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Archive for August, 2008

Starting Pansies from Seed

August 16th, 2008

Growing these pansies from seed was easy, and saved money!

Pansies are my favorite annual of the year. They bloom all fall and winter, and then really crank up for spring. I love them!

We had about 50% success rate our first time growing pansies from seed. Not too bad, but well do better next time.

We had about a 50% success rate our first time growing pansies from seed. Not too bad, but we'll do better next time.

They’re also the most expensive annuals I plant, because I plant eight plants per square foot in my beds. Yep. I put two plants in each hole and plant each pair six inches apart. Try it one time and you’ll never want to plant them any other way. They completely cover the bed with mounds of gorgeous color for months.

So, I start my pansies from seed. Pansy seed is on the pricey side too. But, if you plant alot of pansies like me (20 flats or so a year), you can buy them in bulk. I got my seed this year from Hazzard’s Seed. It is a wholesale seed company that will sell to anyone. They have seeds in packages of 250 and 1000. » Read more: Starting Pansies from Seed

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Posted in How To

Fall Gardening Starts Now

August 16th, 2008

It’s hard to believe in our sweltering August heat, but fall is just around the corner. Time to think ahead. Have you ordered bulbs? If not, don’t delay. Daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, snowdrops, etc. all need planting in fall.

When I think Fall, I think mums and pumpkins. Mums are the very essence of the season. Problem is, they’re difficult to grow in the Deep South. There are a few good perennial ones that grow here: Sheffield, Ryan’s Pink, Clara Curtis, and Ryan’s Yellow, to name a few. They all have daisy formed flowers and they all tend to be pretty aggressive plants. I grow them anyway. But I want a deep gold or bronzey red colored bloom for fall. If I buy mums at the store, they’re expensive, they bloom only once, and if it’s hot outside, they don’t last more than a week. Answer? Marigolds! If you plant some marigold seed in pots now, they’ll be fresh and blooming by October and will keep blooming until frost, which, in my area, can be as late as Thanksgiving.

If your daytime temps are over eighty now, you’ll need to get the seeds germinated indoors. I sow seeds into potting soil, water well and drain for a good half hour. Then I slip the pots into Ziploc Bags and put them in bright light. They’ll germinate in a week or less, and once they have a set of true leaves, you can move them outside. Put them in bright shade for a few days, and then harden them off by moving them into the sun for a couple of hours the first day, an hour or so longer the second day, etc. If you have a day or two of rain or very cloudy days, that’s the perfect time to move them into full sun. By the time the clouds are gone, the plants can take the full heat and glare.

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Posted in Fall

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Tips

* Digging a hole in hard ground for a tree or shrub? Dig a starter hole and fill it to the top with water - come back later and you will be amazed at how much easier it is to dig. After you dig fill it with water again, and wait for it to soak in before back filling and planting - the more stable soil moisture will give your tree a better start.

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* When planting trees don't mix a lot of organic matter into the soil or the tree might grow a compacted root ball in the improved soil without sending roots out into the surrounding ground. Just dig a hole and put the loosened dirt back in - then add compost or rotted manure as a mulch on top of the ground.

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* If you get your beds ready before time to plant, consider covering them with a plastic tunnel to both warm the soil, and to keep it dry so that when the right day for pea planting (or whatever) rolls around you won't be delayed by frozen mud.

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* Try starting lettuce in a length of plastic gutter and transplant out all in one piece.

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* When shopping for spring seeds buy some for the Fall garden while they are available.
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* When planting tiny fragile seeds cover with fine compost, potting soil, or peat moss so that the emerging plantlets don't have to fight through crusty soil.

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* When starting seeds indoors you will get much quicker and more reliable germination by keeping the soil warm - about 70 F. But, once plants emerge they can get leggy under artificial light if you keep them too warm.

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* When starting seeds under fluorescent lights you should keep the lights as close to the tops of the plants as possible - but even then the intensity is far less than real sunlight. Move your plant starts outside as soon as weather permits.

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* When starting seeds keep the soil moist and warm until the plants emerge, but then try to let the surface of the soil dry out a bit between waterings.

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* Check the germination rate of your seeds by putting 10 each between sheets of wet paper towels, keep moist and warm. In a week or so you will see how many you need to put in each spot.

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* One of the most important factors to successful gardening is to plant at the right time. Nothing else matters if you get this wrong.
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