A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2007 Seeds so far - I'm a beginner - be gentle!

Petunias - planted too many in each pot - what to do? How do you handle those TINY seeds? Next time I think I'll put in rows.








Hosta - when should I start picking them out and moving to little pots?




So far I have growing:
Liatrus
rose of Sharon
Petunias
Hollyhocks - these didn't do very well
Coneflowers
Geraniums
Hosta
Canna
Pampas Grass
And TONS more to go!

They are pretty crowded in there, aren't they! It will be tedius but what I would do is take some small sewing or toenail scissors and carefully snip out all but the hardiest plants.

That works, and is recommended by alot of gardener's...

I am a softy and always try to pull the extra's out and replant.. most of the time I am successful if I get them transfered quick enough before the roots can get entwined together..
****But you should not handle the stem of the little seedling, you should handle one of the stems.. (

I cleaned out my english daisies and petunias to 1 plant per pot - looks good now!

Any ideas on the flat of hostas? Should I transfer the ones that have emerged to something else and put under lights?

I've never transplanted hosta that small but have done so with many other plants. Just carefully dig some of them out with a teaspoon (take a good chunk of soil with it) and put it in whatever else you want. They should do fine. You could leave maybe half of them right where they are just to play it safe so that if your transplants don't make it (tho I'll bet they will) you will still have plenty left.

Hostas are pretty easy to work with, but I think I would let them get a little bigger before I transferred them to another pot. I grow my Hostas where they get some light when they are small, but not too much and they seem to do fine.

Hi farm girl, just a tip for future years. If seeds are very fine and you want to sow them thinly, then 'water' them down. Just mix them with a little dry, fine sand (amount depends on how thin) and spread a little of that mix around the soil/compost. Too late for you this year but gardening is not the fastest hobby in the world.

With my petunias this year I used the wet finger method. That way I picked up just the number I wanted and put them where I wanted them. I know I'm compulsive/obsessive and a control freak. That is absolutely true. But I only have 3 seeds in each yogurt cup. And I'm happy with that. I hated to loose so many last year because they were over crowded and I just can't thin.

I am trying to learn how to thin as well. I don't have big problems if I view them as an easy variety. If they are rare and more than expected germinate, I will try to transfer them. On the other hand, I am a biology student and I like to remember that mother nature equips many organisms with a ridiculous reproductive potential. In the wild, probably 2% of those seedlings would survive (and it would still be a lot). So thinning indoors really isn't so bad.

I watch them everyday from the day I plant them. I just can't detach. Even though I know that it's natures way. I'm way to attached by the time they germinate lol.