Mike -

Try your local hardware store - they might have seeds. Saw some at Home Depot the other day, in the seed clearance bin. If you've got an HD/Walmart/Lowes type place near you, try that also.

PV

I don't think I'd start moonflowers from seed now. They do take longer and probably wouldn't bloom before it gets cold again. So they'd be the ones to buy already started and MGs from seed.

I couldn't find them in flowershops.. But as PVick said, I tried walmart and there they were!! I got myself some Burpee Scarlett O'hara, Crimson Rambler, Heavenly Blue, and Flying Saucers. Gonna scar and soak them tonight and plant them tomorrow morning! how long do you think before they emerge from the soil??

Mike

They should break the soil in 5-7 days, maybe less. After that, watch out!

After this year, you'll never have to worry about MG seeds again!

PV

Well, I just scratched the surface of the seeds with a nail file from my mini buck tool and put them in little teacups of water. Tomorrow morning (maybe 10 hours from now), I'll go ahead and plant them. I hope everything comes out okay. I just scratched them.. I was worried about breaking them but those are hard seeds!

Now, I have a bunch left over from those packs as I used about 4-5 of each species. Can I keep the seeds for next year too?

Mike

I didn't even have to nick the MG seeds. They seemed to do just fine with soaking only. The MF seeds needed nicking though. I think the seeds should be okay for next year provided they are kept in a dry place. You may have a few that don't germinate but enough should.

! I am a beginner at growing anything so please advise if you can. I have 10 little peat pots with mg's started. They are about 6" tall - at least they were last time I looked!! I want them to grow around my deck railing which is about three foot above the ground. Should I transplant them to pots on the deck - or into the ground in front. Do they need something besides the flat face of the railing to cling to? Do they need to be in the sun all day? Can they wind around trees, telephone posts, etc? Like I said, I am a beginner and I am trying to soak up all the information I can. Thanks!

drruthie: you can plant them in pots on the deck or in the ground - or both - it's your choice. They do need sun, but it's not necessary for them to be in the sun all day; you can site them where they'll get either morning or afternoon sun and they should be fine. If the area is too shaded, you'll probably get lots of foliage, but not too many blooms. I don't believe they'll wind around trees or telephone posts (too thick), but you can provide some twine for them to latch onto - say, from a stake in the ground or pot to a branch of the tree - and they'll find their way up. They do want to go up, up, up, and will hold onto themselves if necessary.

When you say "the flat face of the railing", what exactly do you mean? Are there spokes in your railing? Or flat, smooth panels?? If there are spokes, and they're not overly thick, the MGs will wind around them; if it's smooth panels, you can do the twine thing to the top for them to climb.

Hope this helps....

PV

mdelon, you can keep all your seeds for quite a long time before they stop being viable. I've had 10 year old seeds germinate quite nicely. I too bought Scarlet O'Hara MG seeds, and have many left. I'll plant them again next year. Although, if this year's seeds work, as somebody said, I'll never have to buy them again! This is my first year with MGs.

Here are mine.... much darker purple than I expected:

{{gwi:2640}}

Well, about 12 hours now into the soaking, a couple of the seeds have started germinating. Certainly, I do not have to wait for all of the to germinate before I plant right? I'll go out there and plant them all now. How many would you put in one of those 24" long retangular planters?

Mike

mdeleon

Yep go ahead and plant them now. I'd space them every couple inches (maybe 2-3") and if they all sprout you can thin them out to how you want them to look. I don't think MG's are that picky about spacing.

Well, the guy who was doing some tearing out of a rotted old porch/room here just dropped a plank on a pot of morning glories (think it was a deep scarlet one) that I started myself, first year for morning glories. Of course, I have absolutely no pot left to scoop the plants up and repot, so get a new pot at WalMart and use a spatula to try and remove the tender seedlings, along with the marigold seedlings that were planted with them. Ish, repotted as best as I could, and last night was a storm. I had the pot too close to the eaves, and in the corner where the icky porch/room joins the house, the rainwater runoff from the roof dumped the pot in the night, and now I have nothing to salvage. Set victim pot upright, greater distance from the eaves, and robbed a couple of seedlings from a neighboring pot to fill in. Grrrrr, not fair!

