I completely forgot that I had planted an avocado. That must have been over a year ago. Thank you so much for noticing this. I'm really excited that I got an avocado plant to germinate!

Celery.. No cover light required for germination at 70F taking 10-17 days.....Rutabaga/turnip light cover temp 70F taking 7-14 days to germinate.....Carrot light cover soil temp 64-72F taking 10-21 days....Lettuce light cover soil temp 65-70F taking 6-10 days to germinate. Many inserts for growing seedlings are 1 inch deep but others for starting trees are 6 inches deep & may be used for starting root crops.Starting in a cold frame is common & instead of using FRESH manure on the surface I use it & cover with 1-2 incches of sand & it generates a lot of heat. A light bulb will also help. Also look on the package it gives time to maturity ....pick those varities with with the shortest time to maurity. I hope this helps

What kinds of indoor space do you have available for seed starting versus your outdoor space? If I'm growing seedlings indoors for weeks, I prefer to use the unconditioned basement rather than conditioned space to grow seedlings. The warmer conditioned spaces encourage the seedlings to grow faster, which is a no-no without LOTS of light, which is difficult to provide. So growing under lights in cooler temps (like an unconditioned basement) typically lead to sturdier transplants than growing warm under lights. Before I got my 480 sq ft hoophouse put in I used a very sturdy low cold frame that I put about fifteen steps out my back door. Mine looks very similar to this: The outdoor mini cold frame was *EXTREMELY* useful in hardening off plants prior to transplanting them out. I also had a small heat mat out there to put the more cold-sensitive plants on top of if it was just too cold. I think that the short cold frames retain heat in the right places a little better than the tall ones with tops that are too high off the ground. My frame is about 4 feet by 8 feet and was totally indispensable until I got my big hoophouse. I think this year I'll get the little cold frame in operation again because it's a shorter trip than making the way to the big hoophouse for setting out and bringing in transplants. I guess what I'm really trying to say is that I like to use a combination of a small indoor growing space (at cool temps and under fluorescent shop lights) and a small outdoor cold frame (with a little heat mat if needed). You will always need to harden off plants prior to transplanting them out permanently, and a well-made polycarbonate cold frame allows you to do so at much lower risk to your plants!

Be positive wanna run. Canas are a beautiful plant anyway. Sure, the disappointment is there that some $&@#^$!s will do that to people, but the upside is that you'll have a very nice flower. Just an aside. We have some canas as well. Some of them grow from the fish pond, which has palms around it. Last year, a cana with amazing orange/peach colored flowers, grew against the trunk of the taller palm (Washingontia Robusta) and flowered just above the top frond and some flowers down the stem too. The end result, is a "Flowering W. Robusta"! LOL I took some pictures last year and should post them as it just looks awesome, while being untrue! LOL I don't think Robustas have cana-type flowers! ;) :D