Germination Indoors, continued…

Watering

Once seeds have been sown, check the moisture of your sowing medium every day. Moist medium is darker brown, becoming lighter in color as it dries. Touch the surface . . . if it feels dry, sprinkle the top gently, or better, water from the bottom with water at room temperature. Allow water to soak up until the surface becomes moist, but not so heavily that the medium stays soggy. Aim for a constant, moderate degree of moisture.

NOTE: Keep your seed flats out of direct sunlight, which is often too hot or drying, until the seeds have emerged. Then be sure to furnish additional light.

Germinations Indoors

Locations

Once you know germination requirements, you can find a good location around your home for germinating almost any type of seed.

Warm Spots

Many seeds like steady warmth for best results; the top of a refrigerator has given us good results with these. A spot under a grow-lamp is nearly ideal, though a countertop in your kitchen or bathroom will also work well, if these rooms are kept warm.

Cool Spots

Other seeds like a cool spot. A cold frame or raised, protected bed outdoors during cool weather, an unheated garage, an attic in winter, or a basement or closed room (during cold weather), or a north windowsill all have worked well for us. These locations can also be employed to satisfy any initial chilling or freezing that is required by a specific type (this fact appears on the packet). Your refrigerator or freezer can do the same.

Sowing Seeds Indoors, Continued…

Sowing in Park-Starts^® or Park’s Bio-Dome Seed Starter

Park-Starts^® and Park’s Bio Dome Seed Starters will enable you to grow strong, healthy seedlings with minimum effort. Each Park-Starts plug block contains 18 individual pre-moistened plugs. The Bio Dome plug blocks contain 60, 40 or 18 plugs and the Double Bio Dome will hold two of the blocks. As the name indicates, the Bio Domes have a convenient cover furnished with the unit. Each plug has been pre-dibbled so that a hole is already present to accept the seed. Just drop one or two seeds into each hole, place the unit in a favorable location, keep moist with a weak fertilizer solution, and wait for the plants to emerge. The plug blocks from either unit can be saved and refilled with new plugs year after year.

The holes in the plugs need not be covered after sowing. Consult your seed packet for special instructions.

1. For most seed types, place two seeds into the pre-dibbled hole at the top of each plug. Tiny seeds should be sown on the surface of the plug, not in the hole. Seeds do not need covering in the Park-Starts or Bio Dome plugs. Each plug provides the optimum environment for germination.

2. Place the germination units in a favorable location as indicated on the seed packet.

3. Mix a weak fertilizer solution, following directions on the free fertilizer packet included with your Park-Starts or Park’s Bio Dome Seed Starter shipment. To moisten the plugs it is best to soak them from the bottom. This can easily be done by putting the fertilizer solution into the under trays provided and floating the Styrofoam blocks in the solution. It is not possible to overwater by this method. Alternatively, the plugs may be lightly sprinkled with the solution, taking care so that the seed is not dislodged.

Sowing Seeds Indoors, Continued…

Sowing Indoors, Medium Seed

1. Shake or tap seed packet so that seeds go to the bottom of the packet. Cut the seed packet open across the marked line at the top. A clean cut makes smooth sowing easier.

2. Pick up the packet with one hand, thumb on one side and fingers on the other. Press at the edges so that the packet stays open, and crease the packet at the center of the lower lip to make a trough. To sow seed evenly along the length of the furrow, hold packet level over one corner of the flat, close to the surface of the medium at the end of the first furrow. Move the packet slowly along the furrow, while tapping the packet lightly with a pencil or your finger. A few seeds should roll out into the furrow with each tap. If too many seeds fall too close together, simply separate them with the point of the pencil. If you are doing this for the first time, it may pay to practice sowing over a creased piece of paper first, to see if you are sowing your seeds the proper distance apart.

3. To cover the seeds, pinch the furrows closed. A good rule of thumb is to make sure the seeds are covered to twice their thickness.

NOTE: Seeds that need light to germinate should not be covered. Your seed packet will tell you if this is the case.

4. To water the flat, place it in a pan of water at room temperature (cold water can slow germination), until the top of the medium is very moist. Bottom watering in this manner helps to prevent seeds being washed away by the force of sprayed water.

5. Cover the planted flat with a sheet of clear plastic wrap (such as is used to cover food dishes) or enclose it in a clear plastic bag. Make sure plastic does not touch surface of sowing medium. Place flat where the seeds are to germinate.

Sowing Indoors, Tiny Seed

1. Prepare the flats as previously described . . . with a pencil, press shallow furrows one inch apart parallel to the long side of the flat.

2. For extra protection and easier handling, we package tiny seeds specially in a see-through glassine inner envelope, which you will find tucked inside our regular PARKSPAK®. Remove the glassine envelope from the PARKSPAK®. Handle it gently by the edges, as some tiny seeds can be easily crushed or broken. Hold the glassine envelope as shown in the illustration below, and tap the end with your fingernail until you can see the seed inside collect along the side crease of the envelope. Then snip off the end with scissors.

