In a previous post I mentioned that I had started wave petunia seeds under the grow lights in the basement. Should you like to try, here is a
link that may help. I did use pelleted seed, which I purchased from Pinetree Garden Seeds.
My good friend, Al, owner of The Flower Basket in town, shared some information about petunia seeds. Did you know there are close to a quarter million per ounce? The commercial growers developed a machine with tiny tubes which are just narrow enough to suction a single seed. Even his patient and experienced wife/greenhouse partner, Kim, finds it difficult to sow these by hand. Whatever you do, Al said, "Don't sneeze!" while planting them. So though pelleted seeds are expensive, 10 for $2.95 from Pinetree, they made the sowing process easy. They need light to germinate, so you just lay them on the surface of the soil, keep them moist, and give them light.
I "planted" the seed March 1st.
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| March 6 |
Each of the packages from Pinetree contained a small plastic tube, 11 seeds inside though the catalog specifies 10. Germination was 100%.
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| March 21 |
I have begun to fertilize them once a week and seeing how they looked yesterday, I'm wondering if it's time to pot them up...
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| April 10 |
I'm happy to say there will be some to share.
Your seedlings look very happy! I just have a couple herb seedlings started on my windowsill and radishes and lettuce outside.
ReplyDeleteI've been missing your header photograph. Gonna put another one up?
These look very healthy. I think that when a plant has one pair of true leaves then it is time to pot them on. By the way, I miss your header photograph too!
ReplyDeleteOK Sharon, that's three of us who miss your header photo!
ReplyDeleteThe process of sowing seeds and seeing plants sprout is one of those ordinary miracles we sometimes take for granted. I love wave petunias!