Answer from Pat: I am glad you tried the trick of planting carrots and pouring on the boiling water after planting for quick germination, but sorry it didn’t work. As I said that day, I tried this trick with potting soil and it did not work. However, it always worked in my garden soil outdoors and I used this system numerous times over a period of many years. It also worked at the school garden, and in that case the seeds came up in three days. I wonder if there were other factors at play here? For example, were the seeds covered over too deeply? Was the soil below the seeds too dry? Were the seeds sprinkled after planting to keep seed damp after planting? Carrot seeds must be kept wet to make them germinate and this is true even when using boiling water to scarify the seeds. Carrot seeds also need good contact with the ground which is why we pat down the row but they need to see some light, which is why they must not be covered over too deeply.

I cannot explain why the seeds didn’t come up, but since they did not come up within five days my guess is that they are not going to come up and I don’t know the explanation. The only time this system failed for me was when I tried it on seeds planted in a pot of potting soil, which made me think the drainage was too good and the seeds just didn’t stay damp enough. Another possibility is that when I poured on the boiling water the seeds got buried too deeply by mistake or maybe the seed was old. Carrot seeds are only good for about three years.

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Answer from Pat: From your query I’m not sure if you are wanting to take seeds over there or want to purchase them when you arrive? The Fischer Company in Germany is famous for developing many plant varieties but I’m not sure if they have a seed outlet. I believe it may be against the law for you to take seeds with you. I would wait until you get there and purchase the seeds you find for sale locally. In France I have always been delighted with the seeds and plants I found for sale at local nurseries and even in grocery or hardware stores. Usually one finds many avid gardeners in Europe. I would recommend you look at the gardens close to where you live, see what they are growing with success and follow suit.

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Question:

During the day I roll them on their personal wheeled table out into the sunshine to get sun, but should I keep the clear plastic top on them.? There is much condensation, and they are not in danger of drying out, but can they get too hot? I planted them on Sunday, spritzed well on Sun and Mon but now they are staying quite damp.

I do not really have a window that gets direct sunlight for a long period of day.
I used Organic Black Gold seedling mix.

Any cautions besides not letting them get dry, and bringing them in at night?
I want my seed babies to flourish!

Answer: First in regard to whether to leave the plastic tops on the Jiffy Triple Greenhouse. No, once transplants are put outdoors in sun they should never be under cover of plastic. When sun hits the plastic plants will burn. You should not be needing to bring them in at night either.

Secondly regarding growing your own transplants, what you are doing sounds more like something folks back east are still doing at this time of year. In future I think it would be good to follow the instructions regarding garden timing in my book. We do not need to be growing transplants at this time of year in California. I am eager to hear what you are growing.

At this time, April, most vegetables in your summer garden should already be planted. Tomatoes, squash, beans, corn, cucumbers, scallions, lettuce, carrots, beets, and turnips are just a few of the veggies you could have planted straight in the ground in March. You might have needed to protect them from frost in March but by now they should be well on their way to producing a crop and most of them could have been put in from seeds. Seeds of things like beans, squash, cucumbers and carrots can be planted directly into the ground. It is not necessary here to plant first in little pots unless you are planting in August and growing winter vegetables (cole crops like cabbage) to plant out in the garden in October. It is a shame you were not able to attend one of my slide-illustrated lectures to see how this is all done. Is there any chance you could attend my talk on growing summer vegetables at the Temecula Valley Garden Club on April 13, next Tuesday, 9:30 a.m. at the Community Recreation Center in Temecula 30875 Rancho Vista Road, Temecula, CA 92592-6213?

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Question from Monty:

Answer from Pat:
Some seeds such as onion seeds don’t store well. Others such as parsley or carrots store for years. Put dry unused seeds into an air-tight, screw-top jar and enclose a desiccant. You can purchase packets of silicone desiccant and these are often reusable by heating in the oven. Or you can make your own home-made desiccant by wrapping one or two Tablespoons of dried skim milk in a Kleenex tissue and closing up with a paper clip or rubber band. Label the jar and keep it in a cool dry place out of bright light.

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Question from Monty:

Answer from Pat:
Except for seeds that are difficult to sprout, I always plant seeds at the time when the temperature in my garden is the correct temperature for germinating those seeds. Most seeds are not difficult to sprout if you follow the package directions, plant things at the correct time of year, and keep the seed bed moist until the seeds have germinated. One of the joys of living in Southern California is that we can sprout seeds right in the ground where we want the plants to grow and with most plants this is preferable.

New gardeners just don’t realize how easy it is to plant squash or cantaloupe or beans, for example, and they pop right up from seeds within two or three days. Even parsley and carrots sprout in a couple of weeks if you keep the seeds moist and don’t cover too heavily and use potting soil to cover instead of soil. I show a quick way because many folks like the short cut.

