Branching Out's Seeds and Sprouts

[Branching Out]

Those sweet pea starts look amazing. They're so thick & bushy; have you been pinching them to create that fullness? I concur in experience with the High Scent variety being an above average performer and seed producer. I grew 'Blue Celeste' in 2022, which is possibly the largest, most fragrant, powdery blue bloom I've ever seen in the sweet pea family and it's a favorite, but it's a terrible seed producer. Of all the varieties I've tried the newer ones have been superior to the older historical ones for both volume of blooms and vigor. I grew 'America' not long ago and while the bloom color was pretty the vines were not vigorous and the flowers were few. Same with Prince of Orange, Black Knight, Lady Grisel Hamilton, Painted Lady. I hope you post pics of the blooms.

Thanks heirloomgal! The starts looks extra lush as I put 3-4 seeds per tall pot this time; I think sweet peas may prefer being multi-sown. They have been sitting outdoors for several months, which apparently encourages them to branch on their own without me having to pinch them. I think I grew Blue Celeste last year too, as well as about six others including some really expensive ones from Floret that I received as a birthday gift; I was lucky to get even a few seeds from each. We did have an extreme heat wave mid-May last year when they should have been developing flower buds so the weather may have played a big role in their poor performance last season. I didn't mulch last year either because the mulch facility closed down due to lack of product. This year I will mulch! Maybe next year I should just round up all of the packets that I have and sow them all to see what I get. I found this article in the Irish Times that touches on some of the challenges with growing sweet peas, https://www.irishtimes.com/life-sty...ummer-of-sweet-peas-the-struggle-is-worth-it/

I also gave four kinds of sweet pea seedlings to a friend last year and the seeds that they saved got all mixed up. Those seeds that they collected germinated very well for me this spring, and were planted out a few days ago at their community farm; it will be a interesting surprise to see what colour they are when they bloom.

 

[heirloomgal]

Thanks heirloomgal! The starts looks extra lush as I put 3-4 seeds per tall pot this time; I think sweet peas may prefer being multi-sown. They have been sitting outdoors for several months, which apparently encourages them to branch on their own without me having to pinch them. I think I grew Blue Celeste last year too, as well as about six others including some really expensive ones from Floret that I received as a birthday gift; I was lucky to get even a few seeds from each. We did have an extreme heat wave mid-May last year when they should have been developing flower buds so the weather may have played a big role in their poor performance last season. I didn't mulch last year either because the mulch facility closed down due to lack of product. This year I will mulch! Maybe next year I should just round up all of the packets that I have and sow them all to see what I get. I found this article in the Irish Times that touches on some of the challenges with growing sweet peas, https://www.irishtimes.com/life-sty...ummer-of-sweet-peas-the-struggle-is-worth-it/

I also gave four kinds of sweet pea seedlings to a friend last year and the seeds that they saved got all mixed up. Those seeds that they collected germinated very well for me this spring, and were planted out a few days ago at their community farm; it will be a interesting surprise to see what colour they are when they bloom.

Don't feel too badly about seed collecting with Blue Celeste @Branching Out. I got my seeds from The Secret Garden Seeds in southern Ontario, the lady Bronwen who runs it also is a grower for Hawthorn Seeds and Heritage HS & few other places. She has fields that extend as far as the eye can see, it's wild. Anyway, she told me as far as seed saving goes Blue Celeste is not an easy one of all the varieties out there. She said she's not really sure what it is, she doesn't struggle with all the varieties, but that one she said is a tough one for seed. Others are much easier.

 

[Branching Out]

Looking at the long term weather forecast I suspect that our last frost has past, so I got really brave yesterday afternoon and planted out my first tray of Ferrari bush snap bean seedlings. The three week old seedlings are snugged in to a row cover tunnel that will afford an extra few degrees of warmth, and that will temper the wind a bit too.

 

[Branching Out]

The basil that I started in a small propagating tray on March 31st was in need of bumping up, and got moved to larger cell packs. There will be a dozen good-sized clumps for sharing with the neighbours in a few weeks time. I am not sure if you can start basil on vermiculite but I figured it was worth a try, so I scattered some seeds and was surprised to see them develop a jelly-like consistency within just a few hours (salvia seeds do that too). If the vermiculite works it should theoretically be easy to prick out the small seedlings and pot them on. And if not I will sow more on potting soil.

 

[Branching Out]

One of my mom's 50 year old azaleas died last summer and had to be pulled out. My husband used his pickup truck and long straps to get it out of the ground, resulting in what he called 'a hole big enough to bury someone.' It took him the whole day to hack up the roots and shake the dirt off; he figured the root ball weighed several hundred pounds. Now that it's gone there will be more room for planting beans.

 

[Branching Out]

Starting seeds in small cups of vermiculite has been a lot of fun this spring. Normally I don't enjoy pricking out lettuce seedlings, but with the vermiculite it is so easy that it has become almost a pleasure. Recently I saw a video where someone did a side by side comparison of growing seedlings on a windowsill, some with a reflective backing and some without. Those with no reflective backdrop stretched and leaned towards the light, but the ones with tin foil behind them grew straight and tall. I've be trialing this using a large aluminum pan that I gleaned from a recycling bin and it appears to work like a charm. My little lettuce are doing very nicely so far.