On the other hand, my first MG/MF experience - I have one that I guided to the support yesterday, in another pot, and today it decided it likes its new upright trellis! Whoopee, now if mine will just bloom like the rest of the listees!
jeribelle

I am growing MG for the first time in years. I have a trellis out in the garden but am growing them in a large window box below it. One of the early indications that I was destined to be a gardener was that I tried to grow morning glories in my bedroom when I was 11. It didnt work but the ones I moved outside worked fine, even in the lousy Cape Cod soil I had to work with.

For those of you who fertilize your morning glories: What type of fertilizer do you use?

Susan

I gave them a half-strength miracle grow when they got their second set of leaves, but nothing since...

I have a question guys. I've started about 50 morning glories, and they're growing too fast. At this rate I'm afraid they'll be spindly before time to set them out. CAN YOU PINCH THEM BACK TO MAKE THEM BUSHIER LIKE YOU DO OTHER PLANTS? Thanks in advance for your advice!

HeritageAcre - I've never tried it, but I did find a link explaining, with pictures, how to prune and train MGs. Unfortunately, references to the site where I found it is banned here, so I'll give you the verbiage:

1. When 6 or 7 adult leaves have opened, prune above the 5th leaf. New shoots will start growing.

2. When the new vines have 4 or 5 leaves, prune above the 2nd leaf.

3. After each vine has about 6 leaves, snip off the ends to stop growth. Each branch should produce 4 flowers.

This method is used when growing in small trellised pots, but some variation of the method should work no matter whre you have them growing.

Hope this helps....

PV

After a two year hiatus from balcony gardening, actually from all gardening, I found this site, and this thread specifically, and thanks to you all, I'm hooked again :0)

I've got a 5x30 balcony on the 10th floor that I'm going to screen with MG/MF for some beauty and privacy. I've already cleaned and scrubbed the balcony, cleaned and sterilized all of my pots, got my waterfall and pond babbling away in the corner... Now I just need some spring-like weather to stick around so I can start planting! LOL

Anyway, I wanted to introduce myself and to thank all of you here for rekindling the gardening bug!

Hey Ruggy! Welcome! I forgot all about this thread from last year. But it is that time of year again.

If you hang around here long enough, your gardening bug WILL be roaring and your wallet will be emptied! LOL

We're in full swing here now... LOL I couldn't wait anymore... I've started on the balcony, and of course, extensive MG/MF usage, along with clematis, ivy, and lilac... that's for the first two days... LOL I'm planning so much more... at minimum I've still got 4 4-foot planter boxes to populate... but even that won't be the end!

I'm debating different ways to handle these hyperactive climbers... I want them to cover much of the railing on the balcony, but I know they won't be happy with that long... It would be nice if they could be trained to go up and down... but I think I've read here that doesn't go so well... so it's probably going to be twine from ceiling hooks.

Welcome Ruggy! Hopefully we can all breathe new life back into Balcony Gardening. :)

I'm definitely trying this fishing line trellis this year. I have 7 curly stakes, about 10 packets of seed, wide pots with a center hole for the stakes and some green twine that's thicker and stronger than fishing line.

I have a lawn so I'm going to be staking them in the ground through the middle of the pot though, so I'm kinda cheating.

Ah, I just love spring, don't you?

Sprouts! I have sprouts! Came home from work and checked on the MF/MG pots, and sprouts everywhere! Happy Dance!!! LOL

I've decided to go for both a functional and visual design for the supports. I'm having 8 eyebolts mounted into the ceiling and will be tying twine in angled runs from the eyebolt to the railing in overlapping pyramid shapes across the length of the balcony. This should give lots of runs for the vines, and hopefully be visually interesting. Hope I described that in a way that can be pictured!

ROTFLMAO!!

All 6 of my MFs sprouted a couple days ago and I moved them off the heat and put a pot with 4 hyacinth bean vine seeds in it on the heat to see if I get any luck this year with those (last year, none sprouted but then I had them planted too deep as I found out).

Your "visual" design sounds great. Hope you can post some pictures when they get going. We usually like posting "progress" pictures here because sometimes, it just doesn't seem like anything is growing but it really is and that spurs everyone on!

