LOL!! Mary they are scared or you are scared!!!!
I usually start around the 15th of March. After our annual Forrest Hill trip. If we do have a freeze I'll just cover it with frost cloth and it'll be OK.
Are you gonna get to go with us?
Mid-South Gardners Member List II
I'm going to have to get some of that frost cloth just to have on hand in an emergency.
LOL Jeri - I am scared.. and the plants are even "Scareder" LOL....
I REALLY want to make it 3/15 but I'm not sure I will be able to.... I don't get many days off from work (10 and 4 of those are going to Disney) and I've got something I'm planning that makes my vaca days even more scarce....
I totally missed out on the Hibiscus club field trip to the Dupont nurseries today so I'm a bit bummed about that....
BUT the SWAP that I've been to twice now is now scheduled for April 28th... so I'm hoping to make that...
and ANYONE who would like to join me... please chime in.... we'd love to have you !
(HUGS)
Mary
I got the availability list from Dupont's if you want to look over it send me your email and I'll forward it to you.
Thanks Jeri but I missed the field trip to Dupont yesterday....
Hey... I can now say with 100% sure that we will definitely have another freeze.
How do I know this?
Because today I washed dried folded and put away all my plant-cover-up sheets.... LOL
I am in north MS and I have no doubts that we will still see freezes. I ,too, am pondering when is the earliest I can plant, but I usually "jump the gun".
A lady neighbor was walking her dog yesterday in a tank top and short shorts in our 78 degrees. She said she was enjoying summer. I told her I was planting a lot but that our typical "last frost" date is April 15!
That made her think for a couple of seconds and she realized that we have a WAAAAY to go before she can kick around in her tank tops and short shorts. Sheesh!
I've just started tidying the garden as since I garden for wildlife I leave all the dead plants up to act as protective cover for the critters. I am seeing tiny new growth on things like phlox, roses, wild geranium, other stuff has never died back so there's plenty of green.
I am very excited - doing a lot of sowing - didn't do much of anything last year because of the hand injury. Hope you all enjoy the weekend! Get to it!!!!
xox
A.
Hubs gave me one of those "seed starter" trays for Christmas..... I might try to start some seeds tomorrow....
I have Malabar Spinach seeds from the swap.... I have Red Texas Star Hibiscus seeds from the yard... and various old package seeds...
Any advice ?
I just started some RTS Hibiscus too - no tips though! Good luck. :)
Thanks Amanda.... Hubs tried those RTS seeds in a seed starter tray and ......nothing. That was several years ago.
I know some seeds you have to nick.... wonder if that is what he didn't do.....
A DG'r sent me a packet in trade with hundreds of seed if you'd care to try again . . . ..
Thanks Amanda... I got some out of our seed pods last fall.... I think I'll surf DG and the net to see if I need to nick the seeds first... :o)
I soak mine and then nick about 3 times on the bottom of the seed. They are very easy other than that. Last season I just opened the pods and spread them around the pot that held my RTS. I also have the white.
Can you guys tell me what you "nick" with? I looked for propagation info on the RTS hibiscus and all said germination was easy. It's been some time since I tried to grow seeds that needed to be "nicked with a file."
The seeds are smallish to have to nick every one. :/
Guess I'll sow more than one container to ensure I get some. I also received seeds in trade of the white variety so I'm hoping to get at least one of each...
A.
Edited to say I have only ever used a metal nail file and tried to rub a indentation into the seed. I know the purpose, but it's hard to say when you've done it right. I guess trial and error is the only science behind it.
This message was edited Mar 3, 2012 11:59 AM
I either use a metal finger nail file or a knife. They call it nicking but really it's just scratching the outer layer so the roots can get through.
Jeri & all... Thank you so much for the advice...
I just found my seeds (of course they were in an envelope that spilled out in the drawer).... They look round to me... not sure what the 'bottom' of the seed ....some look like they have a bit of a "point" to them.... do I need to nick the malabar spinach seeds too ?
