Hey good morning all. I thought someone would be on. Have a sinus infection and the prednizone woke me up. I seem to need it along with antibiotic to clear up the infection but may have to go the anti alone. I woke up at 2:30 and read for a while and just gave it up....
I put all my containers up on a table with wire looking top so the excess water can drain off. When should I expect the sprouts for the milk jugs?
Veronica
Join Us! Seed Swap Seed Starting & Conversation #7
Hi Veronica,
Sorry you're not well and cannot sleep. However, for me a lucky treat! Someone to talk to at daytime, lovely!
What did you put in the milk jugs, and how's your temperature now? These are factors that decide when sprouting will start!
Suzy,
Some people are sensitive to certain foods-strawberries, figs, and citrus are common culprits as is sodium laurel sulfate in toothpaste. The cause is not known for sure but is frequently thought to be related to the immune system. http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/guide/canker-sores
Maggie
Most are perennials. platycodon was planted first in Dec actually. Then came foxglove 'Pam's Choice', Asclepias 'Gay Butterflies', Liatris purple and white, a new Monarda 'Bergamo', Veronica austriaca 'Royal Blue',Salvia patens 'Blud Angel',Rose Campion, Aquilegia 'Black Barlow', Heliopsis, Brown eyed Susan, Mexican Hat plant,2 kinds of Guillardia, Centaurea montana and alyssum. The alyssum was just planted 2 days ago.
We have not had any warm days in a row yet but since this is the first? day of spring I am hopeful or maybe it is tomorrowlol
Encourage me lol
Veronica
Veronica,
Oh they will sprout! But just like us, they like it warm! They keep their own agenda and theirs obviously says that spring hasn't yet begun.....
As far as Centaurea is concerned, this needs dark to germinate so cover the jug in newspaper! And Salvia patens needs light as does Brown eyed Susan and columbines. Hope you didn't cover them too well! If so, stir them!
I guess my ?? got looked over...
What is a croton??
I have some HH that are growing and are not to big for the container, but are a little leggy-they bend and the soil, then pretty much make a 90* angle striaght up. They look healthy, but I am wondering if I can put a little more dirt in there around the bottom to help keep them stable???
Fairy, it's a plant species. You'll now them when you see them! Watch here: http://www.plant-care.com/crotons-colorful-plants-indoors.html
Yes, its OK to earth up your HH's but don't cover the cotyledons (= seed lobes).
Thanks Tuink!!!!
Anyone else running out of space to germinate stuff?
Not to germinate them, but to pot them up after pricking out.
Some will have to be moved outdoors this weekend, snow or no snow.......
Fairy, I was thinking the same thing, "what is a croton?"
thanks Twink
Seandor, my space is running out. This is my first year with an actual plant rack and lights, and all shelves are full.
I had a feeling I was going to be thinking how could I have gone all these years without one :) this morning I was surveying the area and thinking....hmmmm could I squeeze in another rack? which we would not do a) because of the money and b) it just plain would look awful...as it is now we need sunglasses at the kitchen table because of the bright lights lol (only kidding)
today, I noticed my peppers are beginning...kung pao, holy moly, my white habanero which noone wanted to try (sniff sniff), and Critter's ornamental pepper.
You will have to save me some white habanero seeds-ever since we lived in AZ, DH LOVES spicy spicy foods and loves habaneros!!
don't be upset that I didn't take you up on the habanero's wind - no one here has the nerve to handle them!!
Suzy, the weather report for today :) Currently 38* and bright sun with a light wind and rising barometer (threats of more sun). Although it's supposed to rain again tomorrow, and possibly snow this weekend....
I have run out of light space!!! Doesn't matter if it's for starting seeds or taking care of growing babies (like the monsters planted on Jan. 20), I'm outta light. I've been staring at the two setups for a while and looking at the weather reports and staring at the door of my greenhouse that won't quite close - realizing if I could *just* fix that greenhouse door I could keep the largest stuff that needs hardening off in there and my issues could all be solved. Except for that snow that's supposed to be coming along...
