I have a bunch of geranium (Pelargonium) seedlings started and I have no idea of when to expect flowers from them. None of the seed catalogs that I've searched give this information. Any one out there know the answer to this question?
Pelargonium - Days from Seed to Bloom
I grow these every year. I plant in January, in the greenhouse, get blooms by June. I'm in Washington state, you have more heat and light. I bet it will be faster for you. When they come up keep them on the dryer side.
Thanks, Springcolor for the tip on watering and I hope you're right about seeing bloomsin 5 months or sooner.
Here are some of my seed geraniums. The middle one is Tornado ivy geraniums. They were all planted in mid-January. I will pinch in a few weeks. Some say not to pinch the tops out but I have done it both ways and I like the finished geranium that was piched once.
Here is my experience with seed grown pelarginiums (Blcak Velvet from Parks) the notes are from my log:
February 9:
In individual small peat pots: 3 Geranium Black Velvet Rose (Park seed from 2003)
February 12:
Two seeds germinated
February 13:
3rd seed germinated
March 4:
Potted up all three geraniums in plastic pots
May 2-3:
Potted up seed grown geraniums and put them outside in blue ceramic pots
By July they were in full bloom. Shown below. I did need to shape them better, but the times are accurate.
Does this help?
Donna, my seeds are from Swallowtail ( Maverick and Diva series). They were started 23 Feb. According to your timetable, it looks like it's time to put them into individual pots. Right now there are about a dozen growing in a 4-inch plastic pot. Whaddya think? By the way, those are some beautiful plants you have there. Paul
Doesn't Swallowtail provide great seed?
Yes, it sounds about right. DO post, please.
My experience with Swallowtail' s seeds has been great. The geranium, angelonia, and ageratum seeds germinated strongly. But due to my own neglect, I lost the angelonia seedlings to a lack of water(they are tiny). And I have some vinca seed which I have not gotten around to planting. Maybe today. These are all new to me. I lean more strongly to vegetable gardening,especially peppers and tomatoes. I have about 12 varieties of peppers started, from sweet to a few of the superhots and 6 or so tomatoes, all selected for taste. The flowers are for my wife's flower garden so that she doesn't have to spend so much of her hard-earned money for plants at places like Lowe's and Wal-Mart. Plus she's getting a more diverse selection than would otherwise have been available.
I love the incredible variety you get from growing from seeds. And it's great when you find th companies that truly stand behind their products. I was late finding Swallowtail but I'm making up for lost time. By the way, JL Hudson is phenomenal for growing from seed - they are a Watchdog 30 too - and very inexpensive.
Do you use Swallowtail for vegetable seeds?
I haven't as of yet, but I probably will at some time. I' m a big fan of Johnny's and Baker Creek for vegetable seeds. As well as Pepper Joe, Peppermania, and Regal Peppers for my pepper seeds.
Oh, cool. I've been very happy with Johnny's over the years, and I should check out the others. A friend took pepper seed, sprouted them, and gave them to me a couple of years back. I put them in self watering pots, and they were outrageously sized and very delicious.
That's a SERIOUS pepper you're holding in that pic. Looks like what I know as a bullhorn. Although that one is Texas Longhorn size.
Oh, thank you cactusman! I'd love to track it down again. While I think putting them in self-watering pots really helped, the flavor was unbelievable. I would just step to my back patio and pull them off for salads, stir fries and grilling. What a luxury!