A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2007 propagating winter fun!

We're going to start a garden club in our area. So I may be starting some seeds for other people. Still looking for homes for my larger plants. I just don't think I'll be able to move them with me.

I just came home from walmart, bought those jiffy peat pellets, 25 for a dollar, not bad! Going to start whatever I can!

keep us posted kenny

my blue flag iris and lilies are doing great,

heres a pic of some

Looks good so far!!

Well finally after how long? I've decided what I want to start indoors. At least I think I've decided. If you see any no no's on my list please let me know. Sometimes I make booboo's.

Bronze Fennel
Egyptian Walking Onion
Banana peppers (anyone know how many per person)
Hycinth Bean Vine 5
Heart seed Vine
Licorice Basil
Madagascar Jasmine 'Stephanotis Floribunda'
Aster 'Matsumoto Red Stripe'
Cantaloupe 'Ambrosia Hybrid'
Marigolds double dwarf 'French Vanilla'

I'm not sure if I'll get them in there cups today or not but sometime this week is my goal.

TAmmy, I've never grown hyacinth beans before, and I want to this year! I remember you telling me they need a big pot and I read they grow really fast and also beans don't transplant easily...so I'm not too sure if you should start yours this early (I should say should I start mine too? )

On the other hand, I nicked five canna seeds and put them in warm water. covered the cup and put it on top of the furnace, changed the water once and they had a little radical poking out the second day! I planted four of them (tossed the last one out because it didn't have a root but still swelled...didn't want to get another pellet, the lazy me!) I have four pellets in which I sowed basil seeds in and another four pellets which I sowed some peppermint stick zinnias in...let's see what else I can start! I potted up five calla bulbs and let's hope they make it through this winter so I can put them out in spring...all I need is room!

Hey Kenny I'm in zone 7a so I can plant out on April 15th. So I'm probably a little earlier than you.

And your right I do need to put the hycinth bean vine in the direct sow pile rather than starting it indoors. Thankyou for the reminder.

Tammy you're so lucky to be in 7a. I think I'm a 5a/b It would be nice to grow things hardy to zone 6 and 7 without having to dig them out every fall (cannas, callas, 4:00s...)

I sowed peppermint strick zinina seeds into four jiffy peat pellets and they have all sprouted. I can see the little white elbow sprouts!

kenny i just googled them! those are realy pretty!

I have enjoyed reading this string of dialogue. A comment about seeds and light. Some seeds do need light to germinate while other need darkness. If you just Google the seeds name you can find out its requirements. Some require cooling periods (Stratifying) to help break dormancy and some by just cooling them you will get higher germination rates.

I am not a fan of the peat pellets because once the peat has been compressed I think it changes the peat structure and you do not get as good of air exchange. I like the biodegradable pots that you can plant and I use a seeds starting mix in them. This way the root structure does not get altered.

I am about to start my seeds, about 2 more weeks. My heirloom tomato seeds arrived today and cant wait to get them going!

Kenny I feel ya. But when u start feeling down about your zone. Just think about all those people who are worse off, like me :p . And even then I don't care what they say. I want to have everything ready for that day when I can finally plant outside. So even my zone 3 hasn't stopped me from beginning my seeds. Cuz right after our last frost summer is really hot here. I have a beautiful indoor garden happening. wanna see?

cancolgirl i wanna see!

buglady, i use those biodegadable pot for plants that dont like root disturbance
clematis need winter sown wich is proubly why mine havent done anything, so im gonna try em the wintersown way,

When getting your biodegradable pots you need to make sure you get the ones WITHOUT holes in them. The pots WITH holes will not allow roots to penetrate through until the pot starts to break down, those are peat pots. the pots without holes are woodfiber pots and the roots will pop out of the pots faster then the other pots. they don't have holes because they are so porous they don't need holes.

So when I started in Dec. I had one shelf unit. I got another shelf as i was running out of room on just one. This is the original setup


And this is my most recent setup

What a great set up you have!!!!

I can't see the zinnia sprouts anymore! hopefully they'll pop back up

What kind of soil did you use for propagation? Maybe you have damp-off problems. The soil can be detrimental to seedlings at times if you don't use a "soil-less" mix. I thought starting zinnias in January is awful early. They grow relatively fast.

I start my zinnias in late feb. if you start them to soon and don't have enough light they will stretch and not be able to hold their flower heads up later in life.

Yes.. damping off can be a big issue. Make sure you do not have a fungus gnat issues because they make the problem much worse by 1. vectoring the different damping off pathogens 2. the larva of the fungus gnats eat the roots of your seedling, and can cause death in young plants.

If you do have a gnat issue and it hasn't gotten too out of hand, I have success using the sticky strips to catch airborne gnats before they can lay more eggs. Actualy, as a precaution I add a stick pad just for peace of mind around my indoor seedlings.

yes... yellow sticky cards are great for adult fungus gnats ! i love them and make my customers use them.

If you do get them and really want to stop them benefical nematodes are the way to go! and organic!

Thanks for the advice! I use compressed peat pellets that I get from Walmart, might be because someone kicked the dish with the pellets on top of the heater, that's where I found them this morning, oh well...:sigh:

Yes, I know zinnias wren't the best choice to start, but I just wanted to get something green going! LOL that winter bl;ues have got me! I'll try to sow a few more wonderegg seeds later tonight

sorry.. I know I am the bringer of bad news. Usually I bring the bad bug news. This is what happens when you start researching this stuff. Also I am in the nursery business so I have to know what really works for my growers. (I also teach plant propagation at the local college)

No need to be sorry! WE same the same profession, I'm the one who brings bad news to my friends and people around me...must be nice to be in the nursey business. It's going to be some time before I kno wenough to teach at a college! You advice is certainly most valuable to me!

cancolgirl i love your set up!!!!!!


buglady i didnt know you teach plant propagation!! kennys right your advice would be greatly valued to us!

right now im learning about the tacca bat plant seeds! cause i got some! their seeds can take a month to 9 months to germinate! i hope i get it right, i so love this plant!