I'm still tickled with my little bergenia - it keeps chugging along all fat and sassy. I finally turned a fan on in the office as the temps were staying rather warm in there - no real mold problems or such, but wanted to start toughening up those stems and making sure I don't have too much stagnancy. The petunias are doing well, still sluggish though. And my geraniums seem to have hit a "stall" button, they're not doing much of anything. My little coleus are showing some color though, that's fun!
Good Morning all you Piggies! I have to laugh that we all wanted sooo many seeds last fall and this winter, and now we're all apparently running out of room (except Lucy and Margaran and Starlight and the other folks in the South.) My racks are fiull of seedlings. In fact, I have to rotate flats so all the seedlings get a good amount of light. As Tuink says, once I have to start pricking them out, I will be in a world of hurt. BUT I have a plastic walk-in green house I can put up as son as I get home. It is 6 x 8, but I have to tell you, it will still not be big enough for all the babies I have going!
This has been the coldest, longest spring! Well, March, I mean, since it technically isn't Spring until tomorrow. It came in like a Lion, let's hope that darn lamb shows up soon!
Mr. Clean had an ominous report for me last night. I have a flat of snapdragons outside on the patio. Because of the forecasted rain and the unskilled labor I have, ahem, I put the snaps in a Sterlite container like Gram and Fairy are using. BUT I didn't drill any holes in it because there is no sun forecasted, and they are only in there for a week....didn't want to wreck the bin for real storage. Anyway, Mr. Clean reported over an inch of water in the bottom of it, and yet the lid was on tight. How is this possible? He said he had trouble opening it, it was on so well, so it isn't a case of me forgetting to snap it shut. I thought those things were water tight..not if they are submerged, but from rain.
Dryad, thanks so much for the weather report. i am on cable here, but the computer itself is from the Ice Age and screen changes are very slow.
Fairy, Sorry, I thought you were looking it up in Plant Files....a Croton, well, I'm not sure what it is.:) It is a houseplant up north, but it needs more light than we can give it in the winter, so oinly a house that has a wall of south-facing windows could handle it. It is a shrub down here in full sun. There is a common one with fairly broad leaves of gold red and green, but then there are more disgner-kinds with narrow leaves and some have more red or some brown added. The leaves are hard. Stiff. It is a weird thing, but so many people were wanting tropicals last swap, and the price is so cheap, I thought I'd ask and see if anybody had grown it and loved it, or even grown it and not loved it. I assume they bloom and set seed, but I don't really know if these would be big enough to get the job done by frost.
Vernoica, The Alyssum will be the first to germinate -- it likes cool weather. Dianthus is usually the first to germinate, but you don't appear to have any. Bachelor Buttons and Calendula are a close second. I left 2 open pots of germinated bachelor buttons on a chair outside on the patio. I tucked the chair under the table (one of those steel expanded metal mesh tables) and I hope that was enough to deflect all the rain, but I suspect my bachelor buttons are history if it rained as hard as I think it did.
Fairy, One more hting. ALL the seedlings need to have soil brought up to just below the cotyledons. So they are resting on top of the soil.
Lea, You'd better get that soilless mix inside the house today or it will be frozen to the truck again!
It was raining here this morning. I need to get going and clean up the mess I've made in every room of the house. I am off to try to find garden centers using a map, so wish me luck in not having an accident!
Suzy
hi
im back...the computer was in the shop
ill have trouble catching up
looks like no one missed me because i lurk alot
seedlings are doing great..of course i only have enough heat mats for three flats..and
that is not enough..and i am rotating as fast as i can as i have lots of veggies started
pam
Lol! I was going to ask about you, PamSue, on the MIA, but you had at least posted since the swap. Some of the others just fell off the side of the earth.
Do you use a heat mat after things have germinated? Golly! No wonder you're running out of room! I can pass mine off to another spot and use the heat mat to germinate a whole other pot. You should see the lights over, though. I have to really move them to get the pots out from their spots and they bump and clang -- it's a miracle the bulbs havn't fallen out and taken out a few pots of seedlings.
