Germination for marigolds
Artist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA
last year
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Artist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA
last yearRelated Discussions
cover seeds, do not cover, cover lightly
Comments (38)I'm with Token, deanna_in_nh and the others who don't cover anything but the largest seeds like morning glory and sweet pea. Frost heave seems to take care of whatever covering the seeds need just like in nature. Nature doesn't sprinkle anything lightly over seeds. But we are looking for somewhat better germination than nature often provides. So I avoid smoothing the top of my soil once it goes in the containers. If I think the seeds did not get good contact with the soil, I pat the top of the soil very lightly with a dry hand and dust off any seeds or soil that might adhere to my hand anyway back into the container. Doing it this way can mean that germination can be a bit uneven, but by second set of true leaves I find that the plants are uniform enough for HOS planting. As for water, I pretty much bottom water completely with all containers. My soil is pretty moist (just less than wet) when I sow. I put smaller conatiner like cups in the large aluminum foil catering trays. I make four slits on the trays about 2 inches up from the bottom (two on each long side) so that rain cannot over fill the containers. Larger containers stay moist enough through germination from condensation and what snow and rain get in through the top vent holes. I also use a couple of other catering trays to bottom water larger conatiners once the weather gets warm enough or germination enough to have to open containers so that evaporation starts drying them out. I move the larger containers in and out of the "watering tray" leaving each set in about 4 hours or overnight. How often the large containers need this water depend on heat and rain, but not very often. That stage only lasts a couple of weeks at most (if I need to do it at all) before the plants are sturdy enough for hose watering on the gentle or sprinkle setting. KimKa...See MoreHow to Easily Supplement Fluorescent with Incandescent Light
Comments (47)I'm not seeing a big push to add IC to my setup. Your thoughts? Like I said before, my experiment suggests that a negative light-dark temperature differential negates phytochrome mediated far red responses. With a positive temperature differential, you would likely see longer stems, maybe bigger plants, with incandescent supplementation. However, I am most interested in increasing photosynthesis via the Emerson Enhancement Effect. Since this has nothing to do with temperature differential, I conclude that there was negligible effect under this combination of wavelengths. In my next experiment, I am going to look for Emerson like enhancement between near violet and far red wavelengths....See MoreAny seeds that will bloom this fall if started now?
Comments (9)A bit of reference work is required. Look up the average number of days to germinate and add in the average number of days from germination to bloom. You also need to consider if the seed requires a cold period before germination (that can be faked by using refrig/freezer), which often adds another month or two to the time needed for germination. Many marigolds take 5 to 10 days to germinate (we'll use "10") and another 45 days to bloom. That totals 55 days or about 2 months if all goes well. If you have 2 months until frost, you can plant now and enjoy at least a few blooms; using row cover to protect the new plants [from frost] should give you more time to enjoy - actually, in your zone 9, there should be more than a couple months available for blooming....See MoreWhat indoor seeds are you starting?
Comments (27)I have more fun with petunias. They're easy to grow from seed and the seedlings are easy to separate - just sprinkle however many seeds on the surface of a container, and keep moist - I use a mist thing several times a day. They germinate in a few days, tiny little things. let them grow until their first two leaves are the size of your thumb nail, and then they're very easy to transplant out into 2" six packs. I've mentioned here before about using my own cuttings of some off-spring of the Purple Wave series, and this past year, I let the plants die. So I took all the dried, dead plants and crumbled them over a tray, knocking out the seeds, and then watered that. I had a bazillion of the things. Personally, what I find most fun, if you have a large enough bed, is put in a few hundred of them of one color, which just makes a solid, show stopping bed contrasting with the roses or other perennials in that bed. I did that once with plain old red ones, and another year with purple ones. Linked is the HPS website for petunias, who have a great selection and in bulk. Holy cow, prices have gone up this year....See Morebeesneeds
last yearArtist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA
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last yearArtist-FKA-Novice Zone 7B GA
last year
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