Seed germination
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Forum Name: Gardening
Forum Description: Are you a Green Thumb (or not)? Share you tips and ask your questions here.
URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=36126
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Topic: Seed germination
Posted By: happymumma
Subject: Seed germination
Date Posted: 07 October 2010 at 8:39pm
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Is anyone really good at this? I seem to be a bit hit and miss. If you have success, what are your tips (think explanation for a complete novice!!)? |
Replies:
Posted By: KrazeeKaz
Date Posted: 07 October 2010 at 9:19pm
| We have found that using a mix of potting mix, compost and seed raising mix is great, also keeping them watered regularly and in a warm area like a green house or poly tunnel will help also. |
Posted By: Kellz
Date Posted: 07 October 2010 at 9:32pm
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Have just started growing seeds for the first time. Got seedling trays and seedling mix from garden centre. I asked the guy for a quick lesson for dummys, lol. He told me to follow the back of the seed packets for length of germination, and not to plant the seeds deeper than what the packet says, cos if u plant them too deep they wont grow. Put one seed per hole. I put sees that take the same lenth of gemination in the same tray- most take 10-14 days, but I have some that take 4 weeks so they all all in little rows in the same tray!
I have them in my laundry, and have covered the trays with newspaper to make it dark, and water daily. They are all growing really well! I have sunflowers and marigolds, spring onions, carrots, beetroot, eggplant, cucumbers. Im gonna plant the musceln lettuce seeds staright into the vege garden- after labour weekend is best, to avoid frosts. Make a trough in the garden and fill with seedling mix, then spinkle the seeds and lightly cover with more seedling mix- thats whta I have been tld and plan to do! |
Posted By: fire_engine
Date Posted: 07 October 2010 at 10:01pm
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Good thread. DH was juse asking me about all the packets of seedlings we have, barely any of which took off last year. ------------- Mum to two wee boys |
Posted By: happymumma
Date Posted: 08 October 2010 at 8:47am
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How long do they last? I have some that have a use by date on them of earlier this year. And Kellz - why the need to cover them with newspaper? I would never have thought of that - I just assumed that when you popped them in to germinate they would need light. |
Posted By: mummy_becks
Date Posted: 08 October 2010 at 9:58am
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Seedling mix works the best. I have had almost everything come through using a seedling mix. Also keeping them damp and warm helps. ------------- I was a puree feeder, forward facing, cot sleeping, pram pushing kind of Mum... and my kids survived! |
Posted By: DzinerGirl
Date Posted: 08 October 2010 at 10:26am
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My laundry is miniscule so no chance of me growing anything in there..is your laundry quite warm Kellz?
I've been reading the NZ Vegetable Garden book by Tui and it says to make a kind of a mini glass house to put the seed trays in then cover the glass with newspaper (to stop finer seeds drying out I think, apparently bigger seeds don't need the paper as they are sown in deeper and are less likely to dry out) ...Then once the first signs of germination appears (which is tiny leaves I'm guessing???  ) to remove the paper covering and raise the glass to provide ventilation then after another day or so to remove the glass completely and let the seedlings grow until ready for transplanting.
Sounds good in theory LOL I'm going to make my "mini greenhouse" this weekend hopefully so I'll let you know how I get on 
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Posted By: happymumma
Date Posted: 08 October 2010 at 12:50pm
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My greenhouse is currently my dining table! It is surrounded by windows so gets plenty of sun. But I wonder if not using the paper is my problem. Might have to try that. I just went and bought bean, spring onion, carrot, pepper and rocket seeds so have a bit of work to do. Another option for the glasshouse idea is to look out for smallish windows complete with frame. You can just place it in a sunny position with seedling trays underneath. Friends of mine have done that with good success I think. |
Posted By: DzinerGirl
Date Posted: 08 October 2010 at 1:06pm
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a demo yard should have something like that wouldn't they?
