A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Planting flowers from seeds

You had better believe it..
I've got this thread clicked with my
email notification...
so, I'll keep my an eye on it...

I love the gentian flower..so pretty,
so delicate...
I have one growing *I've abused it..a wee~bit,
let something crowd on it..* but it's still there..
The blue flower is so pretty..

Mine closes up when it's in bloom and it gets wet.. *like a hose or it's raining out*

Very informative neko nomad! Great pictures also.

The hinged top certainly simplifies venting this makeshift humidor. The top can be propped open to prevent overheating on bright sunny mornings, an important consideration at this early stage of plant development.



While venting is necessary, be careful not to allow the vermiculite to dry out. Rain water with a minute amount of fish emulsion fertilizer added is now used at this point.

Are you still with me?...You are? Good! Now, for the second step, the placing into cell-packs and in to a mini greenhouse....

After about bout a month the seedlings can be transplanted. You want the first true leaves to appear before moving seedlings.


Moving the tiny seedlings may be with the point of a wooden pencil :


I place into a small hole, made with the pencil's point, making sure all of the tiny roots go inside:


I then give each seedling a bit of water for good root contact.


This year's perennials are now off to a good start. This is my first year to start gentians from seed.


I placed the covered minigreenhouse on a south-facing window in the basement and figure to set the plants out the first week of May.


Stay tuned for the next step. To be continued...

Neko Nomad,
You must be a mind reader!!!
I was was going to find this post down to see
how your plants/seedlings' were doing!!!

Thanks....

GREAT JOB by the way!!!

Thanksssssssss for sharing those...
They're great!

h, we're kindred souls, weezie....

are you there, Francine? I hope you keep these main points in mind:
1. Give your perennials seeds a good headstart -- like, November! Same could apply to you too, weezie, if you're in zone 5.
2. Make sure the seedstarter box is c-l-e-a-n.
3. Use NEW vermiculite,
4. Use NEW potting mix,
5. Stratify.
6. Place by a screened window
and ventilate on sunny days.
7. Keep DAMP, not wet.
8. Use rainwater or distilled water.

My next step will demonstrate hardening the plants prior to setting out.

Wow neko..the pencil idea is great for the small seedlings, I am going to try that method when I have some of those tiny flower seedlings that are hard to seperate. You have done an excellent job of showing how to do this!!!!

Hello, everyone; thanks for showing up for this next step in growing perennial flowers from seed.


Hardening off of the plants has now begun.

I have placed the tray beside a window in the garage away from direct sunlight. The temperature in this spot is 50 degrees. It will stay here until the last day of frost, which should be about three weeks away, at which time I'll place it on the north side of the house until planting time early May.

The plants will continue to grow until that time, albeit somewhat slowly.

Neko Nomad,
What kind of plants are they????

Boy, I wish I was that far along...
They're looking gooooood!!

Yes your plants are looking good.

Thank you, thank you! Keep those compliments coming !
Click Willow Gentian . The seeds were started mid-November.
However, they're not out of the woods yet, since, by checking around I've learned my USDA climate zone is out of its range. I'm kinda hoping that my garden is in a milder mini zone due to the nearness of Lake Ontario.

This is the way I've started primulas and cardinal flowers in the past, so it's safe to assume that it should work for perennials in general. It may be a bit tedious than necessary for milder climates. Just wanted to pass it on;pictures make explanation so much easier.

Stay tuned.

Hello,everyone ! Now for the next step in growing flowers from seed.

After hardening off outdoors, today the seedlings were ready to set out.


They now grace a small path through the border, along with asters,daylilies,peonies,and evening primroses, adding to the ensemble of summer flowers.(click on photo)

Wow Neko, that (click on photo) is looking great!!!

weezie --
You meant the photo ?

Tip: Use a tagged Image URL as the page location, to make that photo a link,in the URL posting steps.

Get it?

ive used the strofoam cups and they work fine to.