity in it before the ground freezes.

The purple plant is Magellanica Perilla frutescens. Looks like a tall coleus, but prefers full sun.

Awesome recycle idea on the swingset GH there Joanna! Do you have any pics on that?

I have a 8x16 that is one of those one peice fiberglass jobs. Love it dearly. Only prob, not big enough, hence the reason I call it my Glorified Potting Shed (GPS) and not heated in the winter. But great for storage in the winter and growing things when the weather is steady. I liked it much better when I had a concrete floor under it, but either way it works good depending on what you are wantig to grow.

I have a couple larger hoop houses that are not done. Ones 100x25, the other about 25 x 25. Both need the plastic....I used the smaller one this season just to hang baskets on its frame. Plan to do same nextyear but to expand also my veggie garden there. I containered quite abit and its a great spot for me with a good location to garden.

You can visit my threads on what I have been doing in it this year, and we are in the GPS6 thread now spending time marking the 2010 calender for our plans for next year! Got a hold of a tomato that grows 12-16 foot tall and yeilds 2 bushel of fruit for container growing I am wanting to try and more! I am trying to make a big garden in a little space so I can get a grip on what allotment growers like.

I am a bit confused on these impatiens yet... if they dint like the water as seed, why are the tolerant to it now later as plants?

Heres the thread link to my GPS6 if ya'll wanna visit!

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1046430/

Here's the link for the swingset gh
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/827836/

Here's a link about extra insulation for extreme cold conditions
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/959872/

NEATO! Now you got me wanting to go beg for a used swingset!

www.freecycle.com

here I come!

I have my WM GH,hub's bought for $100. It's apx 20x40. I have another one about the same size behind the house but I only use it to wash and store pots. Also have a lean-to(15x 20?)that over winter my tender trops,cactus and herbs.

Year before last I bought a heat mat and light set up for early jump start on veggies but found it didn't work like I hoped so I went back to my old method of starting them in the GH in mid-late March.

BB,not sure of the blloms on thevar. phlox.

OKie doke.. its a NOID color! LOL! Well I love the leaves... dont have any like that anyhoo!

Well, looks like today I have a few imp cuttings to transplant.....

I think I wanna try some New Guinea imps next year...Im gonna have to look hard for those, its rare to see them. Love the maroon bronze leaves and the huge blossoms on those, have you tried any??

I love impatients. I brought some in last year but they did not make it through the winter. I think they are only meant to be outdoors for me. Guess I have to buy them every year. My brother had some wild ones in his yard that came back every year and he killed them all with weeds killer. :(

Joanna, impressive greenhouse there.

This message was edited Oct 27, 2009 11:39 AM

here's one I'd like to try for 2010
http://www.territorialseed.com/product/10047/291

and these
http://www.burpee.com/product/annual+flowers/impatiens/impatiens+jungle+jewels+-+12+plants+.do

I kept a simular variety "Jungle Queen" as a houseplant for 2-3 yrs so I imagine these would keep asHP's too.

Well here are the cuttings I recently started and I will be putting them into pots to raise under lights in my office! So far the parent plants are doing fine. I just wished they were a different color other than orange!

I took LOTS of cuttings this year, but only 20 survived!
Here is a picture of 5 pods, in a tiny box of soil after 5 days of moisture:

nice! Hope they do well and what color will they be?