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Starting With Seeds |
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The information on this page has been collected from various sources on the web. Where ever possible, I have included the source. None of this information is of my own origin. This collection of information is offered here to help the reader have a more complete understanding of working with seeds. |
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| The following is excerpted from: http://www.alchemy-works.com/growing_tips.html#Storing See: http://www.alchemy-works.com By the way, this is a great site for purchasing seeds.... hundreds of
different varieties! Storing Seeds Store seeds in a small covered glass jar in the refrigerator. Keep them
dry. One way to ensure dryness is to use a silica gel pack, like you can get
from craft stores. You can also use a tablespoon or so of instant dried milk
in a coffee filter to absorb moisture in the jar. Seeds kept cool and dry
will remain viable for a couple years, although tropical seeds are sometimes
very short-lived and only last a few months, if that. When you are ready to
plant, you can test for keepers by putting the seeds to soak in water
overnight. Throw out the ones that are floating after 24 hours.
Most of the seeds I offer are of wild plants that
although they have a long association with people have not necessarily been
cultivated on a regular basis. That means that they retain their wild
characteristics, including germinating irregularly. Hybrids and
long-cultivated plants like wheat or petunias when planted will all
germinate at once. This is not so with wild plants. Irregular germination is
beneficial in the wild, where conditions might not be right for the plant;
it therefore spreads out its chances of hitting a good time to grow. But
this same feature can try the patience of gardeners. Just know that the
seeds of "weeds" are not as regimented as those of cultivated plants. Some seeds are very protective of their life force and will not easily
break dormancy. They have to be convinced that the time is right for them to
sprout. Humans have found various ways to do that. Stratification
is one of
them. In this method, the seeds are put into a moist environment. You can do
this by planting them in peat pellets, or mixing them with a little moist
sand in a baggie, or putting them between two moist paper towels in a baggie
and then putting them in the refrigerator for a number of weeks. Soaking
them in cold water that is changed for fresh daily also helps some seeds--I
have found this helpful for belladonna, nightshade, mandrake, and henbane,
and I am trying it on aconite now to see if it will help speed that laggard
up. This convinces the seed that it has gone through winter and it is okay
to germinate when you remove them from the fridge. Plant on a full stomach, so your garden will be full. Each person has a
plant family that is especially close to them. Do your best to discover and
grow that family and then trade with friends for plant products in other
families. I have had the best luck using Jiffy-7 pellets and liquid kelp solution
to start seeds. Jiffy-7 pellets are compressed peat moss inside a fibrous
cylinder that will puff up as it absorbs water. They're available at garden
centers very cheaply. Get a small plastic "flat" while you are there to put
them in (although a cake pan, disposable aluminum roasting pan, or plastic
dishware from microwave meals will also work). Liquid kelp is an 200:1
extract of kelp seaweed that is available from garden companies that
concentrate on organics (Maxicrop Liquid Seaweed is a popular brand); check
the web. (I have not worked with regular dried kelp because it is hard to
wet and weak in comparison to the extract.) It is expensive--perhaps $12 for
a small bottle--but usually 1/4-1/2 teaspoon is mixed with a gallon of
water, so a little goes a long, long way. Mix the kelp extract with water in
the proportions the label indicates, and soak the pellets in the solution.
They will puff up. When the pellets are thoroughly soaked, put them in the flat. Poke a very
shallow hole in the top of the pellet with your finger tip. Sometimes they
come with holes already in them, and these are usually too deep. Use the
size of the seed to gauge the size of the hole. A small seed like a poppy
seed should just very barely be covered by soil. I'd put about a flat dime's
worth of soil over most seeds. Larger seeds can take more; I never usually
put my seeds very far down into the soil, maybe about a quarter inch. Really
tiny seeds usually shouldn't even be covered, just pressed lightly down.
