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Feb 20, 2008 | 9:50 AM PST

Here is a picture of the current state of my 12 cell seed starter. All four of the end sections contain Vinca, seeds that I harvested myself from last years plant purchased at Lowes or Walmart. The other cell that has sprouts is Chocolate mint coleus. What I dont understand the most is why the cell directly next to that one doesnt have sprouts, since it was the same thing, from the same pack of seeds. The other cells contain African Impatiens, Lavender, and Baby Duck Petunias, and I am thinking they are not going to grow since the others have been up so long already. I started this kit on Feb 3rd, and by the 7th my vinca were popping through, and the coleus by the 10th. Its now the 20th, and no signs of life for the impatiens, petunia, or the lavender. Anyone have any words of wisdom on that???

Also, a LOT of the bulbs I planted late in the fall actually had sprouted before it got too cold, we had a mild winter, and then the worst weather of all last week, with 3 inches of snow and a sheet of ice over that. How are thise going to fare this growing season??? Anybody?? Am I going to have beautiful irises, tulips etc, or did the whacky weather screw that up for this year???

5 Member Comments

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CarolineC	Feb 20, 2008 \| 11:02 AM PST Right off the top of my head, I know that petunias need light to germinate, which they are supposed to do in about 10 days. So if they are buried under the soil, or if they are not being exposed to light, then that could be a reason. Being that your some of your coleus have germinated, you must have it under some sort of light.
CarolineC	Feb 20, 2008 \| 11:25 AM PST Well... I just checked my seed catalogues, and impatiens need light to germinate as well, so they must be surface sown. They can take anywhere from 10-30 days to germinate. Lavender, on the other hand needs to be pre-chilled for 3 weeks and can take 30-140 days to germinate according to the Thompson and Morgan catalogue. They said that hosta seeds would take 30-90 days to germinate, and mine only took 1-2 weeks, so you may not really have to wait 140 days ;). But I might suggest giving them a big drink and putting them in a sealed container in the fridge for a few weeks, then bringing them out into the warm air for a while and trying again. They also sound like good seeds to try to winter sow--put them in a vented clear-topped container with drainage holes outside, give 'em a good soaking and forget about them until spring. Hope this helps. :)
Debstr	Feb 20, 2008 \| 4:33 PM PST Well, first of all HAPPY Anniversary to you and Sarah ... Congrats and enjoy your weekend!!!! Now, the seedlings - don't get discouraged it takes practice. I did find those peat pods (I forget what they are called) do DRY OUT very quickly and basically you have to water them daily. The seeds need constant moisture to sprout so here is my thoughts - take the vinca out of the tray to another tray and keep water on the bottom of the tray (not a ton) but enough to wet everyone down daily. Cover them with plastic maybe & make sure they stay Warm! You have to know seeds all germinate at different rates so don't give up! Lastly, you have to pray to the seed gods and hope they hear ya! LOL just kidding Light, warmth & moisture ...... Debbie in IL
Debstr	Feb 20, 2008 \| 4:36 PM PST oh yea some seeds don't need light to get going - like delphinium which I have in my back room in the dark waiting for results - one morning I will wake up and There they will BE!
thequiltedgardener	Feb 21, 2008 \| 4:38 AM PST With the last couple of winters being odd weather, I had iris that has started coming up in December and then we had winter weather. My experience was that the bulbs did produce bloom but not like they had previous years. I am sure that the bulbs will come up but they may be affected. If that happens, don't be discouraged just enjoy what grows and learn from the experience.

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