Things you just CANT grow!

Don't laugh but there are a few annuals that a lot of folks consider to be 'weedy' that I just cannot get to grow.
I have tried sowing these seeds for at least 3 yrs in a row with no luck!! Sowed different times, locales, etc...
Among them are:

violas [except JJ'ups]
salvias [annual]
nicotiana
poppies
lunaria [funny huh!]

What things can you just not get to grow?


This message was edited Feb 1, 2005 11:04 PM

I tried canterbury bells about 5 years in a row and never got anything to go. I'm trying it again this year with winter sowing, I just love those.

Passion vines and tropicals-I give up!!!

Coleus, yes my spelling is horrible, I buy it I plant it it dies. I think it feels sorry for me and it takes a couple days to die instead of shriveling up in my hands.

poppies
cleome

I cannot grow fuchsias - - even when I buy healthy good size plants. And I have had good luck with minature roses, but I can't grow regular roses without a constant battle with bugs and blackspot.

I also haven't had much luck starting a lot of the tropicals from seed, like bananas and passifloras. But then most of them have such a long germination period that I don't have the patience that is needed.

Grasses! Duh!

I've only had success with one variety - Purple fountain grass. The others don't even germinate!

They hate me! I still love them though. :)

Nicole

Phlox... I've planted them several times and they never come up. This year, I've got more info on their germination needs, and I may just winter sow them.

WOW,
I am in good company I see!!

I too have problems with passion vine. I have one that's been growing in a hanging basket for 3 years that has never bloomed! This yr I left it outside to freeze. I didnt have the heart to pluck it out and toss it.

It took me 3 tries to ever grow moonvine.

I can't keep coleus or caladiums alive, either. Have always wanted to try elephant ears but figure it won't do good for me either.

I threw out poppy seeds one year and got nothing. Planted canterbury bells-nothing, don't have good luck with nicotania bedding plants, fushias always die on me, lots of other seeds I've planted never made it to the light of day. Right now I'm doing better (I have a greenhouse now) starting seeds. There are some I've planted that must be very slow to germinate or they were't viable, but man, I've got a better turnout of cleome than I ever had sowing them directly in the ground, and balsam, and tomatoes, and larkspur (never grown those), I think every toothache plant seed came up, and others I can't think of at the moment.

i think alot of all the above for me.

i buy plants. i have tried

pansies
johnny jump ups
pholx
passion vines.



off subject but moonvines(white) the way i do them is those jiffy spongy things that you add water to and they puff up then i put in a baggy. they pop up with in a few days. i dont nick mine or any thing.

the purple ones i did nick before i put them in the spongy things.


okay back to subject. you know as much as a pansy seeds i never get any the following year. weird.

Berrygirl,

Glad to hear there's someone else who can't grow Salvia - I have never gotten it to take, either. Should do great in southern climates like ours, too, which makes it even more mysterious. I do well with just about everything else.

Another thing that I cannot grow is sunflowers.
Well I could grow them but DH cuts them down when he mows every spring. I have tried to plant them along a section of pasture fence. I show him exactly where I planted and he assures me he won't cut them- but he always does!!

Same with daffs that I want to naturalize in my front yard. He cuts them too!! Luckily he cant get to the ones in my beds, but I like em growing wild-looking too!

I give up!

Berrygirl,

Violas and pansies need darkness to germinate. Sow the fine seeds on top of the soil but bag in a dark garbage bag. I put mine in the basement where the temps stay fairly cool (50-60 degrees). Check every couple of days for germination. Uncover and expose to light when you see sprouts.

Salvias gerninate best if exposed to the light. Just press the seeds in the soil and place in a clear bag to keep in the moisture. They've gotta be warm, also.

THANKS digs!

Grass lol. My blue fescue won't even germinate for me! I have had a very hard time germinating lavender as well.

African violets. Sad but true. I did not know there were so many ways for a plant to go through death throes. I have cooked quite a few caladiums in my day too.

digs - about how long do the viol take to germ. in your basement?

African Violets got me to quit flowers in the first place - many long years ago. Recently got another one at Logee's - a real beaut. First attempt since the 70's. Guess what - dead!

berry - elephant ears are easier that Caladiums! Much easier!

