SEEDS Spring 2015 in the MAF

ah, interesting!
I've wondered about pouring ammonia based used housecleaning water on the lawn or compost. A cup of ammonia in a bucket of water (gallon or two?) Would that add nitrogen or be too harsh for the microbes and negate any benefits?

I wondered awhile then I quit housecleaning. Problem solved.

LOL Sally, If you let the floor get dirty enough you can plant it. I know.......

A cup of ammonia in a gallon or two of water probably is fine for your lawn or compost pile. In agriculture, pure anhydrous ammonia (ammonia gas) is injected directly into the soil. Done to fertilize the plants.

Greenthumb, you have really earned your keep today

More planted today: three kinds of tomatoes, Long Tall Sally peppers, more cilantro, marigolds, nicotinana from 1999 LOL.

I researched ammonia drench for slugs and could not find any studies showing that drenching is harmful to beneficial fauna. Using discretion in application would be advisable anyway, only applying on or around target plants, more is not always better. In most of the articles I skimmed through a 1:10 ratio was recommended, but I saw claims that up to 1:40 was successful. Other success stories included diatomaceous earth, wood ash, and a physical barrier of copper tape. The copper tape can be found at a good price on Amazon. The copper tape would add an element of interest to any container it was placed on. The tape doesn't have to be as wide as those pictured. even the narrow tape used in stained glass work will do.

Gita, I planted a flat of Cream Marigold seeds I got from you and only got 6 plants out of the whole flat. So I replanted the flat again to see if I can get a few more. I put the 6 seedlings into a 6pk so we will see if I can get those to bloom and see what we get. It will be interesting to see what develops. I only got 2 Hyacinth Bean plants from the dozen I sewed, so I am trying another batch of those as well. I really only need a few for myself but I need them for my daughter as well, so if anyone out there is growing them and has extra let me know. The Castor Beans on the other hand had 100% germination and are growing great. I will have a few extra for the swap.

Holly--

As I wrote before--only 2 seedlings of the Cream-White Marigolds came up.
They are now pretty full of leaves,

Like you--I seeded about 3 more seeds of it in each cell.
Eventually--2 more seedlings came up. Don't know if they are from the first
seeding or the second.

Just took some pictures---

1--The bigger two first sown seedlings and the 2 smaller ones from later (?)
Ignore the seedlings behind them. Those are ornamental Peppers.

2--Jill's monster Zinnia seedlings--man! They are overshadowing everything else.
I will have to dig those out and pot them up. These were the dark brown, oval seeds.

--Self-gathered seeds from a deep blue Petunia. I loved them! looks like they all "took'.
First time I have grown petunias from seed....

Jill--a few of your "Frilly Ruffle" ones came up. None of the cascade blue ones did.
But--your date on this package was from 2010.

I still have to seed all the ones that say--"seed 6 weeks before you can set them out".
Don't know offhand what these are.... need to get on it, though.

FLASH!!!!
Bonnies is having a big sale this coming week on the smaller pots of all veggies,
herbs, Mints, peppers, etc...etc.... 5 for $10. Go buy them already growing
so you won't have to grow it from seed.

I got 2 of each parsley (multi-stems in each pot) --Two Dills--(same..)--3 Rosemary
plants (lost mine again this winter--and 2 Sweet Mints.

Now I HAVE TO dig up and amend the small veggie bed on the side of my shed.

There were beautiful Tomato plants there too--but I am growing my own from seed.
Sure looked tempting.

There will be, again, a "Black Friday" sale going on starting Thursday.
The aisles are full of wrapped, secret boxes.
I believe one of the items will be buy one--get one free of Arbor Vitae. Not sure.
See the ad which should arrive in Wednesday papers. or--Google it.

OK! Enough excitement............. G.

There is a bright side to it being overcast today, ever transplant I did yesterday is standing at attention. Another day wouldn't hurt.

agreed, this weather is great for the lettuce seedlings that I hurried into the garden, and spinach seed planted Friday.

Still waiting on spinach seed to appear outside.. Mustard seed is coming up well, now need it to grow fast. Meanwhile, I may have a few extra tomatoes, they are coming up well.

also , Long Tall Sally peppers
:^)

The light steady rain we got today is perfect for seedlings. I see new things pop up every day...I hope that most are from seeds I sowed.

I had a good plan! I sowed the same kind of seeds in various areas and marked each area with a stake, thinking that if lots of similar-looking seedlings appeared I would know exactly what they were. Then, I stepped on stakes while they were buried under snow and broke some, the writing on others faded, I covered some seeds with mulch, and squirrels and birds dug holes everywhere. Fortunately, I sowed seeds in pots as well.

Off the topic of seeds........

