Bedding plants from seed help.

hwalkerh

Hi

I have got some lobelli, pansy and patunia seeds as i figure that spending a couple of pounds on seeds now will save a lot when i have loads of bedding plants in the summer. The seeds need to be sown indoors around now, i have the propergators etc all ready.

How easy is it to grow bedding plants from seed? I am imagining loads of lovely bedding plants for the summer but am worried that i will end up with nothing.

any advice would be great
Thanks

angelavdavis

I have had mixed luck - lobelia seeds are easy as are pansies. I have struggled to get great results from petunias - usually only one or two seeds germinate. I tend to buy plug petunias and grow them on, taking cuttings as soon as the plants are big enough to multiply the quantity!

I have grown successfully pot marigolds, french marigolds, salvia, pelagoniums and bidens easily enough also.

foxgloves

All plants want to grow if they have the right conditions. Don't be tempted to start things off too early, though, as plants can get lanky & sad if they have to sit around in pots a long time before you can plant them outside. Don't know how far North you live, but here (north midlands) I don't usually risk planting bedding out until 2nd half of May as there can still be frosty nights up to then. Good luck anyway....growing from seed does cost less than buying in new plants each year.

hwalkerh

Thanks
The packets say to start planting seeds indoors from Jan but when would you recommend?

I don't have a lot of room indoors to grow them but have more outside with plastic greenhouse so i was thinking of starting a batch now and then doing another one in a towards the end of March

A._Badger

hwalkerh wrote: »

Thanks
The packets say to start planting seeds indoors from Jan but when would you recommend?

I don't have a lot of room indoors to grow them but have more outside with plastic greenhouse so i was thinking of starting a batch now and then doing another one in a towards the end of March

I'd echo the advice you've been given. Don't take too much notice of seed packets, They assume you have an average year and pretty perfect growing conditions but if all you have is a plastic greenhouse, you could well run into problems if we hit a cold spell.

I know it's frustrating, but be patient - plants usually catch-up. I'd leave it a few weeks, yet, if I were you.

oldsam

Unless you keep an even temp. of 10c in the greenhouse at night - no chance - this advice came from a Seedsman - You do not like the cold do you , Its that touch of winter sun misleads many gardeners into thinking it's spring !!!

peter_the_piper

When I grew lobelia from seed it was in seed pans, 1/2 filled with compost and then we made a few shallow drills in the surface. Sow fairly thickly along the drills and cover with fine vermiculite, water and cover pan with glass and newspaper. Temp set to about 15C, no less. Germination in about 6-10days. !!!!! out when about large enough to handle.
Pansys are best sown on the surface and again cover with vermiculite, water, and glass over the pan. Temp 10-15C, germinate about 10days, !!!!! out when big enough to handle.
Petunias are sown on the surface and lightly covered with compost, water and cover pan again. Temp 15C germinate in 6-10 days.
Set mouse traps with peanuts after pricking out.
Hope this helps.

elsien

So when do you folks think I should start off my snapdragons and cosmos from seed? I'd be sowing them and starting them off indoors them moving them out into a plastic unheated greenhouse when they get big enough/I run out of space/they get whitefly, whichever comes first!
I live in the midlands but the back yard where the greenhouse is is very sheltered. I'd be looking to put them into the garden in early May, but don't know how long they take to grow.
Any advice appreciated.

peter_the_piper

Ants can be sown now at about 10-15c and will germinate in about 7-10days, !!!!! out after about 14-21 days into pots etc. Go outside normally, after hardening off, about early April however its a colder winter this year so delay somewhat.
Cosmos need more heat to grow on so leave a couple of weeks longer.
All above assumes a heated bench and greenhouse, unheated greenhouses will be later.

foxgloves

I'm sowing cosmos but won't be doing it until beginning of next month as my greenhouse isn't heated. I haven't lost a lot of stuff with sowing stuff earlier in an unheated greenhouse, but it's the length of time young plants are sitting around before I can plant them out without risk of frosty nights that's been the problem when I've gone for a really early start. Plants do want to grow, and they do seem to have their growth checked when they have to wait weeks longer than they want to, to get out of the pots & into the ground.