Thanks sequee! I am thinking of getting some el-cheapo's at Wallyworld and trying them this summer.

cockscomb. Every year I plant it, and hope that it will grow. And every year, it doesn't die, but it never grows any bigger than the size plants that I bought in the flat. I can't figure out why.

Also, sometimes portulaca has done well, but only once... and every time I plant it, a month or two later, the leaves start to fall off and there's a whitish hairy looking fuzz where the leaves were, and eventually they die. I can't be overwatering them. Are they bugs doing it do you think? This has happened to me in New York, Minnesota, and Idaho.... hmmmm
-Mara

mosc,
Portulaca are picky. I grow mine in an ugly gravelly spot beside the driveway and if we get too much rain- they are history. Mine just kinda rot away. The seed heads do get kinda white hairy looking before they open the pods.

Another plant I thought of: I sowed Russell lupine seeds and have had a few small green plants for about 3 years now. They die down in winter and come back each spring. They don't grow or bloom- just sit there!

Sequee,

My violas spouted within a week. This was last September so it was still pretty warm outside. The basement kept them cool. I've found that Violas won't germinate well in hot 80+ degree weather.

Digs

Portulaca love hot sunny areas. They will NOT do well in any kind of shade. They do well here in TX with little effort.

I have trouble growing :

Fushia
Mimulus, and, believe it or not...
Lily of the Valley

They just don't like me...:(

this is a fun thread! that was interesting about the pansy/viola seeds needing darkness-also coolness- phew, ive spent some wasted $ on fancy pansy seeds and there are sometimes so few in the packet i can hardly see them--but haven't had one sprout yet- its so funny how we get disouraged then try again---i'm going to try those pansies AGAIN in the DARK.i might try the hydrogen peroxide thing too. here's a cockscomb tip because i've grow them for drying lots.. the kind they have at the garden centers are minis--why anyone would want them that size, i don't know, but they don't get bigger. I've only found the tall ones available as seeds and for some reason, for me the seedlings look pathetic till about 3-4 weeks after i've planted them out- then they take off- i think that has something to do with new england soil temp. but luckily they make those crazy flower heads by fall. oh ALSO very important (i lost a whole season because of this), never pinch them to make them more bushy-they don't like any disturbance of their growing habit, it just makes them not flower... you all more south can grow them much better anyway, i bet.....anywho...hello to all, i'm new to this forum! sjms

Well thanks for all that help sjms! :) And welcome to this forum, hope to see you around the others too.

Yes, welcome sjms! I think that pansies are mostly a winter plant in the south. The viola family isn't very fond of hot weather. I grow lots and lots of violas and pansies here. They self-seed outdoors, and I start them early indoors under lights in my basement. Sjms, if you want some mixed viola seeds to practice with, just click on my name and send me an email.

Dead nettle Lamium

*cries* I've bought TWO and both Dead.

They are living up to their name *pouts*

I think it has to do with your climate. They like cooler, moister weather. Lamium does quite well here. They'd need a very protected, shady spot in your neck of the woods, preferably by the outdoor faucet! Lamium grow easily from soft stem cuttings... even in water. I wonder if you could purchase plants for your cooler part of the season, then take cuttings and root them indoors for the next cool time.

my lamium is by the north wall of the house and it IS where the airconditioner drips out all summer long...I bet weez is right on the money on this one

;)

I never got the opportunity to plant the them!

They died in the pot.

Osteole,
I know EXACTLY what you mean. I too have had more 'death in pot' than I can remember.

ah, suicide. We've all been there. lol

Suicide....LOLOL!

Poor little fellows.. heading out of the nursery, eagerly awaiting their new home... then left in the pot... it's like being at LAX waiting all season for your luggage! LOL!

Things I can't grow: younger & money :)

LOL!

TOO Funny, Colie!!! LOL

Why oh why do I keep buying lobelia? I've even grown it from seed, then it dies as soon as I put it in my window boxes, pots, wherever I put it. What am I doing wrong? It's so beautiful, especially the light blue. Is it my potting mix, or too much sun? help!