3. Press the edges lightly between your fingers to hold open the mouth of the envelope. Sow seeds thinly by tapping the glassine gently with your finger. Seed should roll along the crease and out of the envelope in a single thin line.

4. Because tiny seeds may be too small to break through a layer of germinating medium, they should not be covered with medium. This also applies to seeds that require light for germination (this fact
is noted on the seed packet). Sow seeds into the rows, but DO NOT COVER THE SEEDS. Instead, cover the flat with a sheet of clear plastic, or enclose in a clear plastic bag. Some tiny seeds are pelleted. They are covered in a fine clay coating. Moisten the germinating medium thoroughly so that the moisture can loosed the clay coating.

5. Water from the bottom to prevent seeds from being washed under the medium. Many tiny seeds need warmth to germinate (this fact is noted on the packet). Check the flats every day for proper moisture, watering only as much as needed to keep the surface moist, and making sure to water from the bottom.

6. Keep the flat out of direct sunlight until the seeds begin sprouting, then remove the plastic covering. Move to filtered sunlight on a windowsill. Or place under a growing lamp, as soon as seedlings appear.

Sowing Indoors, Large Seed

1. Hold the top end of the packet between thumb and forefinger, shake seed to bottom end of packet, and cut or tear off the top of the packet.

2. Pour the seeds out into your hand; use your finger or a pencil to poke each seed ¼ inch deep into the prepared grow mix in the flat. Space 1 inch apart in rows 1 inch apart.

3. Sprinkle dry growing mix evenly over the seed if cover is required (see packet instructions). Seed should be covered to twice its own thickness. Fast germinating large seed should not be covered with plastic; those that germinate slowly do benefit from a plastic cover, applied so it does not touch surface of growing medium.

4. To bottom-water the seed flat, place it in a pan of water at room temperature until the surface of the medium is thoroughly moist.

5. Place flat where seed is to germinate.

6. As soon as seedlings emerge, remove plastic covering (if used) and move flat to brighter light.

Sowing Seeds Indoors, Continued…

Preparing Seed Flats

Choose your sowing medium carefully. It should be porous and well-drained, but absorbent and soft as well. While finely textured humus or compost is sufficient, we have found seed starting mix to be the ideal medium.
Most seeds are easy to start using Park’s Seed Flats. Kits such as the Park’s Bio-Dome Seed Starter or Park Starts®, allow you to skip the preparatory steps. (No’s 1-3).

1. Moisten the growing mix well by sccoping it into a plastic bag and adding water. For pre-moistened mixes skip to Step 2.

2. Put the thoroughly moistened grow mix into a seed flat and pat it down, paying particular attention to the corners and edges, until the surface is level. Fill the flat to within ¼ inch of the brim.

3. Make shallow furrows one inch apart in the surface of the grow mix, using a pencil or your fingers; ¼ inch deep for small seed or 1/8 inch deep for tiny seed. Large seed can just be poked into the medium without making a furrow.

Sowing Seeds Indoors

Though most seeds are reliably started indoors, many types are easily started outdoors where they are to grow.

Planning

Good timing in sowing seeds is a key to having transplants of the right size to set out in the right weather. Three important things to know are:
1. The first and last expected frost dates for your area.
2. The kind of weather liked best by the young plants of the types you’re growing.
3. The number of weeks from sowing to setting-out size.

When to Sow

You can ask your local county extension agent for the frost dates and other Seasonal Benchmarks for your area. You can also find this information in publications like the Farmer’s Almanac, and on many Internet Websites by searching for “US Frost Free Dates.” We have provided a place for you to write these down in the chart at right. Some seeds need warm temperatures (about 70° F) or even warmer to germinate. Others need cool temperatures (about 55° F) or freezing to germinate well. Young plants may prefer a different temperature to grow on than the seed did to germinate. Remember that the germination temperatures we talk about refer to soil temperature. Indoors, soil temperatures will approximate the average of day and night temperature for the location. Outdoors, soil temperatures will be slightly below this average in spring and slightly above it in fall.

To find out when you ought to sow, first pick out the right date for setting out in your area; then count back the number of weeks to grow garden-size transplants. Sort your seed packets into groups by their germination temperature requirements, so you will know which ones can be sown together. Before you sow, pick some good locations around your house to set seed trays and to continue growing the seedlings after germination. To find out how many seed trays to prepare, decide first how many plants of each kind you need, and sow twice that many seeds. For each 50 square inches of tray surface area, you may broadcast sow:

• Up to 50 large seeds            • Up to 100 small seeds            • Up to 150 tiny seeds

   One or two varieties may be sown in each seed tray; just make sure to label them. You should sow rather thinly in the tray, allowing enough space so seedlings won’t grow together and get overcrowded before they’re ready to transplant (and to make transplanting easier). If you are starting seeds in individual cups, plugs, or cells, plant 2 seeds per cell.

