Tray of transplanted Geraniums:
Geranium Seedling:
Tray of transplanted Salvia Seedlings:
Salvia Seedling:
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1 month ago
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Seedling Update: Geraniums and Salvia
My first two batches of seedlings are doing fabuously. I am so impressed with the geranium and salvia seedlings after all my research told me that they could be tricky. But here they are - the geraniums are 5 1/2 weeks after planting, and the salvia are 3 1/2 weeks after planting. Both have been transplanted into 3" jiffy pots because the newspaper pots just fell apart. I don't think I will be using them again. I really like the jiffy pellets, and they take up way less space to start with. I used them for my marigolds, hostas, basil, and scabiosa. The 3" pots may have been a slight oversight as I am quickly running out of space - but I think the geraniums will need them that large, they are growing quite fast and there is still along ways to go until I can plant outside here. Alas, maybe if I quit buying seeds at the grocery store, I would have enough room.
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4 comments:
Hiya, Breanne!
Looking good. And why would you ever want to stop buying seed? lol. You're doing fab at the gardening thing! :)
About saving seed - yup, you can save seed for years and years! I've germinated some very old seed.
Just make sure they're dry (as they're purchased seed, I assume they already are) and you can pop the envelope and all right into something airtight, like a ziplock or jar, and stick them in the back of the fridge for next year. You can add one of those silica pack things or rice, but I've never had to.
If you have lots of one kind of seed that you know you won't be using all the rest of next year, you can seperate the amount you 'think' you'll use (plus a few extra for the 'just in case' factor), stick those in the fridge and put the rest in something airthight and put in the freezer.
There's a chart at Growing Taste that shows how many years you can store seed for, but I wouldn't stick to it too strongly as I've germinated seed with a very good percentage of viability from way past how long that says they'll keep.
If you want to check viability, just do the 'paper towel' germ before the time you'd want to sow them and you'll know how well they kept and if you'll have to buy more for that year or not.
Hehehe...the seed thing is fun (wicked addicting, eh?) but wait until you start saving your own. Oh, boy! lol. That's even more fun than buying and ummm...'collecting'. Hey, you could have a hobby that's so much worse than gardening!Even when you start saving your own seeds, you'll still be buying. It's a disease. lol.
You're going to have one beautiful yard this summer!
Great looking seedlings! I'm excited to find a gardener in PG. I recently lived there for two years. Right now I'm three hours south of you in Williams Lake. You have about a month more of winter up there.
thanks for the advice Tina - I had no idea you could keep seeds season to season! So I have to keep them in the fridge? A dry cool place isn't good enough?
Amy - nice to hear from someone else from up North! I've added you to my Blog Roll.
Breanne,
Oh, yes - you most certainly can store them in any cool, dry place.
I just prefer the fridge because there is much less chance of temp or humidity fluctuations like there would be in, say, my basement. It gets so hot and humid in my area in the summer, I have this unfounded fear that the humidity will somehow get inside a sealed jar. Of course, when it comes to seeds I'm a tad anal. lol.
I'm sure anywhere you choose to store them will be just fine.
:)
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