I definately will have pics :0) Maintainence should be up monday or tuesday to drill the dozen holes in the ceiling I'll need for the design and other hanging pots... I'll start with pics of the twine stringing and growth progress :0)

Here are some pics of the fishing line trellis I installed for the morning glories... and they are finally climbing! Some of the buggers seemed a bit retarded, but they are finally grabbing on and climbing :0)

I have learned that I should not plant them in clay pots next time... wet leaves get stuck to the clay and die... I think they get their moisture pulled out into the pot or something...

At any rate, some of my vines are one and half to two feet tall, and some of them are still trying to grab the lines... but it's looking good! :0)

Here is a link that might be useful: My Fishing Line Trellis

Oh my. Very nice-looking wiring there. Now THAT is "privacy". Are you going to be able to see out once they have climbed on all of that??? LOL

Wow, that is going to be something else.

I don't even HAVE morning glories yet. I have 5/6 in the baby stage, that I can't even put in the sun yet. Those came from the wet paper towel method that hubby said would never work ... all the ones I did the way he wanted (peat pots with an umbrella over them) never sprouted . And they keep telling me at the Green Market that it's too early yet ... another two weeks.
I am not putting up any more fishing line until I see if I have something to grow on it. Tho I do have some MFs that have 'hugged' that fishing line (anothing thing hubby said wouldn't work) and are almost as tall as I am :) Good thing I have experts here to listen to instead of him :p

Hope you will post some pics of the 'finished' product, Ruggy.

I think it's going to be a good bit of privacy, but I left it open at the ends, and there are inverted triangles (where the hanging pot are) that I can stand look out of.. but if all goes well, when I'm sitting at my table, I'll have shade and privacy :0)

I'll post more pictures as things progress and get filled out!

Picture update! :) I've posted basically the same thing in "Cheap fishing line trellis"... but here goes anyway :0)

my morning glories are only mere inches from the ceiling now, and I've had several lovely blooms... unfortunately, they peak while I'm at work, so I don't really get to see much of them... but I'm hopefull for the weekend! :0)
They continue to grow, and branch out... seems like every day I'm training two or three additional vines up the string... some of them have 3 or 4 each! I'm definately going to have add more fishing line next season!

At any rate, I've got some new pics... some of them of the little fountain that I have now added fish and plants too :0) But mostly morning glories! The top link in the following page (2004 - 07-01 - Balcony) are the latest pictures...

I've also noted a mulitude of small bugs... reddish... all over the morning glories... but they've attracted some lady bugs who have been hanging out and munching these beasties for days... I hope they've got some friends to share with!

Here is a link that might be useful: My garden and balcony pics

Beautiful :-) I am using the fishing line also for my MF and MG, but since I don't have a 'roof' they won't look like they are growing 'in air' like yours do :-)

I woke up to blooms! 4 of them, in all their "glory"!

Judging by the number of buds I see around... I think I may have a serious riot of blooms in the next week...

Here is a link that might be useful: July 3 Blooms

Your pics look great Ruggy! Which kinds of MGs did you plant? I think we need to start an "update" thread to see where everyone is on their balconies. I'd like to see your water feature!

The MG's are now all the way to the ceiling!!! I actually bought all different kinds of MG's, and mixed 'em up, so I'm not even sure what's out there anymore... LOL

If you go to http://www.matthewdillon.com/garden, and chose the July 1st link... about half way through the gallery is the water feature.

Okay - I finally saw it! I didn't realize there were several sets of pics at your site. I had only gone through the first set. Very nice looking water feature. I like the way the rocks were laid in it. :-D I also like the light. That's a great idea (I usually end up out here with a flashlight although not long after I had moved in, I had tried some of those plastic chinese lanterns but didn't really have a good place to hang them. LOL)

I got an absolute steal on the lighting... my local Big Lot's has them dirt cheap! The rocks are what we call "holey stones"... from Yellow River here in akron... they are mostly sandstone and had iron deposits in them which rusts away, leaving a hole in each one. I've been collecting them over the years and decided to use the for the fountain.

The water feature has a new feature... there's been a pidgeon hanging out under it, scaring the mess outta me for a couple weeks... well, today I found out why... she's got a nest under there! I don't have the heart to clean it out, so hopefully that will turn out ok.

