Seedling Chatter ..... last one was starting to crawl, and i'm on high-speed.
here's where we came from, #8 http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/826501/
No new seedlings to report. Rain here today, but it should be near 60°. YAY.
Join Us! Seed Swap Seed Starting & Conversation #9
I'm here!
Poor thing! Sun is shining but a very ugly dark cloud is appearing at the horizon. It'll probably shed its load the very moment I set foot out of the office!
Uggg - such dreary weather. I'd just like to see the sun shine.. hopefully by weeks end.
I do know that by Wed it should be warming back into the 50's.
gonna spend the day 'catching up on things' that have been on the back burner for a while.
WS a few misc containers [the kid forgot the 6 milk jugs at work, that he saved for me - so i only have 1 ]
do some odd sewing since i finally got the machine into my room
and just some general cleaning that needs to get done.
starlight....9 months for batflower seeds to germinate!!! that would have been a looooong wait for me. Thanks to trouble seated at the left, I won't have to wait now!
here are some of my ws containers. The large round clear containers are take-out cake containers. The only problem is there is not much clearance at the top after they start growing. I have some bending seedlings at the moment :)
Holy Cow! you had the patience to wait 9 months for germination
I think i would have given up .... BUT i guess if you know a certain seed takes a LONG time, and you really want that plant... you have to wait.
Ahhhh, just look at those innocent faces, wind. lol So cute. I love cats.
My youngest of 4 years old, walked through a flat of seeds that weren't coming up. Where her paws mashed down the soil, I had some come up. So, I mashed the rest of them down. lol We will see if I can do what she did. : )
I just can't imagine having cats and worrying about them walking on my seed trays LOL Wind your kitties are so purdy! I have some catnip growing by my gas tank that I put there a few years ago and I guess it's not getting enough sun, it's only part sun, but the kitties don't pay any attention to it never have and I have cats of all ages here or I did since these two cats started hanging around one of them stares the other cats down and kindly walks them out of the yard he has taken over the yard LOL Cats are a trip and they aren't even my cats LOL Oh I forgot to say my catnip only gets about a foot tall guess I need to plant some in the sun but too many other seeds win out over the catnip so I haven't planted anymore, I need to get around to that some day.
oh gosh i am sowing peppers and tomatoes..the second wave of them and i cant find
mariannes peace tomato seed and im going crazy trying to find them
petunias are going to be next
my kitten did mash down the dome cover on my flats..i think she is staying off of them now she has rather good memory.
pam
Oh Lucy is it your birthday I haven't even looked at the birthdays yet today, HAPPY BIRTHDAY 8^) Hope it's pretty for you today outside it's raining here again only one day in the forecast for no rain this week! I'm soo sick of rain! if you don't have sunshine have sunshine in your heart today :)
Wind-love the kittys:)
LUCY-HAPPY BDAY!!
If that really works, when I get home I am making my cat walk on mine too-I will lead her around with a can of tuna if need be!!
LOL, Fairy. A can of tuna. LOL : )
I was hoping you all would not notice the birthday list, today. : ) But, thank you very much, anyway. : ) I'm getting as old as dirt. : )
~Lucy
Happy Birthday Lucy :)
Plant a seed today!
Hi Lucy! Happy Birthday!
Yes pamsue that's about how long we have been having rain too! Haven't seen a dry spot of dirt since! Got my phlox in from a coop and can't even plant them I hate it and in the summer I bet we don't even get any rain we will be watering all summer again gess I hope our summers are going to be like this all of the time now!
Happy Birthday, Lucy!!!!!!!
Gosh, Now I forget who this answer is for the last thread, but on the Lantana.... I had bad vibes about those Miss Huff seeds because the plant description of them clearly says they are sterile. HOWEVER, on Lantanas, there is a chance the seeds are viable if you grow more than one kind, so I dmailed the person who sent them in and yes, she had more than one kind, so I thought I would send them out and everybody could check and see. Of course, they also have to be ripe, as Tuink says.
Lantana seed should be soaked in warm water for 24 hours and sowed. It will germinate within a week. The seedlings, the true leaves, anyway, have a fragrance/odor that is unmistakeable if you rub them.
Speaking of fragrance, I used to hate the smell of Petunias and geraniums, both. NOW I love them, but the petunias don't smell anymore nowadays. I asked at the garden center/fruit stand, and the lady said the only ones that really smell are the purples, next the blues. The reds, whites, yellows, pinks and Salmony pinks don't smell. Well, a little, but not really. I did some investigating in Floirda, and I believe she was right. I'd like to hear about fragrant petunias later this spring when they start blooming.