Hubby works for a glass company though so I might just get him to cut & edge a piece to suit whatever base I can find..Do you think a sturdy box would work or would something wooden be better? |
Posted By: happymumma
Date Posted: 08 October 2010 at 1:23pm
| I think I shallow box would be fine surely. As long as it can hold the weight of the glass. I have an old cat litter tray I will use once I get my seed raising mix. |
Posted By: DzinerGirl
Date Posted: 08 October 2010 at 2:41pm
| Ohh I wonder if we've still got our kitty litter tray... |
Posted By: mummy_becks
Date Posted: 08 October 2010 at 3:33pm
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I have mine in a greenhouse we picked up quite cheap at Mitre 10 Mega. ------------- I was a puree feeder, forward facing, cot sleeping, pram pushing kind of Mum... and my kids survived! |
Posted By: DzinerGirl
Date Posted: 08 October 2010 at 4:19pm
| How big is the greenhouse mummy_becks? |
Posted By: _SMS_
Date Posted: 08 October 2010 at 6:38pm
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I have them in the 6pack punnets. I have several in a big box on my dining table in the sun. I water them twice a day. They have all sprouted in 1 week. And are growing well -------------  
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Posted By: fire_engine
Date Posted: 08 October 2010 at 7:43pm
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Mmm, rocket. Last year I used gladwrap (on some book's advice) instead of glass. I generally got germination OK but they didn't grow much beyond that and very few, if any, actually became plants. ------------- Mum to two wee boys |
Posted By: Rovic
Date Posted: 09 October 2010 at 1:00pm
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I have had great success with my beans so far this year, but no luck at all with corn ------------- http://alterna-tickers.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: mummy_becks
Date Posted: 09 October 2010 at 4:32pm
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Rovic, I am having the same problem with corn. I have put seeds into the ground and if they aren't coming through by labour weekend I am off to Mitre 10 to get some plants. I will take a photo and post it to show you what it looks like. ------------- I was a puree feeder, forward facing, cot sleeping, pram pushing kind of Mum... and my kids survived! |
Posted By: mummy_becks
Date Posted: 09 October 2010 at 4:51pm
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There is the green house ------------- I was a puree feeder, forward facing, cot sleeping, pram pushing kind of Mum... and my kids survived! |
Posted By: Gardengirl
Date Posted: 09 October 2010 at 8:46pm
Great, a gardening section 
I mist my seedlings as soon as the seedmix starts to show any signs of drying, so a couple of times a day +. Currently I have heaps of 2 different types of tomato , a couple of dozen basil, some sunflowers, a punnet of lettuce, half a dozen cucumber and half a dozen zuchinni on my dining table. I will plant runner beans, radish and silverbeet outside once I've cleared more space (I already have broad beans coming up, sown late, garlic and asparagus). Will be sowing a few trays worth of marigold tomorrow and getting some pumpkins underway. I've considered one of those wee greenhouses but the ones I've seen don't seem to be UV protected so I don't think they'd last the summer. My main concern outside is keeping the chooks and the pig away from stuff. |
Posted By: happymumma
Date Posted: 10 October 2010 at 11:36am
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I love the greenhouse! Might have to put that on my list of gardening wants! The $2 (or whatever it's called now) has misting bottles. I might have to pick up another for seedlings. |
Posted By: mummy_becks
Date Posted: 10 October 2010 at 5:07pm
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We picked it up 1/2 price at Mitre 10 Mega in June. I love it as it is big enough to have tomatoes in pots growing in there. I am going to use it over the winter to grow veges in it (well going to give it a go). ------------- I was a puree feeder, forward facing, cot sleeping, pram pushing kind of Mum... and my kids survived! |
Posted By: happymumma
Date Posted: 11 October 2010 at 8:07pm
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I don't think anyone has mentioned it, but someone I was talking to today recommended popping seeds (in their seedling mix) into the hot water cupboard until they germinate. Same concept as the newspaper I guess. So I have transferred mine from the dining table to the hot water cupboard to see what they do. Probably timely given that it is freezing here today! |
Posted By: mummy_becks
Date Posted: 12 October 2010 at 10:00pm
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For those that are looking at getting a greenhouse, I saw today that Bunnings have some on sale this week ($99) for a 2 shelf walk in one I think. ------------- I was a puree feeder, forward facing, cot sleeping, pram pushing kind of Mum... and my kids survived! |
Posted By: Rovic
Date Posted: 17 October 2010 at 9:20am
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Woohoo! My corn seeds have finally germinated! This is the 2nd lot and thought I'd have to buty seedlings as was taking so long. Now just have to keep them alive long enough to get them into the garden, lol. ------------- http://alterna-tickers.com">
http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: mummy_becks
Date Posted: 17 October 2010 at 4:38pm
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My corn has finally come through as well. I ended up putting it straight into the ground where I wanted to grow it. I need to thin them as in places I have more than 2 plants. As we put our compost into the garden I have random plants growing in the garden - have no idea what they are I am just going to let them grow. ------------- I was a puree feeder, forward facing, cot sleeping, pram pushing kind of Mum... and my kids survived! |
Posted By: Gardengirl
Date Posted: 19 October 2010 at 11:32am
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Hi,