LOL

Ruggy - you missed my saga of 2 summers ago when I kept the forum updated (in 2, 100-post threads) on the pidgies and their babies. Suffice it to say - the 3 month saga went like this:

Two eggs
{{gwi:2641}}

Produced two hatchlings
{{gwi:1226}}

Thanks to the efforts of mom
{{gwi:2642}}

And dad
{{gwi:2643}}

Leading to two kids
{{gwi:2644}}

Who grew to be two pre-adolescents
{{gwi:2645}}

Finally making it to become two teens:
{{gwi:2646}}

Who had to practice for their flying licenses:
{{gwi:2647}}

Before they were ready to leave my (UNINTENTIONAL) Pidgeon Hotel:
{{gwi:1227}}

LOL

(Just in case you were curious with respect to what you might be in store for... ;-) AND for those who have never "seen" baby pidgeons... ;-))

Nice retrospective, Jenny! LOL!

Ruggy - if she's been scaring you for two weeks, you won't have to have the heart to clean it out. There are probably little birdies under there and the parent birds won't be going anywhere now. Mama sits at night, and Papa takes his turn during the day. They will flare up at you if you mess with them.

Be prepared, as Jenny says, to spend the summer with your pigeon family.

I had babies on my terrace in 2002 as well; no more. So far this year, I'm at 6 eggs and counting - gotten rid of, of course.

PV

LOL PV!

I had a pair up here earlier this year that were just getting started (didn't have eggs yet) and I ended THAT quick, fast, and in a hurry!

Well, There's a nest and two eggs, and they are there for the summer... I'm (hanging head) named them. LOL Gertrude and Harold have a lovely nest.

I've set up a webcam... being big Garden Geek that I am...

AND... the morning glories have gone madness too! I'm up to around 100 blooms a day!!! I've updated the Garden Gallery this morning with new pics of that riot... look at the 2004 - 07-10_17 - Morning Glory link at http://www.matthewdillon.com/garden

It's a joyful summer! :0)

Here is a link that might be useful: Ruggy's PigeonCam

There has indeed been hatching! One of the eggs hatched... and goodness they are ugly! LOL

http://www.matthewdillon.com/webcam/1st_chick_071904_1.jpg
http://www.matthewdillon.com/webcam/1st_chick_071904_2.jpg

LOL!!!! Get ready for a month or two of a saga!!!!

The one BIG drawback is all the poop that those babies will leave (as you can see from my pictures)... Sigh. But it's interesting to watch mom go out and get food and when she returns, she regurgitates it to feed them, meanwhile pop stands guard. You should have a pop somewhere nearby. They do operate as a pair when raising the kids, where pop will occassionally "watch" them while she goes and gets some food. She stays with them in the nest at night and who knows where HE goes at night (not the nest). LOL

I know that one time, my pop got startled when I had eased over to check on them and he ran right over top of the babies and flew off while they were still sleeping (that's when I caught that "famous" or "infamous" photo of the little one on its back next to its sibling, fast asleep. LOL)

Hi All MG Lovers!

I'm a new member to join this forum. It's great to find so many MG enthusiasts out here. Some time back while I was going to a friend's place, I saw this tiny house which was sort of 'lit up' with an unusual shade of blue flowers. It was love at first sight! Just to have a look at those flowers I would often drop into my friend's place. Finally, one day not being able to resist myself I stopped the car right beside that house (with blue flowers) and walked up to the door to ring the bell! I could see the surprise (annoyance?) on the face of the girl who opened the door. I apologized thoroughly but explained that I simply HAD to know the name of the flower (MG plants are not at all common in Kolkata, India)! Her face broke into a smile and she told me those beauties were known as Morning Glories, but she couldn't help me any further with information such as method of propagation etc.

WellÂnever mind I thought, since I had a clue I'll find more about the love of my life. I looked up on the net and bingo there it was - tons of information!

I hunted quite a bit till I stumbled upon this small, dark shop where I found MG, Heavenly Blue seeds. It's exactly seven days now I had sowed them and four of them have popped up! I'm waiting very eagerly to see them grow and bloom with blue flowers (I fell in love with) on the strip of garden infront of my house!

So, please wish me a lots of luck!

