Spring seed starting (indoors) Part 2

I am having the same damping off problem with the Hibiscus coccineus, so when I got home from work, I sprinkled dry milled spaghnum moss around the seedlings, hoping it would stop the damping off until their stems got stronger.

Buttoneer, I've read that sprinkling the tops with fine ground vermiculite helps keep down damping off problems. I've seen it in the Thompson & Morgan catalog, not expensive. I would imagine you could grind your own too if you don't mind putting vermiculite in your blender. LOL

I cleaned everything with soapy water with a little bleach before I planted my seeds this year, made sure the potting mix was moist but not soggy. I mixed it in a large container and was able to add dry mix to the wet until it had the right amount of not too wet moisture.

None of the containers have been watered yet but I will water them conservatively with a little hydrogen peroxide in the water - maybe a half teaspoon to a quart.

So far I haven't had any damping off problems at all. Last year I used the peat pellets and lost everything to damping off. I think I kept them too wet.

I sprinkled milled spaghnum moss around them. Now let us pray............

Well, my first real attempt at starting a lot of seeds was a hit or miss effort. Some things did very well and others not too well at all. I made a temporary coldframe and moved them all outside 4 or 5 weeks ago. I'm planting them in my beds but I'll never be able to use them all so it looks like I'll be giving a lot of them away

A couple of photos.........the cold frame is 4'x12'

early_bloomer

The other half.......the coral bells and 2 blazing stars in front left were not started by me.


early_bloomer

This message was edited May 30, 2007 10:12 PM

EB, Your plants look wonderful. My first attempts were much the same. Some plants did wonderful and others didn't. I had great luck with the pansies germination but started too late to have any real flower show. Moon flowers, marigolds, pumpkins, gourds and squash all did very well. I also had wonderful luck with several packets of seeds that were sent to me in trades. All the passionflower seeds I got germinated and so did the four o'clocks, morning glory, and some beautiful sunflowers and a few more. All those came from DGer's and growing those seeds seemed more special than any others.