I keep trying new seeds to see what germinates well in this medium. The other day I tried okra in vermiculite in a propagator, and after a couple of days I had unwieldy shoots that had to be moved to deep cell packs. Clearly that worked well (almost too well).

Cerinthe has a really hard seed coat which also seems to respond well to the humid environment that vermiculite offers-- and I really like that you can watch the germination in progress. The seeds of cerinthe are quite large, and I could fit 24 of them in a 2" take out cup. These seeds have been sitting on the window sill for five days and today I will move get them into soil; then I will put a second succession of cerinthe seeds into the vermiculite.

 

[Branching Out]

Something scratched in the dirt and unearthed one of my chick pea seedlings, which gave me an interesting opportunity to see what these plants look like underground. Fascinating! Then I covered it back up and gave it a drink.

Spring has definitely sprung in the garden with lots of bright colours. Yesterday I planted out my first nine tomato seedlings under row cover, holding back three plants just in case something takes out this early batch. These are from seeds saved last year from an orange saladette sized Wildling Panamorous tomato plant. They are bred to be promiscuous and I don't want them to cross with my other early tomatoes so I planted these ones a couple doors away at my folks' place. There are two houses and lots of flowers in between our two gardens to thwart the pollinators, and these seedlings are also under row cover which may help to limit the spread of their pollen. Once the main season tomatoes are ready to go in I will either cull these ones, or perhaps net them. https://store.experimentalfarmnetwork.org/products/wildling-panamorous-tomato

I am having a hard time containing my enthusiasm for planting bean seeds, so more of them hit the dirt yesterday too. This large nursery pot has four seeds of what is Royal Burgundy or similar; I had a few mix up last year with my bush snap beans, so we'll see what we get with this one. I poked the seeds in, watered the container well, and then topped it off with some dry soil and a tempered glass lid that I scrounged. There are a couple of sticks between the rim of the pot and the glass lid to allow the warm air to escape. If all goes well this should function as a small greenhouse and I wouldn't want to cook the beans (at least not just yet!) Our neighbour has a bunch of planter boxes in a hot location as well, so a couple of those now contain bush bean seeds too. During the summer it is too hot to grow anything in them, but the conditions may be just right for spring.

 

[heirloomgal]

Starting seeds in small cups of vermiculite has been a lot of fun this spring. Normally I don't enjoy pricking out lettuce seedlings, but with the vermiculite it is so easy that it has become almost a pleasure. Recently I saw a video where someone did a side by side comparison of growing seedlings on a windowsill, some with a reflective backing and some without. Those with no reflective backdrop stretched and leaned towards the light, but the ones with tin foil behind them grew straight and tall. I've be trialing this using a large aluminum pan that I gleaned from a recycling bin and it appears to work like a charm. My little lettuce are doing very nicely so far.

I keep trying new seeds to see what germinates well in this medium. The other day I tried okra in vermiculite in a propagator, and after a couple of days I had unwieldy shoots that had to be moved to deep cell packs. Clearly that worked well (almost too well).

Cerinthe has a really hard seed coat which also seems to respond well to the humid environment that vermiculite offers-- and I really like that you can watch the germination in progress. The seeds of cerinthe are quite large, and I could fit 24 of them in a 2" take out cup. These seeds have been sitting on the window sill for five days and today I will move get them into soil; then I will put a second succession of cerinthe seeds into the vermiculite.

Yes, reflection! I saw this in a hydroponic store, and asked them why they're selling aluminum foil on a giant roll? She explained to me the logic. I've been draping foil over both sides of my grow lights ever since. Works absolutely wonderfully to bounce light around.

 

[Branching Out]

Yes, reflection! I saw this in a hydroponic store, and asked them why they're selling aluminum foil on a giant roll? She explained to me the logic. I've been draping foil over both sides of my grow lights ever since. Works absolutely wonderfully to bounce light around.

Hmmm.... I never thought of adding reflective foil to grow lights--- might have to try that. I suppose that without it much of the light is lost in a sense, rather than benefiting the plants. Controlling heat, light, and moisture effectively is not as straight forward as one would think. Clearly even inside a house one can create micro-climates.

We installed a sail shade on our sundeck last year, and by accident I discovered that it in addition to shading our sliding doors it offers shelter and warmth for seedlings as well. There is a table placed under the shade, and this location is now one of my go to spots for moving seedlings outdoors (both on top of, and under the table).

 

[Branching Out]

A few years ago my friend came up with this great invention for supporting tall peas. It's made of two bicycle wheels and a piece of pipe, with pea netting stretched around it. The bottom wheel sits flush with the ground offering stability, and it works like a charm to support tall shelling peas. My garden buddies have grown peas in the same spot for ten years, so this year we picked up the trellis and moved it to a new location in the garden; it was very easy to relocate. The photos below show row cover that we are using to protect the pea seedlings while they put down roots; we don't want birds to be munching on them. Now I would like to have some of these amazing pea trellises for my garden. A friend of mine has a bicycle business, and he said he is going to get me some bike wheels that otherwise would be destined for the dump.