A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 How do you do Wisteria??

Patty,

I wish my camera worked, but my hubby used it to take pics on a job of his and dropped it from 20ft building, now my batteries will not stay in or I would post a pic. When we moved in on our property over 10yrs ago I had one that was already here and now have about 3. Every year my hubby trains it back into place and have a nice size bush from the results. Although at the time we did not know anything about it, but I had seen the pretty purple blooms already so I would not let him destroy it. Now he fusses about mowing around it when the runners go crazy, because they tend to hit him in him face. But I just remind him it is time to send the runners back to the base of the plant.

Susan, we just can't trust those big boys with our toys!
(They don't seem to realize that we NEED our cameras for taking pics of flowers!)
I found a long strap & hooked it onto the short wrist strap on my cam, & the rule is: "It goes around your neck!"

I've been thinking about your Wisteria bush, & have decided that I'd just love to have a while hedge of those! I have a friend whose entire patio is actually 3 Wisterias, & she keeps them trimmed so they'll stay where she wants them. I'm going to ask her if she harvested any seeds this year, or maybe I can get some starts from her. (I have to remember to get pics of her patio next spring!)

Maybe I shouldn't say this, but anybody who drops a camera 20 feet DESERVES to get smacked by Wisteria runners!

Thank you so much Patty, for your info. Another question; when did you sow it? And did you put the pot outside or inside?
Hope you can help me with this questions too!

Paulien

Paulien, I started the "slow germinating" seeds in January ...with an electric blanket under them, as I'm too "frugal" to buy heat mats! Once it sprouted it went under full spectrum fluorescent grow lights.

This is what the setup looked like in my garage. I put water in coffee cans, to keep the humidity level up, & set lamps (with regular light bulbs) on the shelves close to the cans to provide heat, as fluorescent lights don't throw much heat. The shelves stayed covered with plastic sheeting to hold in the heat & humidity. (The plastic sheet was rolled up here, so I could snap the pic.)


The only log I kept of my growing progress this year was with pics, but I remember that I was surprised when the Wisteria seed didn't take "forever" to germinate, as I was told they would. (As I mentioned earlier though, I did nick & soak the Wisteria seed.)

This pic was taken in early March... the plants on the top shelf were the slower germinating ones that I'd started early, while the annuals that had sprouted the week before are on the lower shelf.

When the Wisteria was big enough for a pot, I hardened it off before leaving it outside all the time.

Wow Patty, that looks great!!!!
Thank you so much for all your information! I would really love to make something like that myself but don't like to keep lights/ electrical things on when i'm not at home.
But i will look into it.

Paulien

I forgot to say that I also keep a little fan going inside my "greenhouse" shelves. (The box on the far right in the bottom shelf is a little Norelco "Clean Air Machine", which seems to be perfect for the amount of space my seedlings are in.)

** Maintaining good air circulation is important in an enclosed plant area, to supply needed carbon dioxide to the foliage & to prevent condensation which leads to the culture of disease organisms in stagnant air space.

I understand & appreciate your caution about leaving lights on when you're not at home, Paulien. (Especially lights that produce heat.)
I'm not as concerned about that as I am about the extension cord that I end up using for the fluorescent lights, incandescent lamps & the fan! Many electrical things have a built-in safety feature, designed to shut down in case of over heating or curcuit overload, but I know I'm pressing my luck, having all those things plugged in without a surge protector! (Underwriter's Laboratories would freak out if they knew, because my practice negates their efforts of approving appliance safety!)

If you can set up such a thing for your seedlings, I wouldn't think that it would hurt them if you only turn the lights & the fan on when you're at home, as long as it's indoors where the temperature doesn't drop below 55* ...although high spectrum lighting (or natural sunlight) is important, to keep the plants from getting leggy.

Maybe i could make a little fan by using a sunlight collector? You do have a point there, I have a little plastic greenhouse outside (pic in photobucket below) and when i zip it, it becomes very moist.

But i couldn't get a high spectrum lighting work on solar energy unfortunately!

And it wouldn't work when it's dark.....

I just use my spare bedroom with aluminium foil against the walls, it's unheated but light and i can start seeds a bit earlier as if outside.

Does your spare room get direct sunlight for most of the day? If so, place your seed trays (& seedlings) where the sun will shine right on them. (DO NOT set your seedlings right next to the window where they'll get too hot when the heat is magnified by the glass. I learned that one the hard way!) I'm not sure about reflected sunlight (foil on the walls), as it might not be adequate for required photosynthesis.... but it's worth a try.

Healthy plants need 3 essential things during all stages... energy (from sunlight), carbon dioxide (from moving air) & water (from the soil). Without adequate amounts of each, a plant won't be able to reach its full potential. (Foliage, blossoms, fruit, seeds.)

Heat is also important in germinating many seeds. (But not ALL seeds. Off the top of my head, I can think of a few that prefer cooler conditions, such as lettuce, carrots, peas & Broccoli - Cauliflower family.) While some seeds don't seem to be fussy about temperature, there are those that insist on very warm soil before they'll sprout. (Basil & Pansies come to mind).

You can try starting seeds in your spare bedroom, but once they sprout they will HAVE TO have adequate light, or they'll get spindly & just wither away.

From your picture, your mini greenhouse looks like mine. Last winter I used mine to start the slower germinating seeds (indoors), but when it was time to start the faster sprouting seeds, I ran out of space & everything ended up on my garage shelves.


Using hooks that I made from a clothes hanger, I hung 24" full spectrum fluorescent lights above the shelves. With the plastic cover zipped up, it held the moisture in quite well & maintained a steady temperature, but there was no air movement... so I put my little fan inside. Since the shelves are open "racks", the air was able to move around nicely. (Remember that too much condensation inside that space is not a good thing, because the moisture creates a perfect environment for bacteria to breed, that will infect the plants.)

You sound like you have some pretty good ideas, so dig in & give them a try! Be sure to keep a journal, so you can remember which ones are the most successful. I hope you'll share what worked (& what didn't work) for you... & keep taking pictures!

Patty, you're so inventive! It's great reading all this and getting ideas this way!

Yes i do have to make a journal, i always think i will remember it but after a year..... :rolleyes:

But Patty, been thinking about it all day.... Do you have a smoke-alarm in your garage? You really need one with all that electrical equipment!

All the best,
Paulien

Yup... & I even put the batteries back in it.
(Needed to borrow them for the flashlight!)

WHERE THEY BELONG, AND NEVER SHOULD HAVE BEEN TAKEN OUT IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!!

HEY!
Watch the yelling around here ...a lot of people are napping!

(Just fooling with you about the batteries, to see if you were paying attention!)

See you later, Paulien.
Good luck with your Wisteria.