I've got a batch of Roma tomatoes that already have their first set of true leaves. A few of them looked as though they had succumbed to damping off disease, where they seemed to just keel over for no reason. You could actually see a weak area at the base of the stem. However, now the days are warmer I am putting my seedlings out in a sheltered spot during the day and bringing them in at night, and the handful of tomatoes that had keeled over have managed to stand up again and are doing almost as well as the rest. So....if you do get some with damping off, keep at them, just in case they come right. Also, I have finally had 5 of my 6 capsicum germinate after nearly 6 weeks of waiting. I had aaaalmost given up on them. |
Posted By: happymumma
Date Posted: 19 October 2010 at 12:21pm
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My roma tomato plants have been a bit the same - I thought I was going to lose a couple but they seemed to have pulled themselves together! The wind here isn't helping at the moment though - we've had a couple of really gusty days. I've had 3 beans germinate (out of 6) and about 4 of the peppers look like they will as well. I might try some corn since a couple of you have had success. I've always just assumed they would fall in to the too hard basket but given the price of seeds and seedlings I'm starting to think it's worth giving most things a go. Gardengirl my peppers have taken quite a while too. I've had them in the hot water cupboard in the last week and I'm thinking that is working. |
Posted By: Gardengirl
Date Posted: 19 October 2010 at 12:28pm
| The Norwester has just picked up here so I'm thinking I'll bring them back in - it's sheltered where they are but not that sheltered. I've already had a young honeysuckle stripped bare from windburn :-( |
Posted By: SMoody
Date Posted: 04 November 2010 at 2:00pm
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Just a quick tip for seedlings. After reading the tip about the mister I thought about getting another 5L sprayer that you use for weedkiller and worm tea and stuff. Got mine from Mitre10 for like $14 and I know you get them at the warehouse too. I think they are for $10 this week.
I have a huge amount of seedlings going (after buying 50 of the 6 punnet trays of another website and a few other things that I thought would last me a while and I managed to fill them all in one week with stuff growing ready to go out to the garden.)
It works really great to spray them and not to hurt seedlings and I use it on my tamato plants to get the water closer to the ground and not on leaves and things. So just a tip for the ones that have more than a few seedlings going at one time. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: sweetpea
Date Posted: 05 November 2010 at 12:50pm
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Just a quick notes some seeds need to have sunlight to germinate that is don't cover them these are generally the very small seed. The instructions on the back of the packet should say if you cover them or if not you can find tables that show this on the net try egmont seeds. ------------- http://daisypath.com"> 
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Posted By: Gardengirl
Date Posted: 08 November 2010 at 7:39am
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Happymumma, how are your capsicums doing? Mine have now been on the go for a good 2 months and are only just now starting to grow their first set of true leaves.
I still haven't planted out my cucumbers as I wanted to wait till the cold front we've just had had gone through. I put 5 of my tomatoes in the ground but covered them at night with bottle cloches. |
Posted By: lil_lease
Date Posted: 08 November 2010 at 11:02am
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I know this probably wont work for everyone but I just put my seedling trays out in our courtyard in a good spot to catch the morning/midday sun and they've gone mental.
My tomato seedlings are taking their time but everything else is doing beautifully. ------------- Antony, gone but never forgotten 2-4-2010 
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Posted By: Gardengirl
Date Posted: 08 November 2010 at 11:38am
| Ideally you should let your seedlings spend time outside before planting to harden them off. I started off by putting mine out just during the day on warmer days, building them up to being out 24hrs and then planting them. It's less of a shock to them then when they do go in the ground. |
Posted By: happymumma
Date Posted: 08 November 2010 at 6:01pm
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My capsicums are pretty slow so far Gardengirl...still absolutely tiny. I think things are just starting to take off here so I'm hoping they get the idea!! My cucumber is outside and looking good and a couple of my roma tomatoes are now looking like I have't killed them so not sure whether they were just a bit shocked at being put outside to fend for themselves! I hadn't realised that about seedlings benefitting from being outside a bit before being planted. I've done it with a few things but only because it was a nice day and it seemed like a good idea. I'm getting impatient now. I'm using lettuce and spinach from the garden but can't wait to have a few more things to eat |
Posted By: Gardengirl
Date Posted: 09 November 2010 at 7:21pm
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So mine aren't the only slow ones then :-)
I've planted the cucumbers now, well, 4 of them, against a fence that I have some sheep netting nailed to for them to climb up. They are growing in pretty much just mature, rotted sheep poo, so hopefully they will like that. Have planted 3 of my zuchinnis today too. Have runner beans in for about 2 weeks now and only 1 has germinated well, a second one has come up but looks sickly and the remaining 8 are still hiding. Not sure whether to start off some others in pots to transfer. Have 5 pumpkin plants still to plant and a whole lot of cherry tomatoes and basils. DH is in the process of properly fencing off our whole vege area so once that's done I will put them in. |