Back to Lantana, I did get about 30% germination on the Pale Yellow Upright Lantana of mine. 4 dats germination. I might have sent out some seeds to requesters, so if you have that one it should be good (well, 30%, isn't good, but you know what I mean -- you should get SOMETHING.)
I sowed Peppers, tomatoes and basil last night and they are upstairs on a heat duct. Best I could do. PamSue told me Sungolds were the ones to make sure I sowed, so I did. Thanks, Pam.
Had to laugh -- I thought I had some little cukes, like ones to make pickles out of. I looked and found them right away, (they were from Critter and I knew what kind of package to look for) but they are PEPPERS. Pickled Peppers? Oh, yeah, I guess so. (?) Well, I want to make PICKLES, so I only sowed a couple of seeds. So what kinds of cucumbers make pickles? I need MORE SEED!!!!!!!! :)
Had a fair amount of germination outside under plastic...maybe 15 microscopic things or so? I oculd barely see them, but Dryad scoped them out. She came over today and when we lifted the cover we could feel the hot air coming out from underneath. It won't be long now!
Forecast calls for one night this week, either Tuesday or Wed being 27 or 28 degrees, so they can stay tucked in for a while.
Mr. Clean helped me put the greenhouse up Sunday, so I will be moving my early annuals into the greenhouse, moving my non-germinators outside with no cover, and possibly moving some of the pots of WS seedlings into the greenhouse. ... not sure how it will all shake out, all I can say is clump transplanting is in my future because I don't have enough pots or flats of cell packs to transplant all these seedlings.
Suzy
Bummer girls and boys!!!! In thread no 8 yesterday you all were busy chatting about your portable greenhouses. The Walmart hyperlink told me my Walmart had them yesterday.
I had never wanted one until I saw that one and got myself up to Seymour today and guess what. Sold Out!!! Six went out over the week-end. Now I am aggravated. On my list for next year.
Oh, too bad... those little "greenhouses" are handing for hardening off seedlings!
I've had zero germination on my lantana (pink & yellow) seeds. :-( But it looks like my little plant (purchased last summer) made it through the winter, semi-dormant in a basement pot, so I've got something!
Do start several of those 'Sweet Pickles' peppers... they're very ornamental with their little upright colorful peppers, like one of those "ornamental" chiles, only sweet & tasty! Even the seeds are not bitter, so you can eat (or pickle) them whole. They're sweetest when red-ripe.
I like the little "pickling" cucumbers for all uses (salads, sandwiches, etc)... they have a wonderful sweet crispness to them! I'm not sure I have a favorite variety -- still looking!
If anyone wants any cow pots they are still taking orders for cases and I ordered 200 of the 3" pots for $70 too, I've been outside transplanting in the 4" I just got today and they have no smell LOL Roger said he would take orders and give us the discount as long as he can do it so that will be a while it sounds like.
Lea -- I just can't use that many. I'll get some next year. Plus -- I'm already spending A LOT on hostas, i just can't drop $70 on poop pots. They, along with the baggies are on my mental list for next year.
Gram has been having really good luck with the gusseted plastic bags, and I thought you'd like to hear about the coop starting so we can try them in lots of 100 in stead of 1000.
Gram, are these crispy plastic like cellophane, or are they like a ziploc sandwich bag? I know corsage bags come in a style like this and wondered if they were that crispy plastic :))
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/829143/
Suzy
here ya go .... Those wanting a small gh just to harden off plants.
This is a plant stand directiosn from T's Plants and Things.
http://www.tsflowers.com/plantstand.html
You can build this plant stand real cheap. It wil hold 16 trays. You can put lights on it for young seedlings inside and then I built a couple and have them outside. Then I can use them to harden off seedlinsg with.
Youc an build em cheap and if ya want to put plastic on it to help keep heat in and moisture and stuff, then ya just buy a 2.00 buck roll of plastic from walmart to cover it with.
Dah.. Dummy me forgot all about what I do til now. I don't use the inch pvc, I built mine with 3/4" cuz i had lost of it. This such a vertile plant stand and in the fall ya can put back in house and put plants on it til your ready to put lights back on.
$189.00 bucks for water line reapir. 15 minute job and 9 buck part. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr LOL that an idea. coudl put the lotus out there.
Suzy.. them bags are cellophane. I use them to package my crafts with. They will build up some moisture if in the sun, but if the bags are not in the sun not sure if soem moisture will build up. I can try and do one for a test on wednesday and let it sit til friday and see what happens to be sure it wil work for your plants.
