I love it when somebody's so enthusiastic. If you think the seeds are cute, wait till you see the real plants! Remember the first 2 leaves you see are going to be "seed leaves," so they won't look like the "real" or "true" leaves which should come quickly.

Have fun,
Skybird

Your enthusiasm is cute!

I planted a ton of seeds yesterday too, but right in the ground.....zinnia, more sunflowers & nasturtiums, sweet alyssum, sweet williams, veggies: mesclun, bush beans, pole beans, loosehead lettuce, radishes, carrots.

It is fun!

Charlene

sC: I thought about putting them in the ground, but NOAA says it will get to 29F tomorrow night...I'd hate to freeze my little specs! Although, they might like it?

Thanks...

Oh, I just keep going...can't stop...

I decided to start one more thing so I put some chive seeds in a four-pack and some rudbeckia seeds in the freezer. Oh, and, thanks to Cnetter's very helpful info, I started three cuttings of my Winnepeg Parks rose! So, now there are three little bags sitting on my table...

Yay!

My rudbeckias self-sow very well, and I don't think they need chilling. Besides, the freezer is probably too cold. Shouldn't things just be chilled in the fridge? Does anyone have better experience than me with this? I've "stratified" or chilled japanese maple seeds in the fridge, but I haven't tried others.

"Shouldn't things just be chilled in the fridge?"

Yes - I'm very experienced in this. I either stratify in the fridge, or sow in March and put the flats outside. This year I've stratified about 10 flats worth in my fridge, including way too many daylily seedlings.

I got various rudbeckias self seeding all over the place. Mexican hat reseeds well too. It bloomed sooner than two years from seed for me - it bloomed the next year.

Ack! I have them in the freezer because the packet said frige or freezer and we only have one of those tiny refrigerators with and even tinier doorless freezer that doesn't keep ice cream. I think I will move them to the frige unless our tiny freezer is okay, seeing as how it is not that good.
thanks for the heads-up!
J.

Hi J,

If your rudbeckia seeds are ones you just picked up locally, theyÂre probably R. hirta, the (often) annual one, and they shouldnÂt need stratification at all. IÂm sure you havenÂt hurt them, but itÂs time to get them in the ground. IÂd take them out of the freezer, let them sit for a couple hours, and then stick them in some dirt. You should see some action in less than two weeksÂprobably about a week. Assuming they bloom, either leave a few flowers on the plant so they can self sow, or collect some of the seed and scatter it where you want it next year, then remember where it is and watch for them next spring. (If you really do have something like R. triloba, itÂs a different story, but I think you really donÂt want to be starting out with something like that.)

When I stratify seeds, itÂs always moist and in the fridgeÂtho my fridge is just a couple degrees above freezing. I usually leave them in about 4 weeks. Freezing them really shouldnÂt hurt them tho, since most seeds sown naturally around here would freeze over winter anyway. Some actually need to freeze to germinate, like some need fire to germinate, but most will do just fine in the fridge.

If you come down for the Fall Swap and want to try something difficult to germinate, you can get some of my Callirhoe seeds to play with over winter. ItÂs a Colorado native and blooms all summer.

How are your little specs doing,
Skybird

Here is a link that might be useful: Callirhoe involucrata

Thanks for asking! The teeny tiny specs are happily sitting is moist soil, biding their time. I mist them each day and look, just in case.

I am going to try to get to the swap...I'd love some of that Callirhoe!

The Rudbeckia went something like this-- me: "Which one do you like?" my boyfriend: "The triloba. It looks like black eyed susan!" And, so, I blame it all on my sweety :) I did take the seeds out of the freezer and put them in the frige. Later today I am going to put them in the ground. I think there are only four seeds in there, so it is not a loss if they don't come out.

Oh, I can't wait for the seeds to sprout!

J.

Alright, J, since you have triloba, I checked around a little bit and some sites say itÂs difficult and some say itÂs easy. As with most things gardening, there are lots of different opinions. Hopefully the people who are saying easy will be right and theyÂll come up quickly, but just in case they donÂt, keep them around for a couple months to see if you get any action after a while.

