Cooking seeds!

Though I am a fairly hardened gardener, I have not germinated many seeds since I was a child (with my dad) I think I could even rival PeterS with the purchased packets that are waiting to be started!

I have this fear that I am probably cooking my seeds rather than germinating them - when does anyone take their seedlings off heat?

So far I am finding it rather similar to hatching chickens, the hibrid ones come out fast and furious, but the rare breeds need help.

AND why do I get so many seed pods sticking to young seedlings?

 

Most of ours stay in the propagator until they are ready for pricking out into pots. Some I'll take out a day or two before pricking out so that they don't suffer a double shock on the same day. I pricked out 80 petunias yesterday and they will spend about a week in our porch before they go out into the greenhouse which is currently unheated.
If your propagator is in your new greenhouse you'll need to keep an eye on the temperature and maybe open the top on sunny days or you do stand a chance of over-cooking things.

 

Waco - are you talking about cooking seeds, or seedlings. As far as heat for seeds goes, I go by the RHS germination guide that comes with their seeds. Mind you the instructions on a purchased packet of seeds are not always the same, so I suspect that it is a bit of a grey area, and that seeds will germinate some way outside of the recommended conditions. The RHS pamphlet, however, had all the information in one place and saves having to keep hundreds of empty seed packets.

Looking through the guide, there are not many seeds that really need heat. Of my seeds, only 8 out of 44 need heat. eg Savia recommended at 18C to 24C. I have put only these 8 in a propagator set at 22C. The rest generally need only about 13C or 16C, and they are in unheated propagators in the house.

But you raise a second question, how soon do you remove the heat when some seeds have germinated and maybe others have not. I think the heat is really needed for germination and that they need light more than heat once germinated.

Waco, I have an old copy of the germination guide which I would be happy to send you if you wished.

[ 08. March 2007, 08:28 PM: Message edited by: PeterS ]

 

Peter - yes I would love the old guide if you can spare it thanks.

I have been following instructions on packet and a lot of the tropical stuf says 30 degrees! I have 4 bananas now, 2 of which have grown so big I have had to take them out of propagtor, but they are under big lemonade bottles in the greenhouse.

Dave - the windows in greenhouse self open, we have had days above 30 degrees in there with all windows and doors open (following Lloyds idea for keeping moulds and fungus down) some of the seedling are very fine, they have germinated well, but then stareting to go brown, not sure if it is too much light or too much heat.

 

Waco - its in the post.

As DaveW said - you may have to watch the temperature of your propagator. If it doesn't have a thermostat, all a propagator does is raise the temperature by say 10C over the ambient. If the ambient is -20C, your propagator will be running at -10C, and if the ambient is 20C, your propagator will be running at 30C.

I bought a large but cheap one, without a thermostat. But I was a bit concerned so I bought a seperate temperature controller, with a thermocouple probe, - which cost more than the propagator!

 

Waco - I'd guess too much heat. If your greenhouse is hitting 30, the temperature in the propagator will be at least that and possibly more.
Like PeterS the thermostat on my new propagator cost more than the propagator, but it does give much better control. Even with it, the temperature can rise too high on very sunny days unless I open the top.
I've run a probe from a max-min digital thermometer into the sand on the base of my propagator so that I can monitor the temperature accurately.

 

Peter - you are a star THANKS!and do you think it is worth while me joining RHS for seeds?

So Dave & Peter, I think you have spelled out to me problem, I have a probe on one heat mat, and I do use soil thermomiter, but by the time I have got back from work the ambient air temp has dropped, so I am missing the point!

Also seeds in seed trays with shallow depth of soil get much hotter than seeds in larger pots - not least the ones in the airing cupboard.

I am keeping a good record, so hopefully will improve with age and your expert advice
Thanks

 

Waco. The RHS cost about �£35 a year. The benefits are 1) You can visit the sites for free. 2) you can borrow books from their library 3) You can visit a very small number of other gardens such as Harewood House for free (but often only out of season). This benefit is rather limited. 4) you get their monthly magazine and 5) you can get 20 packets of seeds for a �£10 admin fee.

I live very close to Harlow Carr, and so get the benefit of visiting the site and borrowing their books - their library is very good. All in all, for me its good value. However from a distance you lose most of the benefit of visiting. But you still get the magazine and the seeds. Its difficult to say how much that is worth to you. But on the other hand its a dull life if you only spend money on boring things like petrol and council tax and water charges, and don't spend money on the things you really like.

I will e-mail you a copy of their seed list to show you whats on offer.

 

I'm with you Peter S - tis well worth the money. An American gardening friend gave me a years subscription, and I then continued For the first time this year I got their seeds - now germinating in the green house. Am well pleased.

 

Throw 'em in a seed tray, plonk 'em in the greenhouse, water and let 'em get on with it :D

Tropicals obviously need a bit of warmth but if you want hardy outdoor plants then don't mollycoddle, you just encourage disease and damping off. I'm convinced most seeds grow in spite of our best endevours, not always because of them.