Current Germination Efforts

[Greenhorn]

I'm using a little vacation time post the holiday and have spent most all that time gardening

This year I addition to doing a lot of Natives and Wildflowers I am refocusing on my information and documentation. I've been making notes for the various seeds - plants I'm working with and trying to take good status - progress notes. I'm also paying close attention to my soil mixtures as working with Natives and Wildflowers, they like a little something different. So with more seeds to be planted, here are my current Germination Efforts. A few are special in there pre-germination requirements (Lavender, Sage, Verbena, Lupine, Sweet Pea) and that has been fun and some have even been successful (Lavender).

Natives and "Fall for Spring in a Mild Climate" is the idea for most these. Some are outside and some in the Greenhouse. I will be doing more of the same, plus some more Fall for Spring types and then move into the more traditional Spring and later flowers like Cosmo's, Zinnia's, Sunflowers... in the next month or so. I very much enjoy working with seeds, germination and trying to get seed started plants to maturity. I'll try and get a few pictures in the next day or so. Some I just planted but in general I think I running about a 75% germination rate, about 75% of the different seed types below have germinated a little or a lot. Perennials also can take a little longer.

Botanical Name - Common Name
Achillea millefolium - White Yarrow
Alyssum maritima (Lobularia maritima) - Carpet of Snow (Sweet Alyssum)
Antirrhinum majas - Snapdragon
Baileya multiradiata - Desert Marigold
Catanache Caerulea - Cupid's Dart
Centaurea cyanus - Bachelor's Button
Cineraria Maritima - Dusty Miller
Clarkia unguiculata - Elegent Clarkia
Collinsia hetrophylla - Chinese Houses
Coreopsis - Early Sunrise
Coreopsis tinctoria - Plains Coreopsis
Dichelostemma capitatum - Wild Hyacinth
Dimorphotheca sinuata - African Daisy
Encelia farinosa - Brittle Bush, Incienso
Eriogonum fasciculatum var. Fasciculatum - California Buckwheat
Eschscholzia California - California Poppy - Orange
Eschscholzia California - California Poppy - Red
Gaillardia Aristata - Blanket Flower
Gilia tricolor - Bird's Eye
Gypsophila elegans - Baby's Breath
Lathyrus odoratus - Sweet Pea
Lavandula stoechas - Lavender French
Layia platyglossa - Tidy Tips
Linaria maroccana - Dwarf Toadflax (Dwarf Snapdragon)
Linum grandiflorum rubrum - Scarlet Flax
Linum lewisii - Lewis Flax (Blue)
Lupinus nanus- Lupine
Lupinus subcarnosus - Texas Bluebonnet
Lupinus succulentus - Arroyo Lupine
Lupinus x polyphyllus - Russell Lupine
Matthiola - Stock
Mimulas aurantiacus var. punicus - Red Bush Monkey Flower
Mimulas Hybrd F2 - Monkey Flower - Twinkle Red
Oenothera speciosa - Showy Eve Primrose
Papaver rhoeas - Shirley Poppy 'Diane's Mix'
Penstemon centranthifolius - Scarlet Bugler Penstemon
Penstemon parryi - Parry's Penstemon
Phacelia campanularia - California Bluebell
Ratibida columnifera - Prairie Cornflower
Salvia mellifera - Black Sage
Salvia spathaceae - Hummingbird Sage
Scrophularia californica - California Bee Plant
Verbena- Verbena Florist Blend
Verbena tenuisecta - Moss Verbena

 

[DirtMechanic]

Wow.. I am afraid to ask but could you post some pictures? I am sure you have some of previous efforts, at least I hope so.


Also what does this mean?

"I'm also paying close attention to my soil mixtures as working with Natives and Wildflowers, they like a little something different."

I would think they want something normal but its the others wanting something different?

 

[Greenhorn]

Yes they want what would be normal, but you don't use real soil for germinating in trays and small pots so I've been trying to come up with alternatives. A typical potting mix base I might use for general flowers, might not be so great (holds too much moisture too long) or natives and wild flowers.

A lot of the natives here do not like nutrient rich soil, a few will not tolerate much for mulch on top of them. Most typically like fast draining soil. A lot of the native soil is DG or some form of decomposed granite. Typically drains well and is modest in nutrients and the plants have adapted. Kellogg has something I just found called Native Smart Planting Mix for Native Gardens, just found it a few days ago. So as recent as a week ago I was doing mixtures using a Cactus - Citrus with added Vermiculite and Perlite. For a germinating I do sift all even if I'm using Miracle Grow.potting mix as the base which I do with some more common flowers. Oh and try with a little sand in the mix once.


These are all Lupine, there are 30 pots with each having 2=3 seeds. Very nice plants, but most don't like to be grown in trays or pots due to tap roots. If your lucky you can see the native ones around sometimes. Great smell and cut flower. Trying the peat pots, but have them in 4" pots to see if that will help them hold a little moisture. As messing with half manual and seeing if I get some drip to work with the soil and peat pots. First time trying last year, did not work out very well.

Here you have 60 pots. 30 Sweet Peas (flowers) in the front and 30 native - wild flowers in the back. Notable in the back are the Chinese Houses, Tidy Tips and a couple Flax. Germination going a little better than looks in the picture are it's hard to see small stuff. Most of the left Sweet Pea has germinated, there are 4 different varieties of Sweet Pea planted. Last year I was successful getting some tall Sweet peas to grow in containers, so that was really cool.

The green house has some of the same native - wildflowers as outside, some others and some more typical. The tray nearest just went in yesterday, it has 24 of Stock, 24 Snap Dragons and 24 Bachelor Buttons. With these each pocket gets about 3 -5 seeds, sometimes more if they are tiny, later to be thinned. 4 trays 72 pockets each.

Here we go with some germinating. This is a very course medium for germinating, but these seeds are used to very well drained soil, just experimenting. I've also done a tray with Coir as the base. Coir has 0% nutritional value where as some potting mixes do... but then again some native don't want - needs much for nutrients.

Sweet Pea (flower ) bed. This year I read up on them more and found they like to have a 66% soil and 33% amendment w a complete starter fertilizer mixed in base trench that you plant on top of, so I did and we shall see. Oh the one on then right we're some volunteers from last year seeds so I just worked around them. I love cut Sweet Peas. Low wire mesh is to prevent nibblers, high mesh is for climbing. I need to cover a half row in the front and add what I decide to use for additional trellising.

Hope to do some more in the next couple of days.

 

[DirtMechanic]

I am sorry, what was your real question? I was enjoyably distracted by your posting?

Are you primarily engaged with initial propagation details at the expense of accumulating details about the maturity of the plants? I cannot believe I just asked that, Given your obvious experience inside a greenhouse and out. What part of the world are you growing in anyway?