Starting flower seed - differeint than veggies?

Historically I have completely failed when trying to start flowers: zennias, marigolds, petunias, snap dragons. I'm pretty good with veggies. Is there anything different about starting flowers? Thanks for any help.

Dave ....

Reply to
Dave ....
Loading thread data ...

Mistakes I've made in the past:

  1. Too much water.
  2. Too cold soil.
  3. Wrong light.
  4. Too deep.

Now I buy seeds from reputable sources, sow according to the instructions, lightly water the soil, cover the flats with plastic wrap, set in a sunny spot and wait. Soon seedlings begin to form and push through the soil. When the second set of leaves is formed, I remove the plastic.

I've had good luck. Now I've gone overboard with overpriced lights and a heat mat.

This gardening stuff is a disease.

Reply to
WiGard

How are you sowing them? Just scattering them about on soil? or are you placing individual seeds into individual pots, or seed starting systems?

I'm sure everyone is sick of hearing, but .. cutting newspaper into strips slightly narrower than the height of the container you wanted to use to start plants in. Make tubes of varying sizes based on how big the seed is you wish to start, put the tubes in the container, fill them with seed starting mix..getting the soil between the tubes is fine, just fill them all about the same so they won't collapse some of them. Jiggle the container or bounce it about a bit to settle the soil, spray it with water from a spray bottle to get it well dampened and sow your seed, cover it as instructed by the packets, or sowing guides. Spray the soil in the container again to settle the soil around the seed in order to eliminate air pockets and get the seed dampened and soil dampened. You can loosely cover the container with plastic wrap.. hold it up with straws inserted into the corners, Just keep it from drying out.. spraying it with the squirt bottle.. set on mist.

If your seed is fresh, they should mostly come up in a week or so. Keep the seedlings under bright light. The florescent bulbs should be kept around 2" above the growing point on the plants.. for the most part. There are exceptions, but overall the lower light requiring plants should be kept at the ends of the tubes and the light intensity is lower there, If you don't have any low light requiring plants/seedlings just rotate the plants from ends to middle and sliding them back and forth to rotate them to keep the seedlings stocky.

I used to raise every kind of seed I could lay hands on, more than I needed but I as sowing them in a seed system that had grooves in a plastic flat fit onto a standard flat, and before that, in rows in potting soil in standard flats, and then I had to transplant and transplant stuff. I gave away or threw away many seedlings,.

I recommend Le Jardin du Gourmet for cheap seed, sample packet size which is great for things that don't keep well, like lettuce and parsnips. They don't have every seed but most have several kinds to choose from. Prices are 35 cents for sample

Good luck! Time for sleep..I'm sleep typing so sorry for any spelling errors!

Janice

Reply to
Janice

Not really much difference, although many of the ones you mention like warmer soil temps (70-75oF) than most veggies. Snapdragon, try surface sowing, 70-75oF soil temp (so room temp is cool) on the soil surface, barely covered with sand, 7-14 day germ. Petunia needs similar conditions, but warmer soil temps, 75-80oF; marigold about the same, and zinnia similar conditions, but plant a little deeper.

Reply to
Kay Lancaster

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.