All, I wanted to remind you about purple leaf and variegated seedlings. Only the ones that are the most purple of purples and the ones with bright and attractive variegation should be allowed to live. Do NOT get sentimental. Get rid of the imposters! In addition to looking better in the garden, it will keep the seed strain more pure. I see so much bad variegation at the garden centers. Just this week I was looking at Coleus (in Florida) and saw the most atrocious variegation.
There can be extra-ornamental strains, too, meaning they are different in some wonderful and extraordinary way, but those would than take on a new name. Like Coleus 'Black Dragon Scarlet Band Select' or Coleus 'Black Dragon - Extra Ruffled'. You could also name it Coleus 'Black Dragon - Dryad', or even Coleus 'Dryad', but those aren't very descriptive. If you do this, grow the extra-ornamentals ones in isolation. You can trade the seeds with the caveat that it's their first year and you aren't sure how the seedlings will be, and put on the instructions that only the ones that are "most ruffled" should be grown under the new select name. I think 200 feet is the customary distance for isolation -- Tuink? Does that sound about right?
Suzy
we missed you pamsue...glad you're computer is back up and running :)
fairy, I have extra white habanero seeds if you want some to try. They are nothing like regular habaneros though. They are more ornamental. The plant itself is short; the peppers are yellowish then turn an ivory/white and are really small, more decorative, maybe 1/2" large. I didn't use them for culinary purposes.
I grew several last year next to some red rubin basil in front of the red okra, I thought it looked nice. I'm not sure if my seed will come true though, but I think I have some of the commercial seed left too.
Suzy, speaking of coleus, do they just get surface sown?
I just planted the chocolate mint coleus I had and it was hard to see the seed, it looked like they had it mixed with sawdust or something. I wasn't sure if I should have lightly covered it with soil. I didn't, but I could toss some on now if I should have.
thanks
~Diana
Help Oh my gosh you guys, I have snaps and they look like threads. Only 4 so far. What do I do. They are in the germination box. How long can I leave them there can I wait to see if more will come up? They are so fragile
Anxiously awaiting I am......
Veronica
hi suzy
this is what works for me...weather is different elsewhere.
once the seeds have germinated and i see the first leaves i switch them over to seedling boxes which is basically are clear rubbermaid type boxes that i have sitting outside . the boxes go indoors at night and i do vent ..open up the tops ..it rains alot here but i just invert the tops and leave a little gap for ventilation and if it is nice outside i take the tops completely off...those of you in sunny zones the seedlings would cook in those boxes..so care is needed.....theres no holes on the bottom of the boxes since the slugs do like to crawl in. it is alot of moving these boxes in and out daily...which is a pain sometimes. when the seedlings have their second or third leaf i put them in small pots until they grow..sometimes in six packs...the tomatoes and peppers i pot up into 16 oz or 20 oz styrofoam cups because they do not go out until about june 1st in the garden..the pappers sometimes mid june. I use mostly jiffy 7s for germinating seeds and that enables me to move the seedlings out faster than i could with the 72 hole trays. i do remove the nylon netting once i transplant the seedlings into pots or six packs. i havent figured out the best way for seed mediums as i do realize that the jiffy 7s can get expensive. Im not sure which pro mix to buy for the seed starting as the medium i used last year sold out to a bigger company and do not come in bags larger than 12 quart size anymore.( i bought 2 cu ft bags last year). I have to order the pro mix since theres nothing around here other than what walmart carries .
Yeah, surface sow those Coleus.
Victoria, Welcome to snapdragons! Just leave them. :) Here's what can happen: If they are sown too thickly, they can sort of tangle. This has only happened to me on the tall snaps...the mini snaps don't tangle at all.
It is so hard for me to describe by typing, but after they get their second set of true leaves, I go in with a little stick, or coffee stir stick from Starbucks, and dig out a little hunk. Then I painstakingly pull them apart and put them into cell packs. One-by-Tedious-One.
