seeds started?

How many have started seeds already?

I have daylilies up about 5in and more seeds soaking
I planted hostas and tomatos so far.

i have melon seeds to start-should i wait or plant now?

when do you plant annuals?

I have few tomatoes started I'll use a wall'o'water to get an early start.

Paul

notmartha: melons should be started in 4" peat pots late April. Annuals can be started anytime now. So far I've 4 o'clocks, nolana, basil, gloriosa daisy,
tithonia, and perilla germinated. I plan on sowing Cosmic Orange Cosmos,
Bright Lights Cosmos eventually as soon as the bulk of the first batch of seeds is germinated. I was surprized this year with two bronze leaf begonias
seedlings volunteering in my phalaenopsis orchid pot. They are doing quite well in with orchid planted in bark mix! Unfortunately they will have to be removed soon so they won't stress the orchid .
Begonias and Impatiens need to be sown fairly early in the season. The sooner the better. They take approx twelve weeks from sowing till you get any bloom.

Sprouted already: tall ageratum, browallia, purple and white datura, dianthus, toadlily.

Still waiting to sprout: perennial (cigar looking) coneflower, two annual conflowers (gorgeous last year!!)
yellow datura (couldn't get it to sprout last year either!) , pink verbenna, that new orange coneflower,

Tons more seeds to get going - I better get my butt in gear tomorrow!!!

I'm not going to start my seeds till I know I can get them in the ground 4 to 6 weeks after I start them. I know If I start now its too early. I will probably start my seeds in my greenhouse around the first of April, knowing I can put them into the ground by May 12th without a problem. If I start now, they will get too leggy by May 12th.

Deann

I'm going to try starting some perennials (again) this year. Haven't had much luck in the past due to poor light conditions (I think), but I'm getting a shop light this year. Does anyone know if you can start perennials any earlier than annuals? Like Deann, I'm waiting until early April so I can get them in the ground in late May.

I use to start things in January, now the only thing i start that early are my daylilies. My tomatos are up! :) I would say that its time to start things here in Michigan. Deann and I both have GH's that we can put our plants in till they are able to go in the ground.

It will be april soon and alot of seeds say start 6-8wks before your last frost date, so im going to be startings more things the next few weeks. I have some sweet peas soaking to get a early start this spring.

Hi Lily...welcome to Michigan Forum.....Where is Eagle, Michigan??

I am getting my potting soil warmed up and I too will be soaking some of my seeds as well, like Morning Glory, Nasturtium, Four O clocks....but its snowing again today, and cold....it just does not seem possible that spring is official on Monday.....I think Mother Nature is playing a cruel joke on us Michiganders.....

Deann

I haven't yet. I don't do well with seeds. I will start hyacinth beans and tithonia in a couple of weeks. Our frost date is May 15th. Mothers day weekend is when all hell breaks loose in the garden centers and most people start putting in annuals. It's not unusual for us to have frost after the frost date so we have to watch carefully.

I have a neighbor that always has to be the first to get his garden in - seeds and plants. For the last several years, he has lost everything!! Plants froze, seeds rotted etc. Don't want to sound mean, but we plant late May and have never had a problem. Oh ya, sometimes he gets a tomato or two before us, but that's ok. And the raccoons ALWAYS get his corn and by the time ours is ready, they are full!!! We always laugh about that!!

well outside we try to get our peas in by april 1st if the weather permits and then sow a row a few weeks later.

I have the Greenhouse so I can start things inside and then take them out there to keep them safe till planting time. I just wanted to get a early start this yr. I never grow veggies from seed-this is a favor for DH

My dh uncle grows veggies for a market they own in alpena-so corn seed and melon plants are very easy to obtain ;) heck i could just wait and go snag a veggie or two when i need them-but the veggie garden is dh's to putz around in :)

Im going to pot up some sweet peas today and move daylilies to bigger pots so i can start another round of daylilies in the seed domes

Hello fellow gardeners! What is going on with the weather? Are we in some kind of a time warp?

Deann -- Eagle, MI, is about 20 miles northwest of Lansing.

I've decided to jump in with seed starting this week. I just ordered a pot maker from Gardener's Supply that you can use to make 2 1/2" pots from newspaper. Considering how much I've already spent on peat pots, this contraption will allow me to spend money on seeds instead! I'm excited!

lily I use to make my own pots out of newspaper-But I just used medicine bottles and different size bottles i could find.

My favorite pot is-styrofoam cups stab a few holes in the bottom and you are ready to go!!1

The weather-one word for it------>STINKZ
Happy SPRING
dori

Happy spring everybody.