As I tell my classes if it’s cold weather and you are trying to sprout a wrinkled seed with the “shriveled gene” (a super-sweet hybrid of corn or pea) that is different. These seeds are harder to sprout so this is when I would put the seeds on moist paper towel, fold over, and pre-sprout them on top of the DVD player to provide bottom heat of 80 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 or 3 days. Otherwise I never bother to pre-sprout seeds. Why should I go through all that work when they sprout so easily in the garden?

It is back east that people go through all this indoor growing, not here where we live in virtually frost-free zones. Just stick seeds in the ground to the right depth at correct time of year and keep them damp and they grow.

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A. Lobelia richardsonii is a plant of uncertain origin. It might be a mutation or hybrid of some sort or simply a selection. It differs from Lobelia erinus in being a perennial instead of an annual, but otherwise is much the same, though usually compact, not trailing as you describe. The best trailing lobelias are L. erinus plants marked “trailer’ or ‘cascade’. Seeds of trailing annual L. erinus can purchased from Thompson and Morgan and include Lobelia pendula ‘Cascade’ which is easy to grow by sprinkling seeds on top of moist soil mix. It’s a show-stopper in a hanging basket and hangs down at least 30″ as you mentioned and is blanketed with bloom in summer.

Most growers start L. richardsonii from cuttings, not from seeds, but it only cascades a foot or two.  Two years ago, a local grower near my home lost their whole crop of the plant they called L. richardsonii to a virus infection. They replaced their crop with cuttings from one of my healthy, virus-free plants.

I grew the plants called L. richardsonii for many years in hanging baskets and they seldom if ever set seeds which may explain why this plant can bloom almost constantly year round in warm climates. According to “Flora”, a garden encyclopedia published by Timber Press, the compact Proven Winners variety ‘Royal Jewels’ is actually L. richardsonii, but I do not know for sure if that is the case. You can find seeds of L. ‘Royal Jewels’ through Ball Seeds, Gurney Seeds, and many other catalogues. I suggest growing some or purchasing plants of Proven Winners ‘Royal Jewels’ and finding out by growing it if it is the perennial lobelia you seek. However, having grown this plant for many years I can attest it does not cascade to the length that the old type of trailing annual does. Nothing ever came up to the dramatic impact of blue trailing annual l. erinus in my garden or as I have seen it growing in window boxes and hanging baskets in Europe.

Best of luck,
Pat

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Question from Jack:

Answer from Pat:
It usually takes about three days for pea seeds with the shriveled gene to sprout when wrapped in a damp paper towel and placed in a ziplock bag and the whole thing put on top of the DVD player for bottom heat. Make sure the paper stays moist and open the ziplock bag and check them daily. Just in a warm house they sprout. I emptied some into a jar and took them to Hollywood in my car to plant in a video segment taped up there and they sprouted in the car while I was driving to Hollywood.

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Answer from Pat:
Torrey pine seeds are usually grown in long narrow sleeves with the bottom open so their long tap root won’t be harmed by hitting the bottom of the pot, but only stopped by air, but my experience is that they will sprout fine in a gallon can filled with any well-drained potting soil since that has happened by accident at my house (or more likely planted by a jay. Leave the pot out in semi shade at normal outdoor temperatures. Seeds can sprout at any time of year but since most of these trees are planted by scrub jays and not by humans, they usually sprout in winter or early spring after the rains. Consistent watering is necessary so the seed will know it’s had a certain amount of rain, enough to permit the seedling to stick a long tap root in the ground and survive. Many wild seeds won’t sprout until a certain amount of rainfall has passed that seed and gone down into the ground thus increasing soil moisture and guaranteeing the plant’s success.

Or, alternatively, and actually a much better idea, just stick the seed or several seeds, about an inch or two down into the ground—(imagine you are a scrub jay)—right where you want the tree to grow and it should sprout easily over a period of several months if you keep the ground damp or if rains are adequate. You can throw a few pine needles or other debris on top if you want—that’s what scrub jays often do; I’ve watched them!—or a little mulch just to keep the ground from drying out. The best time to plant is right after the seeds fall on the ground and don’t forget it may take several months for it to sprout.

By planting the seed right where you want it to grow you stand a much better chance of growing a good tree with a long tap root heading straight down into the ground. A gallon can will restrict this from happening. Roots will go round and round and may break when you transplant the tree.

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We’ve basically followed your book for our lawn and our roses since last october – to spectacular results, and we’re setting our sights on our annuals and perrenials this year with your help. Thanks in advance for your expertise.

