A newbie here with a few quick questions...

1) Should I plant indoors or outdoors?

2) If I plant indoors now, they will probably be ready to be planted outside before spring arrives. Is this not a good time to plant then?

3) Can I plant prennials and annuals in the same tray?

4) I don't want to have to plant them, repot them when they grow a little bigger (but still not ready for outside) and then put them in the flowerbeds outside when they are ready. So is it ok to just plant them in the pots (or trays) deep enough for roots to grow until I can just put them outside and avoid the middle step of repotting them?

Jiffy - whaddya mean by news paper pots? Im totally into the plonking thing! Can you elaborate on how you do this? how many sheets of newspaper, etc? Thanks!

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by the way, you can make them as big around as you like, but if they are much larger than 4" you might need to use some paper tape on the bottom. you know the brown stuff that you have to wet. you can get it at a postal supply store. it biodegrades pretty good.

Hi Mike G. I'm glad I'm not the only Newbie on this site! I do know this much though: Whenever I've been in too much of a hurry & planted indoors too soon, the plants got too leggy & didn't do as well, once it was time to put them out, as when I just waited & soaked seeds in a wet paper towel (overnight, or until they show a sprout). Of course, depending on what you are planting... some seeds are too small to soak, but the teeny ones are usually fast growers anyway.

The peat pots are great for early seeding, & Jiffymouse, I REALLY like the news paper pot idea! (Thanx!) I already figured out the home-made marker thing, only I cut strips from milk jugs & write on them with a permanent marker, & that stays with the plants when they go into the ground. (I learned the hard way NOT to label the Jiffy Pots! When they are wet, you can't see the writing, & you don't dare let them dry out so you can see what kinds of sprouts you've killed! Interesting guessing game I played that year, until plants were big enough to ID!)

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Hi Mike,

Planning a garden sure does take a bunch of time and effort. And it seems to be very very true that after you decide which plants you want to have in your garden what you have to do is research each and everyone.

Some flowers need to be planted outdoors in the fall. This is true of many early spring bloomers that come from bulbs. Tulips, crocus, and things like that are planted outdoors in the fall for early spring color. There are probably lots more too but I'm just beginning to study gardening so I don't know much.

I bought some christmas rose seeds and they require 2 weeks of 70 degree temperature and then 4 weeks of cold and then take 5 to 18 months to finally sprout so they are going to get started inside now then put outside when it chills down. I'm planting in the cardboard egg cartons this year. Last year I tried to avoid the transplant thing and did one big flower box type thing. I lost many many of the plants. The egg cartons are bio-degradable and they will get plonked right into the next size of container necessary to keep them going or directly into the ground after hardening them off.

There are other plants like lettuce and celery and stuff that are cold weather plants so they have to be planted spring and or fall to produce well. I planted my lettuce to early and lost it. One of these days I will get it right because I love lettuce.

Anyway let us know which plants you would like to have in your garden and I'll bet if there isn't a plant profile for it now there soon will be.

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hya all

great idea that newspaper thing, will definately try that...and the egg cartons, but just a quick question...do you have to put a small drainage hole at the bottom of these? or do you just leave them as they are and plant them on straight into the soil?

Many thanks

take care

Mrs.D.

Comfrey, do you think that these cups are deep enough to host the plants until they are ready to be transplanted outside or do you transplant it to a bigger pot first?

i don't use the cups because of several reasons:

1, i am lazy, i don't want to have to pull the plant out to set it out. i prefer the plop method

2, i try not to generate any more garbage than necessary... my own little quirk about be eco-responsible

3, i'm am frugal. i don't usually buy anything that i know will get thrown away, if i can help it. just my own quirks.

but, that said, i have recycled drink cups for plant starters and they work great! one thing i did was to bury 2/3 a cup in a pot of wandering jew, kept water in the cup, so that i could cut and place cuttings as i walked by. worked great and i had a very full plant!

to answer about the egg cartons, if you use the paperboard ones, (not the foam) you don't need a drainage hole. if you use foam, you do. and if you use foam, if you put a piece of paper in each cup before you put the soil, it makes the transplant easier.

quote:

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Then I transplant each individual seedling to its own cup.

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This is what I am trying to figure out. If you have to transplant each seedling to its own cup then why not plant right in that cup from the very begining? Any good reason? Is it because not all seeds germinate? Or is it because the starter soil is good for the germination/is more expensive, etc.?

comfrey, thanks alot for your guidance. One last question... how deep are those flats that you use?

Thanks a bunch!!!

Two months later, the results are encouraging:

click photo for a full-screen sized picture.

In a month or so the seedlings should be ready to place in cell packs to go inside a covered window mini hotbed.

My pleasure, Weezie; stay tuned to this thread for
further developments on these plants come planting time and beyond,like a tutorial series.

Very informative neko nomad! Great pictures also.

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Are you still with me?...You are? Good! Now, for the second step, the placing into cell-packs and in to a mini greenhouse....

After about bout a month the seedlings can be transplanted. You want the first true leaves to appear before moving seedlings.


Moving the tiny seedlings may be with the point of a wooden pencil :


I place into a small hole, made with the pencil's point, making sure all of the tiny roots go inside:


I then give each seedling a bit of water for good root contact.


This year's perennials are now off to a good start. This is my first year to start gentians from seed.


I placed the covered minigreenhouse on a south-facing window in the basement and figure to set the plants out the first week of May.


Stay tuned for the next step. To be continued...

h, we're kindred souls, weezie....

are you there, Francine? I hope you keep these main points in mind:
1. Give your perennials seeds a good headstart -- like, November! Same could apply to you too, weezie, if you're in zone 5.
2. Make sure the seedstarter box is c-l-e-a-n.
3. Use NEW vermiculite,
4. Use NEW potting mix,
5. Stratify.
6. Place by a screened window
and ventilate on sunny days.
7. Keep DAMP, not wet.
8. Use rainwater or distilled water.

My next step will demonstrate hardening the plants prior to setting out.

Hello, everyone; thanks for showing up for this next step in growing perennial flowers from seed.


Hardening off of the plants has now begun.

I have placed the tray beside a window in the garage away from direct sunlight. The temperature in this spot is 50 degrees. It will stay here until the last day of frost, which should be about three weeks away, at which time I'll place it on the north side of the house until planting time early May.

The plants will continue to grow until that time, albeit somewhat slowly.

Yes your plants are looking good.

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Hello,everyone ! Now for the next step in growing flowers from seed.

After hardening off outdoors, today the seedlings were ready to set out.


They now grace a small path through the border, along with asters,daylilies,peonies,and evening primroses, adding to the ensemble of summer flowers.(click on photo)

weezie --
You meant the photo ?

Tip: Use a tagged Image URL as the page location, to make that photo a link,in the URL posting steps.

Get it?