I've never grew these before. Do you think a 3-1/2" pot would be big enough to transplant these into? I hope to move them into a greenhouse outside - heated, within the next week. Our average last frost is Mid May. Should I plant them into a 6" pot now?
Lol! I had that same size about this time last year -- I thought they would be slow and finicky, and they weren't.
You can step them up a size, no problem, but I'm not sure they need a 6" pot before you set them out. Did you know they can take quite a bit of freeze, about down to 27 degrees, and also a bit of frost? They are one of the things you will be able to set out first, along with dianthus, Bachelor Buttons, Calendula, Clarkia, Godetia, well, there are one or two more, but I can't think of them right now.
Suzy
Good info to know! I just started Cerinthe Kiwi Blue also....granted mine are still seedlings, but WOW yours are huge! *remember fish emulsion* I was just starting to wonder what I was going to do with my plants as they got bigger....running out of room in my greenhouses and I haven't done 1/2 of my transplanting yet! I started about 4 varieties of clarkia.....they can take a bit of a freeze too? I sure hope so....we're not out of the water (freezing-wise) until about Memorial Day, and I need to make room for my morning glories!
Katie, are you sure about Memorial Day? I know Wadsworth is far north, but golly! Memorial Day seems extremely late! Ours is supposed to be May 1-15, but I use April 22 as my date since it has never been below freezing after that date in my memory.
Somebody has posted the URL to a website of more practical dates for last frosts than the old ones from the 1930s, but I don't remember who, or what forum. Oddly, when I clicked the link, they had April 22 as the date for Indianapolis! I dropped my jaw when I saw it, because I had never seen it in balck and white like that before!
Freezes and frosts are 2 different things....the plants don't like frosts, but they can sail though some very low temps in the mid 20s with no problem. Frost has to do with the dew point as compared to the temperature. (If I post that the dew point has to be lower than the temperature, then I will naturally get it exactly backwards, so I am not posting that, but I think that's it.) :))
Anyway, that covering of a bed sheet, or bed sheet with plastic over it, or just buy a frost cloth, might come in handy -- I haven't done it and have been pleasantly surprised, but I don't want you coming at me with your pitch fork for leading you astray on the seedlings you worked so hard on all this time. :))
Suzy
Lol....I promise I wont come at you with a pitchfork....I don't even have one. Whether it's a freeze or frost, my mom and I (she lives a little bit north of me in Willoughby) have discovered that it's just not worth attempting to put plants out much prior to the tail end of May.....some will do just fine, but I've had awful luck with my annuals dying...even covered....when we get frosts. The worst is when the Bleeding heart and hydrangeas are up and leafing out....and then BAM evil frost kills the leaves. Every year I get all excited and then end up crying because a frost ruins my plants! But I'll give it a try again this year....(I'm already anxious for potting day!)....but only with plants claiming hardiness!
Suzy,
This is the frost date info that I have.
http://www.victoryseeds.com/frost/index.html
Penne, That wasn't it...We haven't had frost in May in the last 28 years, I'm positive, and yet they show the average as May 9th.
Katie, You know your area best -- it just seems so LATE! :)
Suzy
Hi there,
I grow these and they do really well in my zone 9 and self seed in mid winter and make it through the couple frosts we have. I find that they are also totally forgiving on the culture end of things. They take down right abuse! I think it would be hard to kill these little survivors.
- WE
I swear in May it's every other day of moving the flats into the garage in the evening, then moving them back out during the day. When I've planted pots, I had to haul all of those inside too! It's just not really worth the hassle, so I bite the bullet and wait till the end of May. It's torture, I've got to say!!
wonderearth, thanks for the boost of confidence on the Cerinthe....this is my first year of trying them, and I'm really looking forward to see how they perform!!