I am glad that people are willing to make use of things that they have around the house. We live in such a wasteful throw away society. As a landscape contractor frequently I find customers giving me this and that .For example : all kinds of pots, clothes, twine, books ..... I don't always like what they give me, but now when I think back , I must admit I got some really cool useful things .
Since the price of gas and home heating is getting rediculous we all need to
save in some way .

I use to start all kinds of heirloom veggies for our garden. No greenhouse, but use some crome racks with floresent shop lights attached. That works well if you don't start them too early, like I did when I first started.

I said, use to .............. I have been taken over by a Daylily virus, so that is all I start under lights now. We have lots of nurseries around where we can purchase starter veggie plants, and more and more heirloom varieties are being offered.

I've got close to 1,000 Daylilies started in the basement ..... did I mention that I get a bit obsessive about things I love. ;-)

I've experimented with a lot of containers for starting seeds & a lot of them work well, but for large perennials, like daylilies, I recommend saving your deep 4" pots that you get from nursery stock you purchase. 2nd best, the tall plastic cups, (like solo). You can get them in larger quantities at places like Costco.

I've found that an electric drill makes short work of getting several drainage holes in the bottom.

did I read that right - 1000 started???? Man oh man- you have it badddddd. If ya need to get rid of some of them - remember me!!!! I only ordered 42 last year - none this year so far....pocket book kinda empty.... LOL

sarv48 ..... you read right.

My family and friends always benefit from my obsessions. I have a niece that grabbed about 10 seedlings last time she was here.

I'll keep you in mind if I can't plant them all.

omg i thought my 100 was bad-you do have the bug bad! Where did you get so many seeds??? wow girl!!!!

do you have pictures?? I want to see them all-you can toss a few extras across the state this way too if you need too.

Hmmmm...... I think I have a picture of my set up someplace ......

This is a really dark picture, but it gives you the idea. I have this set up in our Walk Out Basement. Opening the window when it gets a bit warmer should help start the hardening off process.

All my seeds are in, just hoping the snow is gone by June. I said June because last year we did'nt get the garden in till the middle of June, rain ,rain, rain.
Ken

wow what a great set up you have there-look at all your babies!!! wonderful!

Ken-we did have a wet spring for planting last yr-lets hope all goes well this spring! the ground is pretty wet here!

They say 68inches of snow this winter in my area! thats really good!

Well I've started my daylilies but they seem to be in no hurry sprouting this year. Its already been two weeks and I have about 4 sprouting out of hundreds. We need more sunshine. Too many dark and dreary days.

Cindy

I should have responded to where I got my seeds.

I purchased many on the Lily Auction, got some for postage from generous people at Daves, and got some from a friend.

Next Year I hope to have some of my own, so I can pass on the act of kindness I recieved here at Daves Garden.

Well 90 percent are my own. I did purchase a few from Lily Auction. I got Vivacious Pam x Front Porch Swing that I hope make it. I also got a few Jerry Nettle crosses from Lily Auction.

Started morning glories last night.

Hi MI group! I'm a beginner seed starter. Started pansies, violas, brazilian verbena and nemesia at the end of February. Coleus, pimpernel, laurentia, aster, cleome, lobelia and tall ageratum a week ago. Pepper plants & purple coneflower yesterday. Tomato plants start this weekend. I too am hoping for a less wet spring.

Good Morning,
I'm new and I've not seen any "Yoopers" respond to this thread; so I'll be the first. I'm in Zone 4a, right on Lake Superior. We still have 3' of standing snow but even so, I've started seeds under grow lites (my first time). Already cherry tomatoes are up and snow peas, too. I'll be doing container gardening because weeds are a lot easier to control. Any comments appreciated. Thank you.

Hi maureeng......Welcome from one of the "trolls"....good to see you here....I am in the Tawas/AuGres area, and we also have snow yet on the ground, however not 3 feet of it.....Container gardening is the latest rage and so many people are doing it now. I just returned from a Master Gardener Conference and one of the classes was on Container Gardening. One of the most important things to worry about is water. You must water Containers on a daily basis as they dry out quickly. Also drainage. this is most important when you purchase a container.

Something else to consider which I never did was weight. The gal who thought the glass said in the larger containers she puts those "Styrofoam peanuts in a plastic bag and fills the container half full of them and then puts a plastic bag over the top of that and then the soil...which consists of peat moss, vermiculite, perlite, and some course screened sand....I can snail mail you this handout if you like.....just email me in here and let me know where to send it....it has a lot of good information on it....

Deann