You can nick them anywhere. I nick my seeds with cuticle nippers that you can get at Walmart. Anything that you can get through the outer layer with is good. I filed my hands too much on the very small seeds. Sometimes if you are going to nick them with a clipper like that and they are round it is best to soak them for awhile first to soften the out layer a bit. Some seeds are really hard to nick. On those I will file them to rough up a place then soak a little then nip, sometimes soak again before planting. I germinate most of these type seeds with the baggie method. Much faster and you don't have to guess if the seed was viable. Hybiscus, datura, morning glory, echinacea, gallardia, rudbeckia, these all germinate well using the wet paper towel or coffee filter, baggie then store in a warm place. I just put them on top of my fridge. I have a glass room and a green house but I still prefer this method.
I've sprouted all kinds of seeds over the years, but lately I've gathered some seed in trade that are more tropical and for some reason those seem to require more stratification/scarification and hassle with individual seeds is not something I care to do unless the seeds are large.
Like Jatropha! Ha.
Thanks for your thoughts. The clippers and/or nail file then it shall remain.
A.
I am learning so much ! Thank you ! How long to soak the seeds?
I put them in extra warm water and usually wait an hour or two depending on how many distractions take place around here.
Thank you Jeri !
These were posted on the first thread.
sogal123
Chattanooga, TN
(Zone 7a)
March 8, 2012
08:39 PM
Post #9035260
Quote
Sogal-Chattanooga, TN
Riverland
Northeast, LA
(Zone 8a)
March 9, 2012
02:33 PM
Post #9036050
Quote
Welcome to midsouth Sogal join us on other threads.
gardens_a_joy
Sparkman, AR
March 12, 2012
03:09 PM
Post #9039863
Quote
Hello from South Central Arkansas:)
Riverland
Northeast, LA
(Zone 8a)
March 12, 2012
06:03 PM
Post #9040099
Quote
Hello Gardens Welcome to MidSouth Forum
Well that doesn't look right. Sorry.
Thanks Jeri. :)
Looks like new members are just in time for spring!
Hi Amanda!! How is the weather in NC?
gorgeous! 69 deg. going up to 77. :D
wish I didn't have paperwork weighing on my brain, but there will be plenty of sunny days in the future!!!
hope yours is happy!!
Yes God has been good to us with the weather!!!! Beautiful day and I am wupped now from so much enjoyable time in the garden!!!! Just crawled to the jaccuzzi and now I do feel better.
O hell, Jer - yer killin me. :D
That is what I was telling the weeds!!! LOL!!!!
Ha ha ha - with the bandaged hand I am looking at the crab grass deep in the center of my main beds and thinking some of the spring flowering weeds look awfully pretty in there . . ... :)
If it's in your flower beds and your hand is bandaged try Amaze. They have the hose end type and literally all you have to do is hold the hose and aim!!!!
http://www.greenlightco.com/products/amazegrassandweedpreventer2/ I find that it takes about 2 weeks but it will kill it dead.
Jeri do you spray it over the top of your ornamentals without problems?
Hey Cindy!!! Glad you made it home OK!!! Mary said you did some more serious shopping after you left us!!! We had a ball!!!
I use the liquid and I spray it around them. I try not to spray it directly onto my plants but of course, there is always over-spay and the wind to allow for. I've never used the granular but it may be easier to apply more exactly where you want it to go. I'm fighting dollar weed and nutsledge. It works good against both of these.
O thanks Jeri. But I sooooo enjoy pulling those weeds for hours at a time. :D
I don't use killing agents in my yard. The weeds are not bad, my beds are fairly well established and somehow it seems the only weeds that show up are the kind that spread with runners. I have only been here 3 years and haven't amended all the beds as well as I'd like. We have dug most of it up, and you know we have red clay. I'm told the gentleman who used to own this house planted a very large garden back here, but you wouldn't really know it to see the soil.
The clay gets compacted over time from rain and sun. It makes a pretty nice, impervious surface for weeds. ;)
I did enjoy some quality time in the garden today and even found a couple of little things sprouting that I would never have noticed from a distance. Fa la la la la.
hope you're all enjoying 'spring!'