Then I go back to the mother pot, and take out another clump for somewhere in the middle -- where they are growing too close together. Again, transplant those, One-by-Tedious-One. I keep doing this until I get a flat filled, or until I have made room in the mother pot that I feel like they won't tangle.. Then I fill the holes I made in the Mother pot and straighten up any seedlings I knocked over and water the dry soilless mix I put in. Just dampen it. Usually there wil be a couple of losses in the cell packs, but the ones inthe Mother pots have more room and can stay there until they get a little bigger, where I repeat the process if I need to.
This year, for the first time, I planted Rocket Red (Thanks Sue/Susybell) which is a tall one in the individual cell packs. They won't tangle and won'
t need to be transplanted before set out, but they are not growing as fast as they could, either, because I don't have room under the lights. As soon as they started germinating, I sent them outside. Yes, it's cold, really cold here (in Indianapolis), but they are in a Sterlite container-like greenhouse (greenhouse, ha! only if you have a vivid imagination!!!) and that should give them some nice heat on a day like today.
Does anybody have a different and better way for Veronica?
Pam, I forget how big your garden is....you have all that PLUS the heatmats, right? Yikes! :))
Suzy
Hi Pam, Glad you're back! (I mostly lurk, too-just listening to all the experts-I have very little to contribute and lots to learn) I'm really happy to hear how you're doing things out this way because our weather is so different. May not freeze after mid-April, but it doesn't warm up as fast, either.
Suzy, glad to hear the Rocket Red are growing for you (They aren't the ones that are sitting in water in your bin, I hope?)
hi Susybell :)
I have another question, this time regarding gomphrena and phlox: should I start them inside or outside?
I received some seed for Anagallis monellii, blue pimpernel in one of 2 envelopes of surprises today! Take a look at these beauties!
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/20556/
Do any of you have experience growing them?
wind, I wintersowed gomphrena as recommended by the one the seed came from, but I've grown it once before and just direct sowed it. I think its typically pretty easy. Are you sowing annual phlox? I love those! I never see them grown much here, I wonder if they dislike hot summers?
Hey, Neal,
Not yet, but I hope to have experience with those soon. :) DGer Katye was sharing seeds with some of us PNW-ers recently. She says that hers germinate very irregularly, a few right away and then more much later. What she does is plant out the whole seed pot, separating out the seedlings, but planting the dirt-just stirs it all up and puts it on top, and that eventually they all sprout up. I don't know if she wintersows them, though.
Phlox Paniculata has been a quick success for me. I wintersowed some and they sprouted quite quickly. I'm figuring either they're easy or it's beginner's luck...
Hey Susy,
I saw on one of the seed starting sites that they germinated irregularly. That's a great idea on transplanting them like that. Thanks for the tip!
I love phlox paniculata, those do great here. I've had volunteer seedlings around them before, but these are all hybrids and I didn't allow any of them to stay because I've heard they revert. Now that I have lots of room, I'd like to have some of the magenta that they revert to.
Anyone know how to prick apart seedlings from that foam growing materiel?
Thanks,
Maggie
LEA-woohoo! Got my little package of pepper seeds already!! Thanks! Thanks! Yay!! I forgot to tell you that the article I was reading about 'black pearl' did indeed say they are edible and spicy! I can't wait to see them. I just love dark colored leaves! Thanks so much for all the exciting peppers! I love anything variegated and I've never seen the blue one! I'm totally stoked!
You made me laugh with the coral salvia! How about I see what they are and I'll send you a pic and then you'll know if you want to try them next year. I have a couple of mysterious salvias this year. One was a tall pink one I saved seeds for a couple years ago-I'm wondering what color they will be-but they germinated, so it looks like I will find out!
wind-I'd love to try the white habeneros someday!
Maggie, seems like you've asked that before-or I've seen that same question asked by someone else? I have no idea how to help you, but I would like to know more about what you're using.
What kind of foam is it? What does it look like? Do you mean the rockwool stuff? I'm thinking that whatever it is, I might want to avoid it in the future if it's really hard to deal with.