With all your seeds, be sure the surface doesnÂt dry out, but donÂt keep it soppy wet eitherÂseeds can rot. And once you see the tiny seedlings, start to leave it dry just slightly before watering or even misting heavily. When you see green on top, the first root will already be down a ways! Keeping them too wet after theyÂre up could cause them to suddenly drop dead on youÂand I suspect you donÂt want that to happen! ;-)

IÂll have plenty of Callirhoe seed (and others again) at the swap, and I know from personal experience that oneÂs hard to germinate, so itÂs a good winter gardening project to play with.

CanÂt wait to see how excited you are when they start coming up,
Skybird

How are your little specks doing, J?

Hah! They are even cuter than before. The Gypsophila have all started as have the chives and coreopsis. Still waiting on the thyme, mexican hat and gaillardia...oh, such a long wait!

I took a picture of the very first one to come out, a coreopsis, but it was so tiny that it didn't really show.

Thanks for asking!

yay...........

I've got little specks, toooo! Oh, I've gotta get these glasses changed . . .

No, I've got little Canterbury bell specks. Now, I need to find those Sweet William seeds . . . ! I've waited too long to order 'em if I forgot in the Spring. I'll need to head to the garden center and see if they've got what I want.

Otherwise, I'm faced with hoping I can get my Sweet Wills thru the Winter. Boy is that risky business. Often they come out of Winter either dead or looking like some arthritis-crippled lamas trapped in mountain lamaseries unable to navigate the path back to civilization to live out their remaining days in the comforting care of loving acolytes . . .

Perhaps I read too much into the lives of plants.

digitS'

Well IÂve got BIG specks next to me right now! IÂm eating M & MÂs! :-D

I KNEW youÂd really, really like them when they started to grow, J! ThatÂs ok about the picture! WeÂll wait till you get to the flower part for pictures! I think thatÂll be a while!

I LOVE growing things from seeds! I love the fact that tiny, tiny, tinyÂwellÂspecks, can turn into beautiful plants. IÂm glad you decided to try it!

Remember, if you come to the Fall Swap, I have more specks for you.

Digit, canÂt you just collect seed from your sweet williams that bloom this year and direct sow it where you want them next year? IÂve had the dwarf ones come thru winter pretty well, and with the tall ones, IF you can cut them back pretty severely without killing them after they bloom, theyÂll probably come back looking pretty good next year too. Hey! ItÂs worth a try! I started seed for both kinds this spring, and I plan to have them around next year!

I got too late starting some of my seeds, so to speed them up I have basil and sunflower seeds germinating in damp paper towels right now. And parsley! I havenÂt been able to keep my parsley plants from blooming this year, so I think theyÂre gonners! Need to get a couple more going! I expect by tomorrow they should be about ready to put into some soil!

And, maybe you DO read too much into the lives of plants-----or maybe not! Maybe a LOT of us read too much into the lives of plants!

Enjoy your plants, J,
Skybird

You had to mention llamas! This is going to be stuck in my head for days

Here is a link that might be useful: The Llama Song

Darnit, Dafy - - you made me check the dictionary for the spelling . . ! . . Luckily, I got that one right, première fois.

(Do we have any French Canadians who could check my spelling on a regular basis? ;o)

digitS'

I can't help it Digit - it's a curse - I'm a proofreader for a medical transcription company. I really try very hard not to correct people's spelling, especially with Netspeak, but it wouldn't be good for my image if I spelled things wrong :)

now I'm confused...lama monks or llama mountain animals?

this is all making me giggle...

I think I killed a speck sprout :( I was out all day and the soil dried while I wasn't there to mist it. When I got back, the tallest Gypsophila sprout was toppled over!!!

Egad, I'm a seedling murderer.

Well, it is still green this first day after its fall. I hope it recovers.

I'm gonna try and make it to the swap, I just have to focus...must focus

I'm still laughing over that lamasaries (...llamasaries?) remark.

another thing: I had thought that everything I planted was dicot...but thought for a second the chives were coming in monocot. Then, just this morning, I could see the single blade of...um...chive split in two.

