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2/24/2008

Green Thumb Sunday Seedlings

osteospermum seedling
Osteospermum African Moon


Love seedlings more then anything about gardening. I check on my seed flat and other pots obsessively all day long. Already today I have check them about 5 times and I've only been awake for 4 hours. Those little sprouts of life captivate me in ways I can't explain. Seeing them grow one day to the next gets me even more excited for the next day. Yet it's always heartbreaking when I can't get seeds to grow. The first seedling I see from the batch of seeds I have sown gives me a great feeling. My husband never understand why I get so thrilled when I see a seed pop up. He especially doesn't understand why I must tell him and show him when he really doesn't care. I don't care if he doesn't care I'll show him and drag him to it anyways.

My one seedling of Osteospermum African Moon has got it's true leaves. There is another sprout about to pop out. The other 7 plugs of Osteospermum African Moon have no sign of growing. My thought is I planted the seeds to deep. I have plenty more seeds to plant of those though. There came bunches in the package more then any other seeds I have received. Maybe they just don't have a high germination rate which is why they provide so many in the package.

nemesia mello red and white seedlings
Nemesia Mello Red and White


My nemesia has one large seedling and 3 others starting to sprout up. They are slowing making there way up and maybe more will sprout soon. I'm surprised these sprouted at all really since they showed no signs for a few weeks. Now they are peaking their heads out of the soil. I really should have researched these before purchasing them because I'm not sure if they will do well in this weather. I'm still such a newbie and know that I really should read up more then just the zone that things live in. My balcony is a hot box gets SW sun pretty much all day. It really starts to sizzle by 1pm and most things I don't think will survive the heat. I'm always making an effort to look for things that are heat and drought tolerant. My containers dry up faster then I ever thought they would. I need to invest in some water retaining stuff to add to my containers so I don't have to water them 2 times a day or everyday. I don't mind though it just gives me an excuse to inspect my seedlings and plants.

gaillardia razzle dazzle mix seedling
Gaillardia Razzle Dazzle Mix Seedlings


Most of my 9 Gaillardia plugs in the flat have sprouted. As you can see there is even more then one per plug. I really should thin them out but I'm a wuss. I might just do it later when they are larger and actually plant those extra ones somewhere else. I can't bear to through out perfectly good seedlings. For my Herbaceous Plants class when we had to thin out our seedlings I knew I had a feeling to wait longer. But I went with what the teacher said and what everyone else did and thinned out my flat. Well the next week when I check on my seeds I only had 3 Laura Bush Petunias when I had many more before. I guess I didn't thin out the strongest one. I suspect that it was more the lack of water my flat gets because the caretakers don't water mine enough. Sad.

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3 comments:

Unknown said...

It was funny reading about your seedling obsession. Matt does exactly the same thing! Check, recheck, and again, and maybe they might have grown in the past few hours, etc. (While I typed this he just came in and asked if we could start some seeds now...)

Aiyana said...

I've only started one thing from seed--a Coral Aloe. It was fun, but I'm a bit impatient. Although I have many cacti seeds, it takes so long for them to get to the flowering stage, I just don't bother. Guess I'm too old! Your obsession seems to be serving you well!
Happy GTS,
Aiyana

kate said...

This sounds like great fun ... once I start seeds, I have the same thing happen. I check them constantly and get all excited when I see any growth at all. It helps to grow fast-growing seeds too.