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READY TO PLANT
BY
My first seed catalog arrived on Halloween!! That got me anxious to order my seeds and get back into the garden. Then the winter was very different and the clean up got done but we needed moisture. Recently we got a good snowfall and some nice rains that have perked everything up. Also the days are longer so that even the house plants have started to perk up. Some gardeners do very little clean up, leaving any seeds out fore the birds and believing the plants will catch the snow to protect any questionably hardy plants. They are correct of course but I have so much of it that if we have a wet spring to keep me out of the garden, I won’t get it done in time to plant the earlies. I put cages around my hardiness zone 6 plants and fill with compost to keep the ground cold and prevent it from thawing and freezing. This freezing and thawing, and freezing and thawing, and freezing again sometimes cause the plant to “heave” out of the ground and thus expose the roots. Some of our seeds actually do better if planted in the late fall or early winter. Larkspur is already up and will do fine. My poppy seeds do better if they freeze and thaw a few times. The Oriental Poppies have been up for some time. Peas and Sweet Peas need to be planted very early in the spring so the ground should be prepared in the fall if possible. Beets, Carrots, and Radish seeds need to be planted early so I like to have the seeds I order from a catalog here in January so I can see any special instructions such as refrigeration for several weeks. If you save your seeds, you need to know where to keep them during the winter. Some you may need to plant in pots, and then bury the pots outside so they can freeze for a certain number of hours. If you are dealing with wild flowers, you may have to wait until late summer to plant. There is a good NebGuide on how long you can keep seeds and the minimum and maximum soil temperatures for good germination. (See reference at end of article. There are some seedlings that resent being transplanted. Dill, cucumber, Melons, Fennel, Poppies, Flax, Mallows, Parsley, and nasturtiums are among these. Most can be done with extra care such as an individual pot so you can plant before the roots get too large and you won’t disturb them in moving. Usually the seed packets will warn you about this.
All of the BRASSICA species (
Another thing you need to know about your seeds is where to plant
them. Some like it hot and dry and others like moisture.
My “dry” ones I try to plant on the parkway unless they grow too
tall. Among the dry ones are
most DAISIES, BUTTERFLY WEED, CLEOMES (too tall for the parkway, COSMOS
(there are short ones and tall ones),
The most fun about seeds is trying a new kind, a new species.
Here it is very important to read the instructions on the packet.
Some have to be refrigerated for a period of time, some need
soaking overnight, some need to be covered with soil, while others
require light in order to germinate.
If you saved your own seeds, or you have some that are left over
from a previous year, I would do a germination test. To do this, count
out ten seeds, place them in a folded, damp paper towel or facial
tissue. (You don’t want them standing in water.) Put them in a clear
container so they won’t dry out. Keep warm. After a few days check to
see how many sprouted to make sure you will have a good crop.
Some seeds die in the season after harvest if not planted, while
others my live many years. (See the reference at the end on a NebGuide
from the Some seeds are very slow to germinate such as the PRAIRIE GENTIAN (Eustoma grandiflorum) so it is probably too late to plant this year. Also, there is always the temptation to start too soon and have tall plants ready to go too soon. I start my plants in the 2 1/2 inch pots under lights, in the basement, in trays (as I like to water from the bottom most of the time), with seed starting heating pads under them, as seeds like to be damp but not wet, and warm to germinate. The lights are on 15 hours a day and within 2 inches from the tops of the plants. This is another reason to water from below. My first year I lost many of my plants to “damping off”. This is a fungous disease that causes new seedlings to flop. But I had planted them in potting soil and added too much water. So now I dampen the soil and fill the pots about 2/3rds full of potting soil and then fill the top 1/3rds with seed starting soil that contains fine sphagnum peat moss. Your seed packet will tell you how many days to germination. Some are quite long. In fact I have read as much as a year on some tropicals. 7 days to 3 weeks is more common. Soon after the seeds are up they need they need to be moved off the heating pad and do well in ordinary room temperature. Copyright 2012 For more information go to: University of Nebraska-Lincoln NebGuide #G2090 “Vegetable Garden Seed Storage and Germination Requirements” (http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu) |