tips of starting/growing Carnations from seed ?

17 years ago

I planted some Carnation seeds yesterday indoors under

my grow lights.....I have observed that, sometimes, starting and maintaining seedlings of perennials can be more trick than annuals.

Although, from my reading so far, every authority says that carnations are very easy to grow from seed.

Any hints/tips/recommendations ?

Kevin/Zone 6

Southern Illinois

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Comments (6)

all_bout_flowers
17 years ago
I have started a lot of carnations and have never had a problem with germination. In fact they are very easy to grow and I love them. This is what I do-I use Miracle grow potting mix to start all my seeds. I have done this for many years and have a very good success rate. In one season I start over 75 trays of flowers. Most times you cover the seed as thick as the seed is, very small seed do not get covered. I use vermiculite to cover my seed it's light and they can pop right through. Unless it notes otherwise I put my trays in a clear plastic bag and put on a heated bed in the green house, as soon a few seed have popped through I take the tray out of the bag and off the heating bed.
Best of Luck,
Kathleen
kvbch
Original Author
17 years ago
Great Advice!

Thanks for the write up, I can't wait to get these started then! I'm still just not used to Perrenials being as easy as annuals.
Kevin
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You don't say where you're starting the seeds. If you're not using a heat mat, the temperature may be important. For instance, I start seeds in my house (about 70-72 degrees). Then as soon as I see sprouts (about 3-4 days) I transfer the trays to the fluorescent lights in the basement so the seedlings will be short and healthy. The problem is that sometimes the basement (a fairly warm walk-out basement) is a bit too cool, and I didn't have a heat mat. So the seeds which hadn't sprouted in the house didn't want to sprout in the cool basement, and wouldn't sprout until weeks later. So not knowing where you're starting your seeds, I'm wondering if your problem might be temperature. [**blushes** I don't know what temperature it is in the basement. My 3 portable thermometers disagree.] [This year family issues have taken up most of the past 7 weeks, with no foreseeable change, so I didn't start seeds. The last time I didn't start my own seedlings, I had good crops from most of the varieties I'd purchased. Was at WM a couple of days ago and bought German Queen, Pink BW, and Beefsteak, as well as a couple of Husky Cherry Reds for the corners of the front porch (masquerading as ornamental dwarf conifers), and my next trip will be to a couple of places where there'll be more variety. Chances are that the recently-epidemic Late Blight will get them all anyway....]
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Pudge 2b
17 years ago
I find that perennials, once germinated, are better grown in cooler conditions (around 60-65F). Some are harder to germinate but overall, perennials are no harder to start from seed than annuals.
passionategrower
11 years ago
I started a flat of carnations indoors on January 1, 2013. These have not yet sprouted.....I have had them on a heating mat and under lights......is this normal, or what am I doing wrong? Many others of my seedlings have already popped up and they were planted after these! One thing...i used seeds that I harvested last fall from my carnations outside...could this be the problem, or do they truly just take a while to "pop"? PLEASE HELP!
mandolls
11 years ago
I am going to jump in and ask another carnation question. Is it usual to start carnations this early in the season? Are they really slow like Lisianthus? I had planned on trying a few this year, but it hadnt occurred to me to get them going yet. I do have lisianthus, begonias and geraniums coming up already (under lights). I dont have a greenhouse, so they would be under lights in small containers until May.
Noni Morrison
11 years ago
I started some quite suggessfully about 4 years ago. They are still growing good but I don't remember the details now. Some seeds can be slow to start, but if you harvested your own seeds, they could have not set properly, or been from plants that do not make good seeds. I hope by now you have seen some sprouting. If not, I don't think I would waste a lot of energy on this batch. Buy some good seeds and try again, its not too late!

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tips of starting/growing Carnations from seed ?

Comments (6)

all_bout_flowers

kvbch
Original Author

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Pudge 2b

passionategrower

mandolls

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tips of starting/growing Carnations from seed ?

Comments (6)

all_bout_flowers

kvbchOriginal Author

Related Discussions

Pudge 2b

passionategrower

mandolls

Noni Morrison

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

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kvbch
Original Author