P.S. I went back to my friend's place a couple of weeks back and on the way saw the MG plants were no longer there in that house and it looked ugly and naked. Hope the owners realize their mistake and let the MG grow back. Even if it attracts a few bugs like me!

Welcome, Candle Tree. Thank you for sharing your enthusiasm with us ... it's catching :-) Wishing you the best of luck with your seedlings. Here in the NE USA, they take quite a while to bloom. I planted some healthy seedlings today, but don't expect to see blooms until August. Might be different in India. Do keep us posted on your progress.

Hi MegNYC!

Thank you so much.

I guess with a blast around 40ºC max daily (in Kolkata currently) the MG plants are having a great time growing up! So, I can see they are shooting up with much vigor. Also going by a posting on this discussion board I'm keeping them covered with a transparent plastic sheet and putting them out for ten minutes (with the sheet on of course) in the morning sun to raise the temperature.

However, today I've noticed something, which has got me puzzled. I had sowed about fifteen seeds. Among which nine has popped (yesterday there were just four). Four of them have normal green, half apple shaped tiny leaves while the rest are with same shape leaves but are purple in color. Is this normal or something funny is happening to my plants? Am I doing anything the wrong way?

Please advice and thanks in advance. Best of luck with your MG seedlings, hope they bloom soon.

Hi Candle_Tree! I want to echo the welcome to the forum! I think I will save this thread when it reaches 100 posts (which is very soon). People have been posting in this thread since 2003! LOL

It sounds like the seeds you planted weren't all of the same type of MG. It will be interesting to see what color they are when they bloom! I know that sometimes leaves can turn purplish when it is too cold (but that is obviously not your problem) and can be that color if the soil needs more phosphorous (a good natural source is bonemeal). However I think the ones you have might naturally have that color leaf and might be some seedling cross.

Let us know how they go!

I grew "Heavenly Blue" 3 years ago and they looked like this:

{{gwi:2648}}

Hello Jenny!

Thanks, it's great to be on this forum. Your MG plant is beautiful and the bloom is simply GORGEOUS! I think my passion for MG will never cool off! Finding so many people who shares the same liking is really great.

Thank you very much indeed for your advice/suggestion. I think I will just sprinkle a little bit of bone dust on the top layer of the soil (a mixture of fine soil and dry leaf dust at a 50 - 50 ratio) just in case it's a phosphorous deficiency. I'm little puzzled because I had specifically asked for the Heavenly Blue variety (in fact the mixed ones were more expensive) due to my favoritism towards the color. Even the packet had a blue flower printed on it.

Can someone who has grown the mixed/Japanese variety comment on this please?

Anyway, I think I would just have to wait and watch. This morning 13 seeds in total have germinated and 2 of them are about 3" tall. How long should I wait to transfer them? Should I transfer them to a small Styrofoam cup and after a while finally plant them on the garden bed or should they go to the garden bed straight?

I have let the garden soil to become slightly rocky and dry (ideal for MG growth?). At the moment the weather is very heated up and no rainfall, though according to the met predictions monsoon will take over in another 15 days time.

Along side MG, I had also germinated Victoria Blue, Petunia (mixed) and Blanket Flower. Now all those seedlings are growing too.

You kow what? If your monsoon season is about to start, you might want to grow your MGs in pots so that you can move them out of the heaviest rain. I grow mine in larger containers outside and train them on trellises (plus 2 have reseeded themselves 2 years ago and last year and so I get many that sprout outside in many of my other containers... LOL).

You could have actually started them directly outside. Those of us in colder climates end up starting them inside to get a head start on the growing season.

Anyway, since the vines are so fragile, many recommend that you transplant directly to its permanent spot (and be careful so you don't break the stem). You can probably do that once it gets its first or 2nd set of leaves.

Hi!

Thanks so much. I think I will do as you said and transfer them to pots till the heaviest rain is over and then plant them outdoors.

Actually my experience with MG is nil and people I know who are into gardening couldn't be of much help either, now that I'm learning I guess I will make fewer mistakes in future.

Yesterday I had a look at your page and saw your garden in the balcony. I must congratulate you and must say that it's simply BRILLIANT!!! Wonderful job Jenny!

I planted a morning glory at the base of my mailbox. How can I assist it to wrap around my mailbox. I have one of those thick plastic mailboxes. Any ideas would be welcome.