Has anyone potted up their Caladium Corms yet?
I am tempted to do so--as they take forever to start growing.
I have mostly Aaron--the white ones. A few of couple others..not many.

How about cannas? Could they be planted outside already?
That way--they will get an early start growing.

Gita

I think we have past our last spring frost locally. (MD, VA anyway)

really, David? Why was I thinking april 30 was out last frost date?

Spinach heard me grumbling and decided to show up today- yay

Sally, the last frost date varies from year to year due to weather patterns. As terrible and long as our winter was, weather patterns have shifted for the better. Locally, lows are projected to be in the 40s and 50s for the next 10 days, and we are colder than your neck of the woods. (lower elevation, near the bay) I could be wrong, but here in Lucketts we have not had a frost this April, and it seems unlikely that we will see frost again this season.

sounds great David!!! I trust you

Can I sell you a bridge?

ha ha ha ha

:^D

I checked my winter sown flats yesterday. I sowed a lot of columbine seeds, so far they are all a no show. However, I have good germination for several of the other things. Need to recheck the tags to list what they are.

I "tried" WS-ing again. Used the small "clam shells" 1lb. of Strawberries comes in.

I Seeded:
"Red Rose" Campion (from AK),
Yellow and red Celosia
Rudbeckia "Prairie yellow" (from Karen)
Rudbeckia "Indian Summer"

I had the lid pinched down in one corner--the other free. Put all the containers against
the concrete base of my house, S. exposure, thinking it would be nice and warm there.

Well, when I went to check a couple weeks ago--the soil was bone dry and not
a seedling in sight.
Opened up the containers completely and watered them all.

Just went out and checked--The Red Rose Camion is up, and I am seeing
miniscule signs of life with the "Indian Summer"...

I don't think I am destined to do WS'ing....

INDOORS:
most everything is going gang-busters. My Tomatoes are 8"+ tall and the
Giant Zinnias (from Jill) are ready to go into beds. Others are growing well too.
The Parsley is also now too tall to fit under the lights.
4 of the White Cream marigolds are growing well. We will see what comes out from these....

From my more recent seeding--"Balloon Flowers" have germinated.

Yep! Spring sure has arrived. G.

Gita, you have to make sure your WS containers don't get completely dried out. If you put them up against the house they probably are protected from the weather (rain, snow). The point of WS is to provide cold, moist treatment for species that require it. You are not doing the seeds a favor by trying to keep them warm. Don't let the remaining containers dry out and you may well be rewarded with germination.

Thanks, David---I know...I know....we learn from our mistakes.....G.

8 inch tomatoes? Mine just broke the surface this week, (shrug) Catch up, guys!!

Oh shoot, I was really late in sowing tomatoes this year...

no WS for us this time around. Greenthumb looks like you had a successful WS season!

Sally, our tomatoes are not too tall yet either. We have San Marzano out the wazooo. Harry wanted to try growing them this year. The seeds were quite prolific.

We're growing onions for the first time this year - only I ordered onion sets versus starting them from seed. We planted them last weekend; or should I say, mom planted most of them. We got her out in the garden for physical activity. She is 83 and used the kneeling bench from Gardeners Supply. That gadget works great to assist her.

I'll try and take a pic of our seeds under the lights. A few of the cells are getting a green mold on top because I used a seedling starter mix, which tends to hold the moisture too much.

Wind--
This year at the HD there is a new, organic seed starting mix.
it is extremely light and very, very fine. I used it instead of the MG seed starting mix.
It dries out quickly and i am always misting or watering the surface.

This link shows the smaller size bag. The one we got in (a whole palate-full)
was 12 dry qts. and was $5.47 (not sure). It is made by "Jiffy" which makes a lot
of all the other seed-growing supplies.
G.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Jiffy-Mix-10-qt-Seed-Starting-Mix-5088/100349751

1--Here are my Tomato seedlings--the light is as high as I can get it--and they are
touching it. I have to say, though, that they are pretty leggy. I may plant them soon
and hope for the best.
2--These are my Parsley and basil seedlings. Parsley are up there as well....

I seeded these on March 13th.


BTW--HD is having another Spring Black Friday sale which starts today (4/17)
and goes through Sunday. Some sale items may go longer. Check out their site

Wind - I won't know for at least another month how successful my winter sowing was this year. I winter sowed around 85 items and no more than a third are showing. Much of what I winter sow are native species, and they can be really slow in germinating. In fact, containers with little or no germination are kept out until the next summer before being discarded.

nice seedlings Gita!!

wow greenthumb 85 is a lot. Good luck. nice to see you growing so many natives. It must be more challenging to obtain the seeds

today is so beautiful here. I put our seedlings out on the porch for some air and real sun

I have been working in my garden since about 10:30AM. It is now 4:30PM.

Just had to come in and give my Bod some rest.