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I started seeds in my apartment to plant in a friends back yoar. I started the seeds in May, butthey were little to plant so we kept them in the trays till end of June then planted them. Should I have started them earlier in the trays, not sure how much earlier to start the seeds. I seeded, marigolds, petunias and cosmos.
The marigolds as of today look like mini hedges, petunas spread out in certain areas with purple flowers, cosmos, look like they have seen better days.
Something very rewarding about planting seeds and watching them grow......
I was joking.. we have flowers too, but I care about what's to eat more. Some of the flowers we eat. Day lillies are one. You can eat the blossoms, ansd the root ball if there is enough to sustain the bed.
Last year we burned off some woody pulp junk waste in the garden and a really odd plant sprang from the ashes. It has a off looking pink blue stem and the flowers look like dutchmens breeches but in pink and yellow. My wife can say the name of that plant, but i can't and i can never recall what it is called.
This year we had many bug smudge fires in Spring, but that plant didn't come up there, but back where it was before in larger numbers. They are not in my way and add some color so they remain.
You can eat marigolds, I think. I don't but I guess if I got really hungry. . . .
Do you all plant tomato seeds? I started mine in Feb., and they are started to really produce right now. Do you think maybe I should have started in January? I guess it doesn't matter too much. Does anyone start peppers from seeds? I didn't try that this year.
paperhouse happens to be a very studly 37 year old man.....................and all the questions you have about seed starting can be found in any good gardening book or on line.
Haha NoKudzu, we sometimes forget who we are talking to or make assumptions that may not be on the mark. Paperhouse hasn't been around so much lately and I suspect he may be working on that gorgeous garden.
nightcrawler, welcome to the joys of gardening. There is something pretty neat about seeing your flowers and plants grow.
Just about all seed packets come with the information you need for timing when seeds need to be started. Unfortunately for total novices 6-8 weeks before last frost is usually not very informative. Most seeds need to be planted (indoors) anywhere from a month to 3 months before the last hard frost is expected when you garden in the north. For Brooklyn that probably means the last possible hard frost is somewhere in early May, so count backwards from an approximate date. For the marigolds and cosmos you could probably give them a slight head start indoors by planting seeds in early April, but Marigolds and Cosmos are among the ones that often have the direction to seed directly in the garden after all chances of frost are over, so they don't have to be started early and will still grow quickly.
The petunias, on the other hand, need a head start of 4 to 6 weeks. This means a good time to start them would be in Mid March. These are not hard and fast dates- do it a week earlier or later, you will still get you decent plants. Indoor seeding does require a very good light source or you will get overly leggy plants that will suffer transplant shock and take a long time to begin really growing. The bushier they are and the stronger the roots the better your plant will be in the garden.
After planting your seedlings they will still need some very regular care. If they don't get the right amount of sun they may not thrive as well as those in better sunlight conditions. All three of the plants you mention like to get lots of sun, less sun will yield fewer flowers. Most plants do better when they get regular water (aren't permitted to wilt) without keeping them soaking wet. Some of my potted plants, for example, need watering every single day, while other plants in my garden don't need to be watered more often than once every 3 -4 days. They also need regular fertilizing and to be dead headed to keep them looking good. The term 'dead heading' refers to removing of spent flowers before they go to seed formation. The plant will stop putting its energy into making flowers if you allow flowers to go to seed on many annual plants..
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