Planting too deep is the number one cause of non-germination. The second is
watering too much. Only plant half of your seeds. That way, if something
goes wrong, you will have more left to try again. Also, sowing too thickly
can result in damping off, because the seedlings don't get enough air
circulation. Sow sparsely. With very tiny seeds, take a pinch between your
fingers and gently rub your fingers together over the top of the planting
soil. The little seeds with be sprinkled over it. Go slowly so you don't
overseed. Most seed packets have way too much seed in them to use in one
year. If the plant is tropical or if you're growing the seeds in a cold room,
they might benefit from bottom heat. Instead of spending a lot for a bottom
heater (about $50 last time I looked), you can use a water-resistant heating
pad from Wally World. Take the cloth cover off and put the pad under (not
in) the flat or pan with the pellets in it, and set it on Medium. (Make sure
the flat doesn't have any holes in it). Seeds shouldn't be allowed to dry out, but at the same time they cannot
be sopping wet or they might rot or get fungus ("damping off"--the tiny
seedlings suddenly all fall over and die). It's a balance you have to learn
for yourself. Some people mist their seeds, but I have better luck bottom
watering them. This means you put the water (water and liquid kelp, in this
case) into the bottom of the pan instead of on the pellets themselves. The
pellets will draw up as much water as they need. Dump out water they don't
absorb. Pouring the water on the pellets can dislodge the seeds or
seedlings. You can cover the seeds with a plastic cover, the kind that come
with some flats, or you can use a plastic bag from the grocery store. Keep
an eye on it so that it doesn't get too hot or stale in there. If you live
in a humid area, this isn't necessary. Most seeds will first produce two leaves that do not have the shape of
their normal leaves. In fact, seedlings all look pretty much the same until
they get their second pair of leaves--their true leaves--and then you can
tell them apart by leaf shape. Once the seeds are up, you can get them to grow a little stronger by
using a very gentle fan on them. This will give them stronger stalks. It
will also dry them out faster, though, so keep an eye on that (although this
can be helpful if you've got a heavy hand with the watering can). You can
also just lightly brush your hand over the tops every day, like you would
over a short haircut. I believe this also helps to build communication with
the plant. In terms of sun, most seeds do not need sun to start growing. Consider
how they grow out in the wild--under the leaves of other already-established
plants. Putting them on a counter near a window without direct sunlight is
good. Or you can use shoplights (no need to have fancy growlights to
germinate or grow seedlings). Once the seedlings are up, you should get them
used to the sun a little at a time or they will die. If you have covered
them with plastic, uncover them at this point. Putting them in the sun with
a cover on will bake the poor guys. Start them out with 1/2 hour of sun a
day and work your way up. Putting them on a porch is good, if it's not too
cold outside. Sometimes seedlings will just up and keel over all at once, or they will
develop a very skinny spot on their stem and slowly die. This is called
"damping off" and is caused by fungus, which is in turn caused by too much
water, not enough air circulation, or seedlings growing too thickly. Using
diluted liquid kelp solution to water seedlings helps keep down damping off,
but many people have also had success with using chamomile tea. They make a
very strong chamomile tea of 1/4 chamomile to 1 cup boiling water. Let it
cool and strain. Then wash the seeds before planting or spray on seeds and
soil when they get fungus (sometimes shows as white spots on the soil). Make
small amounts of the tea, because it does not store long, only a few days.
