Beginner Mistake with my marigolds, correction???

14 years ago

It seems in my haste to sow every possible container I had, I chose to use the bottom of a seed starting house I had (with it's lid). Had vent holes, clear plastic lid, tall lid to allow for a bit of upward growth, and was large enough for a lot of marigold seeds. I have just realized, now that it's sprouted and has rained for the past 3 days, that the tray has no drainage holes. Not really sure how that escaped me. I'm thinking of using a large spatula (or possibly a flexible cutting board) to scoop out my sopping wet soil with sprouts in tact and place it on top of additional dryer soil in a new container (one with drainage and vent holes). It seems logical enough, and I'm not envisioning problems other than the need to move slowly with care during the transfer process. Can anyone think of something that I may be missing, that would make this not a great idea?

I don't want to plant out yet - one because of time - I'm cleaning up and preparing to go away for week, two because our last average frost date is April 15, so I think I may be a bit premature, and 3 because it's really wet here so I haven't been able to work and tidy the garden and prepare it for planting yet. I can do a border around the outside of the garden, but I had planned to use the plants between and around my tomatoes and peppers. These are marigold 'Golden Guardian' hybrid from Park Seed, that theoretically provide the best nematode protection. It's still really wet and muddy here, even though my hilltop garden drains well and isn't as bad as some low lying areas in the yard. I hate to plant out now in the muck, plus it will make preparing the garden more difficult if I have to work around young tender plants already in place. Thanks for the input.

I have pictures - but still do not know how to post them in a message. I read the instructions, it said during message preview there would be a place to upload your file. I don't see that at all, just the link boxes and I don't know how to imbed a picture using a link address. Someday I need to find the technical instructions for these forums. Maybe I should be in "gallery" view mode?

Sherri

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (7)

Ann
14 years ago
Could you use a cordless drill to put holes in the sides and bottom? Certainly I wouldn't use an electric one because of the risk of being electrocuted...
not_a_contessa
14 years ago
If you have one you might want to try an ice pick or a screw driver. A corkscrew might be another option. A large nail or screw. A knitting needle. A two-prong large kitchen fork utensil. The point of a paring knife. One side of an open scissors. Anything pointed that will go through the plastic. I would only disturb the seedlings as a last resort.

