Plant them on or near the surface of sand/potting soil. Give them a good watering and keep them moist but not too wet, and keep them warm for the most part. You should see growth within a month, 2 months at max. I am a novice too, but that may help...Humididy helps too....Once the little sprouts grow, keep them out of the direct sun, otherwise the few leaves they have will begin to burn...You can start to grow bamboo whenever the seeds are made available to you, as they do not keep for very long, but make sure if you do plan to grow them, give them the necessary conditions they need to thrive.

After watering everyday, keeping the shade over my poor Black Jack fig tree, it is showing signs of new life! My Angel Red pomegranate that was planted the same day did the exact same thing. They basically shed 90% of their leaves to help deal with transplant shock. After some TLC for two weeks, they both put out healthy new growth! Here're some photos of the fig tree with new growth. But there are lots of these tiny flies around the tree. Could they be fig whitefly? Here's some photos of my Angel Red that did the exact same thing. Again, I am so glad that I got lots of advise on here for care of my fig tree. But I also have learned from this experience that the plants are pretty smart and does what it needs to cope with the transplant shock if you give them some additional support like water and some shade. I have learned to not freak out as soon as I see the tree drop their leaves when I first plant them, and learn that with proper care they will put out new growth when it is ready.

Loori - I have looked up 'Swiss mint' and it seems to be a variety of Mentha piperata - peppermint. In order to grow it successfully it is useful to think about what this plant's natural conditions would be. In its native habitats M piperata would obviously live outdoors with ample light. It likes moisture but not stagnant water. It is a perennial so it is designed by nature to die down in the winter and regrow from its roots in spring. In the UK it goes down to overwintering green stolons and does not completely disappear like M spicata. It is a European native and is happy in temperate and continental climates so is quite capable of enduring very low winter temperatures. Bearing all this in mind try to think of the best place you have for your plant. If you have a garden outside planting it in the soil would be best. If you only have a balcony I would put it out there. If the pot is likely to freeze through for any length of time I would wrap it in something insulating when frost is expected just in case. Although mint can be kept indoors in the winter it will shorten the life of the plant because it will get no winter rest and it will be struggling against poor light, overheating and probably too much water. I have a pot of mint outside my kitchen door and it is left out all winter. temps last winter went to -5C once or twice but that is unusual for here. 7c would not bother your mint at all. (Remember most people on this forum are in the US so when they say 0 degrees they are talking Fahrenheit ie VERY cold.)

After looking at some resources on Curly Top Virus, I'd say it's quite possible they have it. Stiff, curling leaves with purple veins could be a nutrient deficiency (I've had mature plants with severe phosphorus deficiency before, which is similar)... but that's not likely given what you're feeding them. So that's a pretty definite symptom of disease. The real confirmation would come in two ways: stunting of the plant, to the point that it grows barely at all, and that with tiny yellow leaves; and dull, wrinkled fruit. Overall yellowing could be caused by whiteflies, so that's not a good test. You have my sympathies, if it is the virus; it's a little late now for you to restart, if I recall correctly, and virus-ridden plants don't put out palatable fruit. One piece of advice I ran across may help you for next time: you're already putting the plants in a somewhat shaded area, which discourages leafhoppers, but a New Mexico plant pathologist also suggests covering young plants with fine mesh to protect them when they're most susceptible. The mesh should be removed when the plant is mature. Other articles urge growers to plant more plants than they need, to cover any losses. Wish I had better news. --Alison