Heat. I have also sown malvaviscus but am OK with them sitting there until the ambient temperature rises - I avoid all faffing with lights and heat ...but I do recall they like a bit of bottom heat to get going.

Well, here's one site that says they take 14 to 30 days to germinate - so sit tight :-) http://homeguides.sfgate.com/propagate-hibiscus-moscheutos-25648.html 

Well, I sowed a handful of basil seeds at the same time so I could have a bit on the windowsill for cooking, and those are up already - basil likes heat, too. I don't want to invest in a heat mat, since I normally am able to generate enough heat from the lights on the cart to get things to germinate readily. I'll spring for a mat if I have too, though - can't find Disco Belle locally anymore, and I really want to have them in my yard (partly for sentimental reasons - my dad loved them - and partly because the industry replacement, the Luna series, I didn't find to be as floriferous nor as vigorous).

since I normally am able to generate enough heat from the lights on the
cart to get things to germinate readily. I'll spring for a mat if I have
too, though

===>>> hey happy new home owner .... are you comparing the old house to the new house with this comment ... ??? ... with drafts and all.. i might not be the same....

next ... its way too early for seed germination.. here in MI ... with a last frost date in mid to late may ... especially if you end up with more seed than light stand space ...

i am sure the last week of temps have generated spring fever big time.. with your new garden ... but keep in mind.. ITS STILL FEBRUARY ... and odds are.. ma nature is going to swipe us up side the head ...

fear too much success.. too early ..

btw ... i got my heat mat at a beer making store.. for about half what the garden store wanted for it.. and twice as big ... they use them for sprouting what ... barley ???

did i miss pix of your new spread in fall ???

ken

ps: really.. digging them up in 7 days .... lol ... patience woman .. lol ..

pps: 24 hours light is expensive ... i think i went with 16 hours with one on/off period during the off 8 .... was supposed to make the plants THINK the lights were on 24 hours .... i also tented the light stand on 3 sides with dollar store plastic paint tarp ... to retain some of the heat ... since i ran the lights for heat during the night.. when the furnace went down .....

Why would 24 hours of light be required anyway? Unless a plant is from 'the land of the midnight sun' nothing requires 24 hours of light! I don't remember having any problem germinating hardy hibiscuses. Does your light stand have more than one shelf? i used to put anything liking extra heat on an upper shelf so the heat from the ballast power thingy of the light on the shelf below provides extra heat. Keep in mind that hardy hibiscuses are late riser as plants so it wouldn't surprise me that they take a bit longer to get started from seed. I can't remember how long mine took but I do remember considering them easy to grow....

Like I said, I'm experienced at seed growing and know what I'm doing outside of the oddball problem with a particular plant here and there (like these hibiscus).

I leave the lights on over the germination rack and one shelf immediately under the germination rack to produce the heat needed for germination -- I can't imagine it would be any more expensive than a heat mat. When the seeds germinate they get moved to a different rack where the lights are on 16, off 8 hours. It's been working well for around 20 years, so I'm not about to change it up now.

Actually I get lots to germinate in 5-7 days with this set-up; disagree that 30 days is "normal" on a light cart (sown outside, yes - depending on plant).

Drafts aren't a problem in this house - cart is in the basement, no windows in this room, little cubby area off the main room surrounded by cement on 3 sides.

Ken - don't you know I have no patience, you haven't figured that out yet? I will have to be patient here, though -- but if the hibiscus seeds don't come up within another 2 weeks I'll try again and sow the seed I have left.

I started Texas star hibiscus and it took 3 weeks for them to germinate... That's with a heat mat.. But no soak in hot water. After another week... I dug up the ones that hadn't germinated... And they were still hard... So I filed them a bit until I got through the shell and they germinated in slightly less then a week.

I didn't think of filing, I'll try that if I have to re-sow.

Ken - don't you know I have no patience, you haven't figured that out yet?

==>> i suspect you are going to drive yourself and hubby completely insane this season .. expecting some level of instant gratification ... hence my continuing comments on realistic expectations ....

you will have weeds in a new till veg patch ... you will not get everything you want done ... you will cfomplain how little you got done.. need i go on .. lol ...

just learn to revel in whatever you do win at ... and dont over extend yourself ...

and while hes got the tiller ... put in a nursery bed ... so you can grow things one ... for next year ... or of course.. use part of the veg patch for that ...

i think i recommended last year... start around the patio you will sit on.. so in the evening ... you can revel in a small space near you that is done ... the back 3 acres can come later ...

i am excited for you ... you know that ...

ken