Susy,
I may have asked it before, don't recall the answer. If it was answered, perhaps I missed it. It's some kind of growing foam used in the Chia pet system (I got it as a gift). Here is a link to what looks like the same thing. It would be fine if I had only put in a couple of seeds but I "wintersowed" them and now I need to get them apart. I fear I'm going to lose a bunch.
Thanks,
Maggie
I wasn't sure about the gomphrena either, so I think I'll do it in the house.
Neal, a nice person sent me a pack of the A. monellii, aka Poor Man's Weather Glass as a surprise, too. Sounds like a cool plant. I'm starting that in the house, too. I don't want to take any chances. and I've already got so much outside. Of course, I'm out of room under the lights, too, but I've got a lot of south windows. I'm moving the plants to the windows after they get a couple of sets of true leaves and a little stronger.
I'm sowing peppers today. Can't wait to see all the little ornamentals. and I also did some Park's Whopper bell peppers.
Suzy, what was your problem with veronica? Mine was WS in the spring last year and I just left them for a while before I transplanted them but when they are small in the seed trays I usuall just wait until they are big enough for me to transplant. I have some Inula (germinated 3-7) that was really small when they germinated and they are just now getting big enough to transplant if you do an experiment and go ahead and tranplant one and leave the rest in the seed tray the ones in the seed tray will grow faster, this is what I have found anyway so I don't bother to take the chance of transplanting until they get the size that I can, hope this helps :) I do the same with my begonias. Oh when I have enough seedlings and I'm not going to pluck them out for a while after the second set of true leaves I still feed them in the seed tray too.
Lucy, all of those peppers aren't from me, some are left over from the swap :) Thanks for letting me know they got there and I'm glad you are so tickled with them I was too :) Yes just let me know what the salvia are like, I like the big ones anything but red I have a tall red one that I like so I just transplant it if I want more they reseed like crazy here lol
filius blue was from Lala_Jane
black pearl can't remember who that was from, who was it anyone know?
shu was mine
variegated was mine
grampapa, you'll love thos whooper bell peppers I grew some last year and they were about twice the sice of the calif. wonder peppers :) I guess I traded all of my seeds still haven't found mine but I have some calif. wonder seeds soaking and going to plant those tomorrow.
gemini, I grow the annual phlox but they are the shorter ones and they do good and reseed, they bloom all summer :) I started some in the house a couple of years ago and haven't had to plant them since. Also I WS the blue pimpernel in the spring early on the surface and had luck that way I never could get them to germinate downstairs and now I've had those reseeding for me for a couple of years too.
pamsue, when I first started getting my pro mix I just asked the nursery if they had any big bags of soiless mix, that's where I used to get all of mine until they started having too much peat in it and so I just went ot another nursery and it just so happened they had just switched to a better one for the same reason, so go to one of your nurseries and ask about it or the one I went to the first time had a list of soils on the wall, but call around I bet you could find some and it's a lot cheaper to buy it that way, now I get the big 3 cu. ft. bag for $10 but this nursery is unusual and I'm probably the only person that buys a lot of the mix from them, well I know I am lol
My gosh you all I'm still trying to get caught up from being gone all day!! LOL I'm only up to Suz's post at 12:20, get a bunch of women together and forget it it's impossiable to get caught up LOL Sorry for whoever the guy is gemini? LOL I can't remember we are all one on hear LOL I'll be back I have some transplanting to do and Yes Suzy I did get my dirt in the house, 5 buckets, I couldn't ask my neighbor he had other company, the po lice! Wish I knew what that was all about but they are over there all of the time I hear he is moving and I hope he does! Later, now don't chat too much so I can get caught up later tonite!
pamsue, I always miss you :) You are my buddy and by the way George/ansonfan says Hi and he's still planting seeds LOL
Robin, my geraniums have hit a stand still too but they're still good looking little fellers :) I've got three different kinds of coleus, this is the first year for that but I grew that carefree mix last year and it sold me on coleus, I was never impressed with it before and I'm a foliage person? lol I have two baby bergenia but they are kind of puny looking they just got big enough to transplant did it take yours a while to look like anything, seems like I lost mine a couple of years ago when I grew them at about this time in their life, I only had two germinate so far, it's been a while since I've planted them.
