I have started coontie and cardboard plants from seed. Be warned, it takes forever for them to germinate, and another forever for them to get any size on them. My ex was a "cycad expert" and this is what he did: strip the fleshy seeds from the pod. Soak them in a bucket of water overnight and the orange fleshy goop will come off. You will be left with hard seeds. He had a germination bed just for coontie and just threw the seed into it and covered slightly with soil. Then you just forget about them for about 4 to 6 months. Nothing will make them sprout any sooner. Apparently they must have a rest period before they will grow. Then one day, you will look and there they are! We transplanted when they were about 3 inches high. Good luck with yours.

Hi Ruth Ann, Now I got your name right. I'm usually pretty careless when I'm planting seeds I gang plant 10-25 seeds in a 6" clay pot usually in December when we are turning on the heat and a good warm radiator gives a good boost and my germination rate is usually 95-99% I keep them moist not wet to avoid rot and fungis in the soil. I always soak the seeds for 24 hours, some say it's not necessary but I like the seeds to stick good to the soil. I always use bogsoil as my country produces tons of that and it's very cheap and drains very fast. After germination I let the small plants grow quietly till March/April and then I replant the seedlings and they go into the greenhouse. When the trunk gets hard enough they go out in the garden to face the real sun and our strong winds, sometimes they fly around the backyard and loose a few leaves but that only seems to make them stronger. I might be an unnatural farther and mean to my plants but we live in a country where wind and hurricanes rules but luckily the country is fairly mild and I have Plumerias surviving the rough conditions for 19 years by now. Soren

I planted all of my pepper seeds on March 3. They are in my basement which is around 60F so I put the starter trays on heating pads. So far, the ones that are up are eggplant, Big Jims, Hungarian Wax, Chimayos(Thanks Byron), Manzanos, Poblanos, Billy Bikers, Burpees Hot Mixture and a mixture from Beth at Peppermania. They are now under lights and I've already potted up the eggplant and Billy Bikers. The eggplant won the prize for being 1st. The ones that have not yet sprouted are Sandias and California Wonders. This doesn't surprise me since I remember them taking longer to germinate in previous years. John A

Planning and placing my seed order is actually on my to-do list for the day - what a timely post :0) I know for sure I will be starting: * New Guinea impatiens (Divine series - lavender, maybe another color too) * Zinnia (Uproar Rose and probably Purple Prince) * Browallia (Million Bells series, the medium blue) * Vinca (lavender, can't recall the series name, I have to look at the old seed packet, and the Polka Dot ones - white with red eye) * Impatiens (Super Elfin Blue Pearl and White) * Petunia (Celebrity Sky Blue and White - just a few for the scent and sentimental reasons) * Vegetables and herbs: Cherry tomatoes, eggplant, daikon radish, basil, green beans, and maybe a few other things as well) I will probably grow more than this, but like I said I still have to plan it all out.