Seeds! That Time of the Year Again!

[Ann B.]

Hi, Friends!

It is that time of the year again, when we start seeds for new plants in our next season's garden.

These are the seeds that I started yesterday. Some will make it and some will not, as some were old, but still worth the try. I am trying a new method, and if it works well, I will be posting it.

Delphinium - Dwarf
Forget-Me-Nots (a long time favorite for me)
Cupid's Dart - White
Echinacea White Swan
Purple Coneflower - Magnus
Gerbera - California Mix
Cupid's Dart - Blue
Coreopsis - Early Sunrise
Aster - Alpine Blue
Dahlia - Unwin's Mixed Colors
Burgandy Gaillardia

Lots more to plant, but right now, I feel this is some progress.

Let us know what seeds you are trying to grow! Anyone? Everyone?

[shepp]

hi ann and all who visit.
boy that was easy to register as a member.cool BB
its not time here in ohio for me to start seeds.
i start mine in feb .hope to start white swan.
i understand it may be difficult...low germ rate maybe!
vegies are on the agenda for this year .since i built another greenhouse.16x48.hope to have it filled by march with the plugs i start in my poly carb house.need to visit supplier this month.need more trays ,potting mix, 1204,s etc.
really hope to have a banner year. good luck to all who reside here . sincerely shepp
ps hope my johnny's catalog shows up soon!
maybe i should call.

[Ann B.]

Thanks for the compliment on the board. I have been really pleased with it, and hope all the members are.

I purchased a White Swan Echinaccea, harvested seed and this will be my first time at trying to grow them from seed. I will keep you posted as to how they do.

My Johnny's seed catalog arrived a couple of weeks ago, but perhaps they know that we start seeds here somewhat earlier. Our average last frost is March 15, but we have been known to get one as late as April 1. I plant most of my seeds in plug trays with tiny cells. That way I do not require as much space in my small greenhouse. Usually, by the time I get to transplanting them, they are large enough to put in 4 inch containers, then either to 1 gallon or directly to the garden.

With the veggies, we are lucky! I usually plant the seeds directly in the soil when it is warm enough. The exception to this will be tomatoes and bell peppers which I like to start in tray cells. I will wait until February to start these.

I missed having a winter vegetable garden this year. We have been known to grow brocolli, cauliflower and winter squash, but an injured foot and other activities put a halt to that this year.

In the spring, we will plant yellow crook neck squash, zuchinni, lots of okra and Hunter loves cucumbers. My vegetable garden soil has some type of virus, and tomatoes just wilt on me, but I learned at the MG training that I could try another spot in my yard to try tomatoes, so I plan to do that. Hunter adores strawberries, but I have learned that they are easier to buy in quantities that he can consume to try to grow them.

Enjoy and please come back to visit often! There are several members on the board having difficulty growing plants from seed, so any advise and experience that you can share would be greatly appreciated.

[Ann B.]

It has only been a few days, and I thought I would report that some of the Forget-Me-Nots, Gaillardia and Dwarf Dahlia seeds have already germinated.

What FUN!

[shepp]

hi ann
im not real sure how well this works ,to try it isnt real difficult.
try putting clear visqueen on the ground.it should do two things,
germinate unwanted seeds and sterilize the soil.
maybe turning the soil every other weekwill allow more seeds to
germinate and more soil to be sterilized.
dont forget there are resistant varieties of seeds also.
even some old heirloom are resistant too.
but like you said also try planting in another location helps!
i hope i never have a problem like that. so far so good.
weeds love me.......later SHepp :)

[Ann B.]

SHepp,

You bring up a very good point that I have not covered. In my recent Master Gardener Training, we learned about something called Soil Solaration which is basically what you describe. They suggest doing it in the August time frame which is when the soil and sun are still really hot in our area.

Indeed, it helps to kill some seeds and best of all will kill some disease. Unfortunately, when I asked, I was told this technique would not solve the particular virus problem that I have with tomoatoe plants. Since I am not willing to sell my home and move in order to grow tomatoes I am stuck.

However, I will offer one word of caution. Top soil has no regulation placed upon it, and I suspect that topsoil that was brought into our neighborhood caused the start of the virus. What can you do about that? Not much except to buy lots of land and never bring in any questionable topsoil. Most of us do not have that luxury, so we just keep trying to find something that works.

BTW, I have more seedlings emerging including one White Swan seedling and hope to see more emerge tomorrow.

Have FUN!