Seandor I'm going to be hitting it close to running out of room and still have a bunch of seeds that I want to start lol What is really messing my plantings up are these darn tomato and pepper plants they take so much room, I might not grow any for my favorite neighbor next year lol They are putting a cramp in my style lol I'll end up with three shelves and maybe a bit more by the time I get them all going already two shelves are full of them and I have two seed trays to transplant and one more to plant yet plus all of my variegated peppers they take as much space as the reg. peppers :)
Does anyone when they pass their plantstands try and ignor the 'free space' they have on them and plant those seed trays anyway, knowing each seed tray probably has 20 seeds for 20 pots or in 6 packs, to take more space lol I Naw we wouldn't do something like that would we? 8^))) Yes this little piggie is saying oink oink right about now Suzy! BUT I still have more seed to plant LOL I have a bag full that I want to plant in place! Oink Oink!
BTW Suzy my veronica that were WS last winter bloomed just before summer was over until the frost, so I'm thinking it's good to WS and I left them in the jugs a while :)
Thanks LeBug! Good to hear about annual phlox; now I can't believe I haven't been growing them! And I'm thrilled to hear blue pimpernel wintersows and reseeds too!
I'm up to 22 sprouted WS jugs! The shasta daisies started yesterday, and several more painted daisies are up. Several daisy type plants have all started doing their thing the last few days.
Suzy, I like the term Ensign Morning glory better, Convulvulus sounds vulgar, LOL.
Morning all!
Blue pimpernell is one the bluest flowers you can get and I grow them almost every year!
Gomphrena nor Plox are doing well with me. That is, they do fine as bought plants but I just can't get them to germinate.
Yes, Convulvulus sounds vulgar. As do lots of plants that have been named by Linneus himself. That man really had an obsession. There was a thread on that but, guess what, it has been removed.....
Wind (I think)-if the habanero is just ornamental, I don't DH will like it-he wants ones he can set himslef on fire with!!LOL
Suzy-I didn't put mine outside-mine is inside in a window for sunlight, so I don't know about the water thing...
I gues if I have to have the soil up to the bottom of the coty thingys then I am going to have to transplant...can I just kinds make a hole right next to them in the container I have em in and kinda move em over and farther down??? Just wondering!! I am trying to make it as painless as possible and as easy as possible...
MY PULSATILLA VULGARIS GERMINTAED YESTERDAY!!! YEAHH!!!! I had heard that those were kinda hard to grow, so was a bit worried about them actually germinating!!
Well done, Fairy! You beat me at that! I never managed....
It may be better to transplant them in a different one if there's still seeds in the container that have to germinate. If not, you can "transplant" them in their own container, no problem. I sometimes do that too!
Fairy, I'm just saying in my opinion it is an ornamental, we grow alot of peppers and I wasn't thrilled about this one for culinary use; but it is billed as being suitable for culinary use.
If your DH likes hot, grow him some chiltepin peppers (bird peppers)....OMG.....talk about a little going a long way! HOT HOT HOT. They take a long growing time but well worth it. I had to take our plant in for the winter and the peppers ripened inside at the end of last season. Little red round balls the size of 1/8" or so. They dry beautifully too and last literally for years in a spice jar without losing their heat.
Another hot pepper, and very easy to grow, is plain 'ol jalapeno peppers. We always end up with far more than we can consume and can never give them away because most people don't like hot peppers! You could make stuffed poppers or something, but generally you only need a thin strip minced in cooking; which, provides plenty of heat!
I really love growing peppers :) writing this reminds me of a photo I saw here somewhere of Critter holding huge baskets full of a harvest from her garden....might have been peppers?
Flowerhead410 I'll gladly mail you some of the white habanero seeds I have :)
canna indica
I have 2 out of 3 that I planted growing well. I did scarify the seeds. I'm looking forward to this addition to the hummingbird garden :)
some Johnny Jump Up's for my mom and Weez's violas hardening off