It may be helpful to use a planning paper like the example given below: (Example: Lexington, VA)

Okra 'Green Fingers'

Have you tried growing Okra lately?  Our new ‘Green Fingers’ Okra shown here is a great plant for gumbo or pickling.  The spineless pods only get 3″-4″ long and bear best in the heat of summer.  The Okra ‘Red Spray’ is also 55 days and has beautiful red pods that turn a deeper shade when they are cooked.  Red Spray’s pods can get as long as 5 1/2″, so if you are considering pickling both varieties for Christmas gifts you would pick them a bit young, which is ok with this variety. 

Okra 'Red Spray'

Growing Okra is easy.  The plants are very tolerant of clay soils and heat.  If your summer growing season is short and spring is cool, start seeds indoors 4-6 weeks before planting out, at temperatures of 72-75 degrees.  If the summer is growing season is long and spring is warm, start seeds outdoors after all danger of frost is past and the ground is warm.  While everything else in the garden is looking a bit drawn out the Okra will be happy and producing bunches of flowers and edible pods.

Bob inspecting seedlings in his Bio Dome

Today we say farewell to one of our finest.
Mr Bob Hill has been a horticulturist at Park Seed for 11 years. Many of you may have spoken with him if you called in to our customer service with questions about your plants and how to help them thrive.

We wish him the best on his new adventure called “retirement” and would like to share with you a few words from him & those that worked closest with him.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bio Dome Instructions

1. Remove the Park-Start or Bio Dome Styrofoam blocks from the plastic wrap, keeping upright so that the plugs do not fall out. The plugs are ready to sow as they are.  If sponges have dried, they will have shrunk in size and will need to be re-moistened.  You can accomplish this by filling the green under tray with water and allowing the Styrofoam block to sit in the water until the sponges have absorbed enough moisture.

2. For most seed types, place two seeds into the pre-dibbled hole at the top of each plug. Very tiny seeds should be sown on the surface of the plug, not in the hole. Seeds do not need covering in the Park-Starts or Bio Dome plugs. Each plug provides the optimum environment for germination.

3. Place the germination units in a favorable location as indicated on the seed packet.

4. Re-moisten plugs by sprinkling lightly over the top of the Styrofoam block, or by partially filliing the under-tray with 1/4″ to 1/2″ inch of water.  Do not flood with heavy top wtering, which may dislodge seeds.

5. Place clear plastic dome on green under-tray at this time, closing vents to retain high-humidity.  Open these vents only after seedlings have emerged and are just above the surface of the plugs.  Keep moist until seedlings emerge by retaining 1/4″ to 1/2″ inch water level in the under-tray.  Because of their composition, the Bio-Sponges retain just the right amount of water, so there is no need to provide additional moisture. 

6. After seedlings emerge, provide more light by moving Bio Dome to a bright window, under lights,  or protected area outside.  Mix a weak fertilizer solution, following directions on the free fertilizer packet included with your order.  Water with this fertilizer solution as often as necessary to keep plugs moist by simply retaining the 1/4″ to 1/2″ inch level in the under-tray.

7.  If you have double-sown, keep only the stronger seedling in each plug. Remove the other seedling by cutting the stem at the top of the plug with sharp scissors.

8. You may now remove the clear plastic dome to allow more fresh air to circulate around the seedlings and to harden them to the environment before transplanting.  Increase the light levels to prevent the seedlings from stretching and producing a weak plant. Brighter light will help keep the seedling short and stout.

9. Transplant seedlings when they have 2 or more sets of true leaves.  Another way to tell if your plugs are ready to transplant is to push a plug up from the bottom and check to see if it has white roots reaching to the bottom of the plug.  To remove plugs for transplanting, first water if they are dry, then push the plug up from the bottom and transplant to desired location.  Whether transplanting into a container or directly into the ground, do not allow the planted plugs to to be exposed to the air.  Be sure they are slightly covered with soil.

10. If weather or timing delays your transplanting of young plants, prop the trays up on one side at an angle (about 1/2″-1″inch) to allow air circulation beneath them.  This helps to build a stronger root system.  You will need to apply the fertilizer solution to the top of the Styrofoam blocks as seedlings dry out, while it is propped up.

11. The Park Bio Done Seed Starter is also an excellent system for rooting  jumbo cuttings.  Use the system the same as you would for starting seeds, making sure the Bio Sponges are moist by placing 1/4″ to 1/2″ inch of water in the green under-tray.  Stick cuttings into the dibbled holes.  Apply a light misting with a mist bottle over the cuttings if they should wilt during the rooting process.  The clear dome should be left on at all times with the vents closed to retain humidity until cuttings are rooted and don’t wilt.  Once cuttings have rooted, you can open vents or completely remove the dome if the Bio Starter is placed in a protected area.  Push the rooted cuttings up from the bottom to check on rooting progress, when they are ready to be transplanted, plant in a desired location.

 Deer-resistant Plants

The following list includes many plants that deer do not prefer to eat. Certain plants may be sampled but not destroyed by deer. Take note that a large population of hungry deer will eat almost any plant available.

PERENNIALS GROUND COVERS VINES