I'm another one of those that has a thing about weed killer!!! LOL I guess I'm just afraid it's going to kill something I don't want it to. In the back I'm always afraid it will end up somehow getting in the pond and killing my fish! So I just pull! Well I take it back I do have a guy that comes every 3 months and kills the weeds in my little patch of lawn in the front and he also fertilizes it. He is not one of the lawn services. He doesn't mow lawns or do any other kind of lawn maintenance. He only kills weeds and fertilizes and really knows what he is doing. I got rid of all the grass in the back and it just has stone and plants. LOL
I started today weeding the 3 raised beds at my neighbor's house across the street. Very dense roots on these weeds. The soil is not too deep in the beds so the roots prolly go straight down to the ground. The beds are not sealed properly underneath - it looks like they put gravel underneath and not plastic to keep out weeds. SO I think when we plant I will cover with landscape fabric or heck, just newspapers to keep down/kill the weeds. We can cut a slit in the paper and put the slip of a plant in there.
The soil, what's there, is a nice sandy loamy mix. The people who lived there before also have a 2 bay compost pile and 2 55 gallon drums for water attached to the garage downspout. There was a lot of gunk on top of the one pile of compost, but after I put all the weeds in that I'd dug out, I rotated the pile to the new bin and the soil underneath is black gold! :D
I've always wanted a compost bin. Now I have one. Ha.
Best get for now. Lots to do and it looks like we might get some more rain.
I put down that landscape cloth and have absolutely HATED it for the last 15 years. My weeds were retarded and grew on top of the landscape cloth and the cloth choked down my tiller so that I had to manually pull up all 10 beds of the mess!!! The newspaper will break down so that may be better.
iewwww Jeri - that sounds rotten. This house we moved into had some of the fabric in the soil at the back of the yard where they'd had a children's playset. I have tried to pull it up, but there's still some around. The yard is not really grass, and most of the space is flower beds now anyway. :)
I am wondering who even GETS the paper anymore - don't know who to ask so I'll have to start wandering around shopping centers or doctor's offices to pick up discarded newspapers. Ha.
I use cardboard boxes in my yard to kill weeds and put soil/lawn clippings/weeds/leaves whatever on top to hold it down. Takes a while to break down but it's effective. Seems a little much for those raised beds. I'll let you know how it works out.
I do!!! LOL I keep threatening to discontinue it ......but!! I do save them and use a lot in the yard. I use them under my mulch to help control weeds. We are just starting a community garden and I took all my newspapers and all the boxes I could find down and put in the bottom as many raised beds as I could before we filled them with dirt. I think the guy dumping the dirt in thought I might be a little touched!!! LOL
I have never tried a lasagna bed but have heard wonderful things about it. I had a bulldozer take off all the grass and then I put down the landscape cloth and then had top soil brought into the beds. I ended up with 2 long gravel trucks of large limestone and to keep my DH from killing me when we discovered I couldn't use them anywhere near the pond to prevent the lime from leaching into the pond water and kill my future fish. Sooo I used them to hold down all that landscape cloth. It didn't take long and nice top soil converted to nice blue clay. I've never heard of anyone ruining their soil this bad and now I'm fighting my way back. If I couldn't do something wrong it wouldn't be me. I could almost write a book if it wouldn't be too sad!!! LOL!!!
Jeri when I decided to eliminate all the grass in the backyard (after re sodding so many times I can't even remember) I put a very thick layer of newspaper down over what little sod was left and put compost/mulch over that and left it for several months. Doing that I've had no problem growing right over all the pine tree, azalea and other tree roots. I keep a compost pile going and every year I try to put a little new compost in certain beds.
On another vein - something has already been eating my brug leaves! Can't imagine what. I have a variegated one that I know the leaves were in really good shape when I bought it out the end of last week. Something has chewed the devil out of those leaves. Looks like a slug or a caterpilllar - I've looked all over and can't find anything!!!