- Thread starter
- #21
DawnSuiter
Garden Ornament
Seed leaves and True leaves...
and all along I thought a leaf was a leaf...
so much to learn!
and all along I thought a leaf was a leaf...
so much to learn!
Planting Anxiety
- Thread starter DawnSuiter
- Start date
momofdrew
Deeply Rooted
for white flies go to the garden dept of what ever store and pick up sticky yellow traps better known as white fly traps...that will cut the population down...vfem said:Don't you fret, everyone here is VERY helpful. I spent months learning about planting before I even started. Seed started seemed so complicated I realized I had to suck it up and do it though after the sticker shock of buying already started plants.
I got the seed starter by Jiffy, and though I still have those damn knats, they are harmless to the plants. (My cat however has eaten a few here including a hibiscus and a couple of foxglove. Grrrrr)
My white fly issue however I can't be rid of, but I have them under control with daily treatments and hands on squishing!!!!
Now, I moved a bunch of plants on and off the deck for a few days to 'harden them off'. Before you've transplanted, have you given them a taste of the outside world? You know, a few hours day one... a few more day 2... and an over night stay day 3 before putting them in the ground?
I did this with my tomatoes, and we've had 4 days of constant hard rain since I got them into the ground. I covered them with milk jugs without lids when the rain started coming and we hit 40 degrees at night. So far, out of 9 plants I only lost 2 (they seemed weak anyways when I put them in.) and the rest are nice and green and seem to be thriving! If I didn't harden them off I doubt they would make it.
What really blew my mind was I moved out some Bellflower that were losing strength in the house, and I was starting to think they weren't going to make it... and I moved out 1 Larkspur that had well over grown its pot. Now the bellflower has REALLY perked up... and the larkspur of all things is in bloom!!!!
So far I can tell you if you can get them started the suggested time before last frost 3-4 weeks or 6-8 weeks... whatever the package says and stay true to the timing, I bet you will have at least a 90% survival rating and some strong plants.
The big kicker is light inside though... too bad you didn't have a south facing window. I would also suggest the grow light. MOst of mine are under grow lights, but my south facing window plants are doing better.
- Thread starter
- #23
DawnSuiter
Garden Ornament
Well.. I DID IT!
I planted my seeds today, 50 jiffy pots with 10 varieties, and 4 pint ice cream containers too. I tried to line them up by germination times, and now they are in the 3rd bedroom out of direct sunlight in their little green house (plastic tray lid).
I should wait until they sprout leaves before putting them in the sun... is that right????
I have my outdoor table in the sun all setup and ready for them.
I planted my seeds today, 50 jiffy pots with 10 varieties, and 4 pint ice cream containers too. I tried to line them up by germination times, and now they are in the 3rd bedroom out of direct sunlight in their little green house (plastic tray lid).
I should wait until they sprout leaves before putting them in the sun... is that right????
I have my outdoor table in the sun all setup and ready for them.
digitS'
Garden Master
They have their little seed leaves right in there with them in the seed. A seed is pretty interesting thing - there's a tiny plant inside of it. Seeds aren't really like eggs. They aren't really growing inside the seed, I don't believe. They swell with moisture and break loose their bonds, as a plant!!
The first leaves won't be a whole lot like the later ("true") leaves. But, they will gather in some CO2 and sunlight and start the plant growing. So yes, the plants will need sun at that time.
Don't allow the sun cook them under plastic, however. Making plants grow, he doesn't care about that. That lucky old sun got nothing to do but roll around heaven all day :coolsun.
Steve
The first leaves won't be a whole lot like the later ("true") leaves. But, they will gather in some CO2 and sunlight and start the plant growing. So yes, the plants will need sun at that time.
Don't allow the sun cook them under plastic, however. Making plants grow, he doesn't care about that. That lucky old sun got nothing to do but roll around heaven all day :coolsun.
Steve
kellygirrl
Chillin' In The Garden
Man can I relate to the struggles (tho I didn't read entire thread). Just wanted to suggest wintersown.org, and anything else on it you can google up on it. Increased germination rate, no worries about light supplementation, damping off, hardening off. They are at least initially behind indoor sown plants, but supposedly are extremely hardy, healthy productive plants. Someone did a comparison of indoor and wintersown tomatoes, and 4 of 5 of her wintersown tomatoes (which quickly caught up with the indoor sown) were the most productive, healthiest plants she had. I found out about it this year, started tossing my recycled wintersow containers out in January (zone 5 snow, hello?), and now I must have 40 containers sprouting, annual flowers, perennials, veggies, shrubs (and a tree I don't expect to see for a while), and new ones sprouting every week. I could NEVER have done all this indoors.