Mary
Related Discussions
Bonsai beginner with a few questions
Q
Comments (8)
I would put a very large amount of money on it that your unidentified tree is a juniper of some sort. I really cannot differentiate between the junipers well. I have 2 junipers and it does look alot like my "Juniperus chinensis 'Parsonii'", I can definitely tell you it is not a "Juniperus chinensis 'Blue Vase'". Both of these are Chinese Junipers that have been selected to look different. Kind of like a black dog compared to a white one of the same species. I have been searching for a site that can help me differentiate the different junipers. I have not found one yet. If you come across a site like this, send me an email (its in my profile). Here are links to look at the two types of Chinese juniper I mentioned above. (photo less than a month) and (photo is about 8 months) As for your lighting. You can find a 18" florescent light fixture that will hold one or two bulbs, its your choice there. Then go to the pet store and get a bulb for aquarium plants. These bulbs throw out huge amounts of the spectrum and are very bright. You could even buy the hood (light fixture) for the aquarium there. It would be more expensive at the petstore ($40) compared to a Lowes/HomeDepot store ($25) for the light fixture. The bulb should run you around $25. I just searched Lowes and found a single 18" fixture for $15. Then at the petstore the bulb is $25. If the fixture comes with bulbs, I would replace them with grow lights, and hold on to them for backups. I would go with a double bulb fixture if you are trying to stay under $100. They are cheap enough. Good luck, hope this helps.
...See More
Daylily Advice for a Beginner
Q
Comments (13)
Thank you for the good advice. It has given me some new things to consider before I continue. As far as hybridizing goals, my initial goal is fairly simple - I just want to see if I can do it. My ultimate goal? Once I was sitting at a conference where every desk had an open laptop on it. I was getting bored, so I went over to ebay and typed in "Daylilies - completed auctions - highest priced first.:" WOW! I saw dayliles that made my jaw drop. One was large, frilly, shades of purple/magenta with a chartreuse center and may have had the word "Leprechaun" in the cultivar name. A few farther down, I saw a bright red one, with a yellow/cream center and it may have had the name "China" or "Chinese" in the cultivar name. That was a few years ago, so I may never run across those particular culitvars again, but it certainly made me want to learn more about them. Years ago, I bought a purple/lavendar (I don't know the proper color terms) daylily called "Chicago Queen," and since then, I've favored the red/pink/purples. This is strange, because what I am growing now are pastel yellows, darker yellows and apricots (not on same property as my new flower beds. I like the frilly stuff, the thick petals, the ruffled edges, the doubles, the bicolors, etc, and at this point in time are not interested in UFO, spider, pastels, small blooms - maybe later. I will be looking at the sites you suggested and doing some more reading. A few quick, and I hope not dumb, questions: 1. As a beginner can I jump right into buying tetraploid lilies, or should I buy diploid first, or should I learn by working with both? (no money I spend on plants is wasted, since can I buy/grow what I want, and then later, if I tire of it, I can move it to a commercial property where they are enjoyed by the public.) 2. Is there a reason I should be looking at award winners to start out with? 3. Being a zone 5, should I buy now and in autumn, or should I wait till spring? The new flower beds are protected by buidlings or the woods, so extreme temps shouldn't be a problem. Thanks again for your thoughtful advice. Off topic, but you want to see my big pumpkin? Here is a link that might be useful:
...See More
over-eager beginner...
Q
Comments (18)
If you have a lot of wild animals, a fence is essential. If you have raccoons around, you need an electric fence to keep them out because they'll climb any other sort of fence. Sometimes a Three Sisters Garden keeps coons out of the corn and sometimes it doesn't. If you have dogs, be sure they have rabies shots because the skunks like to come dig in the garden for insects and stuff and they generally are not afraid of the dogs. You can use pumpkins in any recipe for winter squash, and we had a thread on here last fall with oodles of recipes for everything under the sun. You can use pumpkin/winter squash in soup, southwestern chowder, cookies, cake, muffins, pot pies, ravioli, etc. You can use winter squash/pumpkin baked and seasoned and eaten as a side dish. We can find that old thread next fall and add to it or start a new one. Escar-Go works great and will save your plants from snail, slugs, sow bugs and pill bugs. It's hard to say what was on your tomatoes without seeing them. If the holes were small, likely it was some sort of small caterpillar. This year, at the first sign of that kind of damage, ask about it and somebody should be able to diagnose what's happening based on the time of the season it is and your description of the damage. Or, we can look at websites like the TAMU Tomato Problem Solver or the Tomato Pest & Disease Forum's Tomato Problem Solver threads and likely find a solution. When you grow herbs near vegetables, the main thing to do is to be sure the herbs won't get too large and shade or crowd the veggies. Dawn
...See More
Some basic beginner sock (on dpns) questions
Q
Comments (8)
Thank you for the replies! Donna--I understand what you mean about finding what is "right" vs "wrong" for me in my own techniques. But I suspect there is something "wrong" with my first join because I just can't find ANY reference to it, or demonstration of it, in the internet knitting world. That leads me to believe that my method will cause some kind of--not sure what to call it--geometric abnormality? Like, it will knock one row off and mess up the pattern? Something like that? I don't know... To recap (because I'm probably not explaining myself very well): my first join is similar to the technique of switching the positions of the first and last stitch. Only, instead of switching them, I actually knitted them together. Because I am doing a K2P2 ribbing, I counted that as my first knit. Then I got my fourth needle, and proceeded to knit, starting with the second K stitch, then 2 purls, etc. Was I wrong to count the knitted join as the first knit stitch? To avoid ladders (since tightening wasn't working too well), I just repeated my joining technique of knitting (or purling) together the last stitch on one needle with the first stitch on the next needle. Then I brought in needle #4 and continued. That made those ladder junctions into stairsteps. Is that ok? Or will that majorly mess up a more complicated pattern that I might want to do someday? Oh--I think I figured out what I'm disliking so much about this process. It isn't the dpns, per se, it is the teensy weensy sock yarn. It is so wispy that I cannot for the life of me get the tension right. It is too wispy for my fingers to hold on to, so my tension is always loose. I think I have tried wrapping it around my hand, fingers, elbow, arm, shoulder, etc. about 37 different ways to no avail. The only technique I haven't tried is routing it around my neck. I'll try that one tonight after I get the kids to bed! If that doesn't work, there's always teeth! Wishing I would have used worsted weight for my first socks! Thank you again for your help. I hope my questions/problems made sense. I'm not too good with the knitting lingo yet. :-) Francy
...See More
smlechten
Original Author
14 years ago
I thought briefly about ways to put in drainage holes after the fact, but I lack a means of suspending the container while I drill from underneath. My boys are too young to help, and my husband is out of the country. We're meeting him in Fl this Friday, we won't be all back home for another week. It would be pretty difficult for me to get any leverage from below, and I'll need enough room to work so just propping it up on a couple wood block probably wouldn't be sufficient.