Answer from Pat:
Even though you live in Beaumont, California, at the foot of the San Bernadino Mountains, you are still living in a Mediterranean climate with a relatively mild winter. It just happens to be somewhat cooler in winter and hotter in summer than ours along the coast. And regarding your disagreement on when to plant seeds, luckily, both you and your wife are partially right. Also, it’s a complicated subject and I’m glad to have the chance to at least try to set it straight, including the cool- and warm-season annuals and biennials (just in case this helps.)

To begin with your question: To plant most conventional, summer-blooming, bedding perennials from seeds in flats and then pots, cold frames, or the ground, one needs to begin a full year in advance. This is not an easy task and it takes over a year of work and care but can be done and is hugely rewarding when it works. (See page 246 for basic instructions.) June is the time for starting seeds of perennials along the coast and April or May inland. This means that if you wish to grow your own plants of such items as Shasta daisies and the best rudbeckias, to bloom next year, it’s none too late to start. But for the wilder types of Rudbeckia and gaillardia and ratibida—even Echinacea purpurea, all things that are more like wildflowers, fall planting is fine, especially if you are planting in the ground right where you want to grow them.

But though all of the old types of conventional bedding perennials have to be planted a whole year ahead in order to have plants that will bloom the following summer—and here is the tricky bit that makes you both right—some of the new improved, more compact perennials can be planted from seeds in spring, and still give you flowers the same summer. (Read the seed packages; some new varieties are also described online.)

You didn’t ask about planting seeds of annuals and biennials, but right now in July is the best time for starting biennials such as foxgloves, sweet William, Canterbury bell, and cup-and-saucer from seeds. By starting now, you will have little plants ready to plant out into beds in October and they will bloom next spring. Protect tender plants from frost, and please see page 265 in my book for a discussion of biennials from seeds.

And next month, in August, (page 297) is the time for planting fall and winter-blooming annual flowers from seeds. A lady I knew years ago who lived in an interior climate zone like yours always planted such winter annuals as dianthus, stock, schizanthus, and Nemesia strumosa in flats from seeds August, and she had loads of bedding plants with which to fill beds at low cost in October to bloom for winter and spring bloom. She also planted ranunculus and her garden simply overflowed with color. To get an idea of what will work, look around to see what flowers do well in other gardens at various times of year and then count the months backwards and read the seed catalogues for days from seed until bloom to find when to plant.

Now for summer items: In your climate zone (if you were planting summer annuals from seeds), plant them under lights or indoors early enough so you can put them out in the garden after spring flowers fade. But in my climate zone (coastal) I plant seeds of warm-season annuals (things like zinnias, red salvias, and marigolds) straight in garden beds after the weather warms up in May. The important point is that if you were plant most perennials from seeds that late (i.e.: in May) they won’t bloom until a whole year later, but some new varieties will do so.

Three years ago I planted seeds of Gaillardia ‘Arizona Sun’ in fall along with some spring-blooming wildflowers. By spring, the wildflowers which had bloomed earlier were finished and I pulled them out. I then had a bed full of Gaillardia ‘Arizona Sun’, and they began blooming as soon as the spring flowers were finished, but when I pulled out the other flowers it had left a few gaps. I still had some Arizona Sun seeds so I popped them into the gaps. The later-planted gaillardias grew more rapidly in warmer weather, but ended up much smaller and not nearly as floriferous as the ones I’d put in earlier. Thus, though spring planting will work with any of the brand new perennials designed to bloom the first year, I would stick to fall planting. You don’t really have to begin as early as August except (as explained above) for the bedding plants of winter annuals and for biennials.

One last comment: I had another friend in an interior climate zone whose garden got frost every night in winter, who liked planting from seeds like I do right where the plant is to grow. She planted all her annuals and perennials, cool-season and warm-season ones at the same time in October. She did not get a lot of winter bloom as I do, but she said that her little plants got pinched back by frost and if anything it was a benefit since they were compact and sturdy and she didn’t need to stake them as I’ve always needed to do.

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A: I too have heard about the use of a home heating pad to provide 80 degrees Fahrenheit of bottom heat to pre-sprout seeds rapidly. This would work for seeds in a plastic bag as I demonstrated last night and as explained on page 172 in my organic book. (Seeds of certain very sweet vegetables such peas and corn which have the shrunken gene are sometimes hard to sprout in cold wet soil which is why we pre-sprout them prior to planting.)

I want to caution folks, however, never ever to use a home heating pad to germinate seeds already planted in containers to provide transplants. This a dangerous practice that can lead to fires. Instead, purchase a germination pad especially designed for this purpose. Germination pads can be purchased from many catalogues but are not usually carried in local nurseries since few local gardeners grow their own transplants these days preferring to purchase them from nurseries or to plant directly in the garden with seeds.

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