impatiens in the greenhouse

Hi! This is my first year trying to start impatiens from seed in a greenhouse, anyone got experience with right temp,amount of moisture, ect. afraid I might water too much
Anyone had any luck with planting in dry soiless medium and letting them soak up water from below, how it works? Thanks!

I'm guessing you mean bedding-type Impatiens - walleriana and hybrids?

Impatiens balsamina, the "old fashioned" type, grows so fast, it can be direct seeded.

I've started Impatiens from seed several times - they need some warmth to germinate, so if you have a heat mat, great. If not, you may want to place the flat on top of a refrigerator, freezer, etc.

Nicky's has a pretty good description of growing them here: http://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk/seeds/pages/growing5.htm

They do take a while to germinate and grow, so it's time to get started on them to make sure they're transplant-size by spring :)

Thanks so the info! I've started them the last couple years in a cold frame but they are usually not ready to plant when I am. According to the books they need about 12 weeks, for our location that would mean planting Valentine's Day or so, so you think I should try to start them in the house and transfer to the greenhouse?

If you're 6b, you're pretty close to the same last frost date as we are (ours is early to mid April.)

Your spring may be more temperate than ours. But I'm starting mine now. When I've waited until February to start them, they aren't ready to plant out in that brief "window of opportunity" that we have here (it can be a very short time when the weather is neither too cold nor too hot :)

Thanks for the info go-vols! Our last frost date is usually about May 10- I'm putting off starting impatiens for fear they will get really leggy (I've bought some like that locally before), also so I won't have to heat the greenhouse for so long. I thought about starting the seedlings in the house but I need about 11 flats and I don't know where I would put them!LOL

Germinate at 75-78 degrees,cover lightly with vermiculite, 10-18 days to germinate, grow on at 58-60 degrees after germination, keep moist but not soggy, water from bottom if possible.10-11 weeks for market packs,13-14 weeks for 4 1/2" pot, 15-16 weeks for hanging baskets

Jake - thanks for the info, exactly what I needed! Sounds like I better get in gear if I hope to have any hanging baskets!

I used to start my impatiens from seed inside, they readily grow. The only thing you really need to be careful about is damping-off (impatiens are really prone to this). I keep a ceiling fan running in my seedling room to help prevent it. One year I lost almost every impatien seedling, but after that, and doing more to help control damping-off, I never lost another to it! Check the "Garden Talk" forum for a lot of good suggestions to prevent damping off.

If you want lots and lots of impatiens, next summer, try overwintering a couple good ones, then in the early spring, root cuttings. That is how I keep my special ones now; every year I start over with new plants that I propagate from cuttings taken in late summer of the ones I want to keep. Potting up plants that have been growing in the ground usually doesn't work (at least for me). I can usually get 20-30 cuttings from each plant, giving me plenty to transplant all through my shady gardens.

The impatiens are up! Six days! I hope they don't grow that fast from here on out or they will be huge!LOL

Great news! If they start growing too big too fast, cool them down a little. Mine grew very slowly at 65, probably would grow even slower at 60F. Not sure if you can cool them down that much, though.

Thanks lupinelover-they are still under plastic but I'll have to take them out today or tommorrow because they are starting to touch the plastic-I got some chamomile tea to spray them with-any advice?

Kathleen is the one who knows a lot about chamomile tea: e-mail her and ask, or do a search for chamomile tea to find advice on other threads.