I have an number of pointy objects, and a cordless drill, even a dremmel. I've got metal bits, plastic bits and masonry bits - so I'm sure I have a too that would get it done if I could figure out how, but then of course I'd be drilling up into the seed bed which may be disturbing as well. This is thick, medium-duty at least plastic, not deli meat container, chinese soup take out that you can just shove a scissors through. I'm talking molded or extruded, commercially produced, rigid plastic - it's gonna take a bit of muscle. I'm not picturing the kitchen fork or knitting needle going through, I'm envisioning the point of my paring knife breaking off. I'm also not sure if something like a hammer and nail theory would cause the plastic to crack. Of course, the crack would drain well.

I'll have to look at it from a few other angles and see if there is a way to access it to install drainage.

Thanks,
Sherri
tammyinwv
14 years ago
Why not sit it ON the wood block, then use the hammer and nail to punch a hole?
TAmmy
not_a_contessa
14 years ago
Sherri, considering the density of the plastic, it may be best to move the seedlings after all, doing it carefully as you describe.

I can relate to wanting to save Golden Guardian, I couldn't even get them to germinate, nor did a friend have any luck with them, so congratulations with your success with them. I may try again this year.

Mary
mnwsgal
14 years ago
If you have an awl and hold the container firmly you should be able to push it through the sides to make drainage holes near the bottom. Then water the container to settle any disturbed soil/sprouts.

If you don't think making drainage holes would work for you go ahead and scoop the whole bit into a new container. If the sprouts are very small and you are careful they should be okay. You won't need too much new soil on the bottom of the new container, if any. And although your soil is soaking already, I would still water the new sprouts in to close any air pockets that might be formed with the moving. Just water lightly and carefully. With the drainage in the new container the excess water will drain away.

And, as a last resort, if you have any seeds left sow them in the new container and leave the others alone. Set the soaking container out of the rain and see if the soil drys out enough that you can remove any surviving sprouts later.
smlechten
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks. I think I'm going to go for the transfer. I was thinking about drilling into the side near the bottom, but panicked at the last minute because I'm afraid the plastic will crack/shatter since it's the hard kind of plastic, it really has no flexibility at all, completely rigid.

I actually purchased 4 packets of the seed, and I only sowed one, so I still have 3 packets. If I totally mess up, it's not a total loss, just unfortunate.

Guess I'll go prep my kitchen for surgery.

Sherri

Beginner Mistake with my marigolds, correction???

Comments (7)

Ann

not_a_contessa

Related Discussions

smlechten
Original Author

tammyinwv

not_a_contessa

mnwsgal

smlechten
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Beginner Mistake with my marigolds, correction???

Comments (7)

Ann

not_a_contessa

Related Discussions

smlechtenOriginal Author

tammyinwv

not_a_contessa

mnwsgal

smlechtenOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

smlechten
Original Author

smlechten
Original Author