CUTE

Thanks for your post, J! You did it while IÂve been sitting here trying to figure out the whole lama/llama/lamasaries/monasteries conundrum! Not to mention the French/English translation! Ok, I got the translation, but from what IÂve found, a llamaÂthe spitting kindÂcan be spelled either way, depending on if youÂre talking about the genus of llama-type animals, or just one cute littleÂwell, make that cute bigÂllama. So you could both be right! Kinda! But IÂm still working on how specks turned into either lamas or llamasÂor monks!

And now to you, Ms. Seedling Murderer! We need to get this fixed before somebody calls the cops on you!

If your speck sprouts are falling over, they need more than misting. By now the root you canÂt see (no peeking) underneath the soil is 3 or 4 or 5 times as big as the part you can see above the soil, so they need to actually be watered when they get that dry. Since watering them from the top could disturb them (and you), fill a pan or bowl with water and sit the pot(s) in it until the surface of the soil looks wet, then take them out and let them drain really wellÂand get them back in the sun. I recommend you donÂt mist anymoreÂat least not enough to actually wet the surface of the soil. Two reasons. You could accidentally keep the soil too wet and they might damp off (lay down and die!), or, by keeping just the surface wet, you canÂt tell when the rest of the soil is drying out and you might have more things falling over because the soil down where the roots are trying to grow is too dry even tho the surface looks wet. I recommend watering them well whenever the top half inch or so is dry, and then donÂt water again till they dry out again. And gradually let it dry further and further down in the pot before watering.

And, donÂt confuse me with monocot/dicot. IÂm already confused enough about the lamas/llamas!

YouÂre still laughing at lamasaries, and IÂm still laughing at having a seedling murderer here!

Do me a favor, J. Put a short post on the Fall Swap thread saying youÂre gonna try to make it. ThatÂs where IÂm picking up the names for my list, and that way others will see youÂre gonna come. And itÂll bump it back up to the top again too! ThereÂs not a whole lot of traffic around here these days, and I want to be sure everyone sees it.

Thanks,
Skybird

Whoops! Forgot to put this link in!

Here is a link that might be useful: Lamas!

Oh, I've been vindicated! Okay, I'm gonna water those puppies just as you've suggested. I even have the perfect tray to pop them into. And here I thought I was being good to the little guys.

Hehe, that is the problem with having studied horticulture but not botany or hands on gardening! I know the difference between silly stuff, like monocot. vs dicot. but I am sooo green behind the ears when it comes to more practical gardening. Get it, green behind the ears...that was a pun.

I'll leave the translation stuff up to you for my French Canadian heritage is my father's as I was born in sunny California!

Yes, I almost forgot to post to the swap link...on my way right now to do so!!

take care,
J.

Each to his/her own, but knowing the difference between monocot and dicot can help with understanding a plant's behavior. For instance, never ever use Grass-B-Gone on any dicot you want to keep.
Bits and pieces from my ancient botany and field biology courses still pop in as useful now than then. Information - it's all good.

I love the Dali Lama and Tibetian buddhist culture, but now I have an image in my head of a llama wrapped in orange fabric trapped in the mountains lamasery waiting for an acolyte to lead it down out of the hills.

Llamas hum: Oommmh Mani Padme Hummmmmm

About the Sweet Wills reseeding - What I've noticed, Skybird, is that in gardens where that's gone on - the reds are lost.

Sweet Wills can come back after a Winter - but the first-years are so fresh and healthy. Started now, a few weeks earlier than those at-hand can produce seed, they can be uprooted next year and replanted with little concern for their survival. A few months and they bloom beautifully.

Yes, J., make sure that your seedlings are getting comfortable sunlight. It may be tuff these days not to cook them while being sure that they have sufficient solar energy. With heat and indirect light - they'll stretch right out on the soil surface.

They'll like bottom watering - you'll almost see them squirm with delight when the moisture rises around their roots.

digitS'

Oh shoot, I meant don't use Grass-B-Gone on any monocot. Where is my brain?

I was wrong! The chives are monocots!! They looked like they were sending up two shoots/leaves, but it is just one that was folded over, and now they are unfolding. Oh, you should see them! Alas, two of the gypsophila seedlings are not going to come back. That is okay, the other one is looking very perky, thanks to the watering in a bowl.

No, no grass-b-gone...I'll be very careful. Well, I never use that stuff anyway...

wheeeeee, tiny seedlings!!!

J.