Thanks to Raven for this tip! Anyone who has ever grown seeds has had
experience with damping off. This is one of the major reasons why you should
keep back some of the seeds in each packet. Once the plant starts to get true leaves (as opposed to the first two
leaves that come out), you can begin putting them outside for a little while
each day, depending on how cold it is out. Keep them out of direct sunlight
outside until they are good and tough. Just keep in mind, again, how they
would be growing on their own--gradually working their way up in between the
leaves of established plants, making their way to the sun little by little,
and keeping warm under the leaves of other plants, which would hold the
warmth of the earth in and frost off. I usually start mine off on a porch
outside, where they get no direct sunlight. Then I put them in morning sun
starting with 1/2 hour per day. You can tell if they want more or less by
the way they react to it. If they get leggy (stalks are long), they need
more sun. When you start to see roots coming out of the sides or bottoms of the
pellets, you will know it is time to pot them up. Get some good quality
potting soil (I often mix in Black Cow composted manure with it) and put the
pellets in a pot about a finger's width bigger on all sides. Putting them in
a too-big pot might mean trouble with watering (too much water too far below
the roots means a good home for fungus). A good way to gauge the size of the
pot once the plant gets going is that the pot's height should be 1/3 the
height of the plant. I often use plastic cups for pots for seedlings. Stamp
a hole in the bottom with a Philips screwdriver or nail. Be careful not to
crack it, although if you do, it's still usable--will just drain fast. Tamp
down soil in pot lightly and make sure you do not cover up any portion of
the stem, or it will rot. However, do cover up the edges of the Jiffy-7,
because some people believe leaving the peat exposed wicks out moisture. Once you get the plant to a certain point and the weather is warm enough,
you will be able to plant it directly outside, if that's what you want.
Choose a spot where you have prepared the soil by digging a small hole and
putting in compost. Many people advise double-digging, using a tiller, and
all that. To my mind, these are methods good for growing crops but overkill
for growing herbs. The important thing is not to allow the herb to compete
with grass. One method that works for me is to cover the area I am intending
to use as a garden with cardboard from boxes. Allow at least a month to go
by for the grass underneath to die. Then cut out holes where you want plants
to go. Dig out the dirt in those holes and replace it with good potting soil
and composted cow manure. Plant your plants in that. Water a freshly potted
or planted seedling thoroughly (called "muddying in") so that the roots take
well. Again, make sure not to cover up the stem of the plant and do not tamp
in the soil around the plant too heavily. Tuck plenty of soil in, water
thoroughly, and then push more soil into the airpockets that watering shows
up. Then cover with a nice mulch of your choice--don't put the mulch too
close to your babies. Leave maybe one inch around the stem, so that the only
soil that is even a tiny bit exposed is the potting soil. This will keep
weed seeds in the soil from germinating. I like cypress or eucalyptus as a
mulch. With this method, you never have to weed, and you don't have to buy
any expensive weed barriers. Liquid kelp solution and fish emulsion (drives the cats crazy--try the
new "unscented" kind) work well as foliar feeding, the only kind of
fertilizing I do. Fish emulsion is available from gardening places that sell
liquid kelp. Sometimes they come in the same bottle, but kelp on its own is
better for starting seedlings. Something in it helps break seed dormancy.
Add fish emulsion once the plant is past the toddler stage. Get a pump
sprayer at a gardening store, usually about $12, or you can make do with a
plastic mister, although these break easily. Mix up a solution according to
the package directions. Spray the plants with the solution on their leaves
(make sure to get the undersides) in the morning when the birds are singing
and the plants have their little mouths open (really). If you are growing
inside, you can also play any music that has high, fluty notes to get the
plants to open their stomae (feeders) during feeding at other times. They
use the foliar fertilizer best if their stomae are open. Spraying regularly
helps you keep an eye on the bug situation too. If you want to get your plants to flower inside, you need either a very
sunny window or grow lights. I have read that the Envirolight is a good,
inexpensive light for indoor growing but have not tried it myself. A good
place to grow plants in the house is an enclosed sun porch. Plants need lots
of air circulation or they will develop problems with fungus, gnats,
whiteflies, spider mites, and so on. The air in a house in winter is
especially problematic because it is very dry, and plants need humidity.
Misting every single day is mandatory to keep your plants in good condition
during winter heating. You can buy a mister that attaches to a faucet or use
a tank sprayer. Stagnant air should be kept stirring with a light fan; the
faint breeze will help keep the plant's stalk strong. |
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