They don't budge either like a plastic bag will so if yoru plant won't fit in it you out of luck, ain't no way to force it in to fit.
let me see the company I order mine fromand see if they are any cheaper. Will check tommorrow night when I get home. Got to find my catalog and it out in the shed, and I don't remember the name of the company. Remember they come in a hundred a box and you buy as many boxes as ya want and you cna mix all kinds of sizes from tiny to big.
Yes, I am sorry, but the poop pots are waaaaay too expensive unless you use them for somehting very, very special. I have 25, but I will hoard mine and save them for that eventuality.
Critter, do you think a pickling cucumber seed pack could be found at Lowe's or Home Depot or anything? I am not spending $3.99 on shipping to get a single pack by mail order.
Yeah, you can find pickling cucumbers anywhere. There's even a variety called 'Homemade Pickles' that I spotted on the cheapie rack at WalMart last year!
hi, critter my yellow and pink lantana had zero germination too
this is an interesting quick clip on pickles
http://ask.yahoo.com/20000529.html
Suzy, they are pretty easy to pick up like critter suggested. I'm pretty sure I have extra cuke seeds for pickles....do you want them? I can mail them tomorrow if you do :)
Thanks Diana/Wid, but I can go out and get them -- it will give me a chance to see what is (or isn't) at the garden center.
Thanks, though! I hope it's not too late to start ! It seems like it has been winter all up until today, and now it's Spring. The grass has a greenish tinge to it, the miniature daffodils are blooming, I don't know exactly, but it is finally SPRING! (But then I get nervous - did I start all the seeds I wanted to grow this year or not?
Suzy
ok...I'm thinking the same thing about if I started all I wanted to or not....keep on planting it's not too late....I still have more to go too...zone 6b has the whole month of April ahead of us yet for our seedlings to grow and don't you too in zone 5b? :)))))
Thanks friends, for the birthday wishes. You all are tooooo sweet. : ) Wind, that picture looks just like me, watering my flowers. : )
Hugs to everyone. : )
~Lucy
Holy Cow, Starlight -- it sounds like here! It makes me mad, too. I have so many broken things it isn't funny, but I live with them (or without them, as the case may be.) While I was in Florida, Mr. Clean heard the furnace flame go on, but the fan didn't kick on soon enough (something like that) and he called the furnace people who charged him $80.00 to tell him there was nothing wrong. Who the heck notices whether the fan kicks on in 65 seconds or not? LOL! I save a lot of money by just closing my eyes and ears. (But I understand that leaking water isn't the same thing...just sayin' it's the same here with stuff breaking down and charges from the repairmen.)
Wind, Yes, but the midwest generally has a longer growing season that the east coast, north of Maryland. I get colder in winter but my last frost might be earlier than yours. By April 22 there should be no more frosts here, and I will probably force the issue, and plant out a bunch of stuff earlier than that. The 10-day forecast will tell me a whole lot about what is on the horizon on April 12-13.
Suzy
Hi, Lucy, big birthday (((hugs))). Hope you had a good day :0)
The bags I'm using are not cellophane, they are like a sandwich baggie plastic. I think the cellophane would get brittle.
here's the link to where I got them. I bought the 5x3x15 (1 mil thick, but they have a 2 mil), because I thought the milk jugs were a little bigger than I needed. I kind of liked the 1/2 gal, and these were as close to that size as I could get.
http://www.uline.com/Browse_Listing_160.asp?desc=Uline+1+Mil+Gusseted+Poly+Bags
Ah, Okay. The bags in the coop are 4" ones and the idea is to use them OVER a pot, not instead of it. I didn't think they could be cellophane, but then I got thinking about the corsage bags and how much they look like those. It clearly says "poly" on the coop header, but I didn't see it becuase I clicked on a link and it took me right to the thread.
Meanwhile...I have a couple of questions about my seedlings. Most of them I understand what they are, but one is Plectranthus 'Silver Shield' and I cannot fingure out why I wanted it, why I planted it, or what I am supposed to do with it. Does anybody grow it? What do you do with it?
It looks sort of no account to me.
Naturally it took me so long to type all that I forgot the second question. LOL!
Suzy
Thank you, Grampapa. : ) I had a really nice day. My best present was getting to hear my 1st GB's heartbeat. It was sooooo exciting. I even recorded it with my camera. In 5 more weeks we get to see a picture. I can't wait. : )
~Lucy
Lucy, that is sooo cool. Best present ever!
Suzy, I did my w/s directly in the bags, then put the bags in the Rubbermaid bins...no pots. I only put the cowpots inside the bags for some of the ones inside that I didn't want to transplant. And I'll use them like that for things that don't like their roots disturbed. The bags in the co-op are the exact same bags I am using and the 4" cowpot fits nicely.
Yippee! Thanks, grampapa. I just upped my order to 400, LOL.