HANGING BASKETS AND WINDOW BOXES- BITS AND BOBS 2016

Great thread!
@shiney think I've got a similar problem to what you described, most of my pots are being used for spring bulbs, bedding or have lilies that I left in last year!

@fat controller I found my petunia baskets looked a bit flat in 2014 so I stuck upright geraniums in the middle last year.. it looked ok but I'm not a fan of geraniums. This year I've got double cascading begonias to try in baskets instead, can't wait!

@Sheal how many lobelia seeds do you put in one cell roughly? I put quite a bit in, think I've had dampening off.. I only have 10 cm pots, would they be too big to transplant to? Last year I tried them and petunia, nothing happened so I'm pretty chuffed to get some to germinate this year.. no true leaves yet but the leggy-ness is worrying me, should I re-pot/try again or give up and just buy it? Here's my sorry looking lobelia..

 

On the packet it says 10-12 weeks before last frost, I think mines first week of May. I've got plenty more seed if it is too early though.

 

I have about half my seeds on the go now. Laurentia , Bidens , Sanvitalia , Marigolds , Gerbera and Phlox . In about a week Petunias and Thunbergias . Then the bigger stuff Begonia tubers and Canna Rhizomes in £1 buckets . I need to be nice to Mrs H to negotiate space for big ugly buckets. It may cost me a bottle of Cava !

 

Impressive @HarryS

 

I am only "allowed" one window in my office/spare bedroom in the early seed growing season. Luckily it faces south even though it only had a 600mm wide window. So I have quick fit shelves on my desk for the prop and the light box. Seems to work fine As the season progresses I sneakily expand through the house though

 

And how many bottles of Cava is that

 

As many as I can drink

 

I thought the Cava was for MrsH

 

The only seeds I start off in cell trays are large ones like Lupins and I don't use anything smaller than a six cell tray. All the others are started in half trays like these below, including Lobelia. I would sprinkle the whole packet into one of these trays.


I can't see that you have damping off with your seedlings but the soil looks a little to damp. Don't water the seedlings until they start to dry out. Try and get used to the difference in weight of pots and trays when the soil is wet or dry, you will then be able to judge how much water they will need. Seedlings of any type cannot cope with over watering. During the early stage when they are tiny I just spray mine to keep them moist without soaking them through. When the seedlings are bigger I start to use a fine rose on a watering can so that they don't collapse under the weight of the water droplets.

10cm pots are a little large and I would usually transfer my Lobelia in clumps to six cell trays. They would be grown on in those until the time to plant out. I would pot on Petunia's to six cell trays as individual seedlings. This internet picture below shows roughly how many seedlings you will need to grow on in clumps. You may get away with half the amount shown in the individual cells.



Although Lobelia take a while to mature they are best started off in the first or second week of March and given as much light as possible but out of direct sunlight, to reduce legginess.

At this point I think you only have enough seedlings for a couple of plants @Lynd so I would advise starting with a new batch of seeds as soon as possible.

Lobelia aren't the easiest of plants to start from seed so it's your choice whether to carry on with the challenge or give in and buy them.

 

Thank you so much for that @Sheal I won't give up yet, I'll start a new batch on Sunday as I have those trays here too. They are pretty damn fiddly and took a while to germinate, I'll give them that though!
With the watering, I stood it in a tray last night and let it sit for 10 mins pulled it out and put it on a dry try, I thought with a radiator underneath and being in the window (just early morning Sun) it would evaporate quite quickly but it was still soggy this afternoon as you can see.
I'm sure I've lost a few, there's was more green than that 2 days ago..so that's why I thought of damping off and I've been turning them round everyday but they just seem to get taller. Thanks again, really appreciate it

 

I don't bother growing Lobelia from seed . They are as cheap as chips at the Supermarkets and GC's at the end of April .

 

Yeah they are pretty cheap, think I had bought something like 15 plugs for 2/3 quid each last year. Its just I had the seed so was testing my skills..still pretty new to gardening, this is my 3rd year and I'm still young.. so I've got plenty of time for failures (and I've had plenty of them so far!)

 

Them not be "failures" (oh dearie me, no no no ) ....

.... them be "learning curves"

And I have no doubt you have had many successes too

 

Cheers M gives me a lot of encouragement!
Definetley a learning curve! Grew dahlia from seed last year still got the tubers to plant out, no rot this time and few other things planted last year are showing life