need help with geranium sprouts!!!!!!

on July 8th, I put geranium pratense seeds in a moist paper towel and put them in a loosely folded baggie like Mary told me.
Well tonight, about 12 of them have sprouted!!! Okay, how much do I let them sprout, just coming out? more? and when I put them in good soil, how deep?
and then I put them outside, right in the sun??? like they would be if I had planted them in the garden??
Help!!!!!!!

dont let them dry out! I would put them less than 1/4 inch deep in 3 inch pots. they can happily sit in these until the fall. my geranium seedlings are sitting where they get the sun from late afternoon. I water them everyday.

I'll let Mary answer this better as she has done this method before.

Mark

I'm so glad your seeds germinated the way I said! I'd feel so guilty if it hadn't worked for you. I pot mine up almost as soon as they've started a root, sometimes one to a pot, sometimes a few to a pot. Just under the soil, as Mark said. At this time of the year, I'd put them under cover for a couple of days then out in the open. I'm not expecting bright sunshine or hot temperatures to burn them up here, but you might like to put them somewhere out of the sun in a US Zone 7 until they're stronger. Just make sure they have enough water and you can treat them like any other hardened off seedlings.

tiG

I've been using the Baggie/Paper towel method since 1994 when I bought Norm Deno's book 'Seed Germination Theory and Practice 'and germinate all my seeds this way .I've got a section on my website devoted to his methods, including photographs of germinating seeds , germinating in light, outdoors and at 40F and the use of lightboxes to acclimatise seedlings before putting them outside, which you might like to look at it . It's at http://www.frogswell.com and also gives details of how to order the book. I highly recommend getting it if you are keen on germinating unusual seeds. I wouldn't be without it and I hope to get over to PA to meet Norm next April :-)
Jane


This message was edited Tuesday, Aug 14th 7:45 PM

Mark..what about geraniums that were started in January in peat pots and are now 4 inches tall.....where do I go from there?

"eyes"

eyes, in your area, you probably want to go ahead and harden them off and plant out.

Whoopee!!.....that's even better than I had imagined!

"eyes"

tiG is correct. but I would place them in an area of maximum light and somewhere they wont get frosted. Peat pots arent that good once you take them out side as they dry ouy very easy.

Mark

Okay...repot and plant....thanks Batman!!

"eyes"

seeds? how do you get the seeds?

i haven't seen any seeds on mine either. i propagate by cuttings only... ma vie

Midwest and especially MaVie

my guess is your are talking about Pelargoniums while we are talking about Geraniums. Whwn I get home from work I'll repost the difference unless someone has it saved already.

Mark

Mark,

i have scented geraniums! here is a link http://www.pelargoniums.and.geraniums.net/pelorger.html i'd like to hear what u have to say though! scented geranium my grandma used a lot in making canned fruits. the plant & flower of scented geraniums are smaller compared to pelargonium that are bigger plants & flowers. right or wrong?

MaVie

your 'geraniums' are pelargoniums. The mix up has been going on for 300 years.
I grow geraniums (200)which are hardy to -10C/15F. I also have a few species Pelargoniums which can take light frosting but go to mush if in that condition too long.

here is what I originally posted on the subject http://davesgarden.com/showthread/54285.html which is 100% correct.

Mark