Upcoming Seed Starting Class

GETTING STARTED WITH SEEDS

Presented by Master Gardener, Amy Whitney

For

Green Meadows Community Gardeners and Residents of Sterling Estates

SATURDAY   ǁ   FEBRUARY 17^TH   ǁ   10:00 AM

Please join us in the Activity Center at Sterling Estates as we learn with Amy how to grow plants from seed.

  Amy is a seasoned Master Gardener, formerly with the UGA Extension Service, as well as a Blog Author (https://atlantaveggies.blogspot.com), and well, let’s just say “Gardener Extraordinaire”. 

She has a wealth of knowledge on seed starting and her talks are always informative and fun.

 Refreshments and Door Prizes!

Hope to see you there!

Christmas Bell Pepper Seeds

Hey Everyone,

Dave and Diane Ochala of Bed 15 are so kind to share some of the seeds from their unique Christmas Bell Pepper plants.  They are in the shed clearly marked for you to help yourself.  If you haven't had a chance to stroll by their bed and view, the plants are putting on a spectacular show of red and green as they mature.

Saving pepper seeds:

Christmas Bell Pepper

Allow seeds to thoroughly dry on paper towels or a coffee filter for two to three weeks.  Pepper seeds do not require any special type of cleaning. Once dry, they are ready for storage.

On average, pepper seeds will store for 2 - 3 years if they are in airtight containers placed in a cool dark location.

Prior to planting, seeds should be soaked in water held at 125 degrees for about 30 minutes. This will kill any disease contained within the seed.  For experienced gardeners, you may want to replace the water with compost tea and bio-prime on a 12/12 schedule.  This will inoculate the plants with beneficial bacillus, mycorrhizae, and trichoderma fungi.  Plants should be started indoors during late winter, or 8 - 10 weeks before the last frost date.  For our area, that is most often April 15th.

Thanks a bunch for sharing Dave and Diane!

Happy Gardening,

Denise, Beds 25 & 29

What Can I Plant Now?

Hey Everyone,

Someone asked the best question in the garden this past weekend as to what can they plant now.  July is such a great gardening month as you are probably reaping the reward from all the hard work and dedication you have put in.  Besides being the perfect time to plant a second round of vegetables such as beans, carrots, corn, cucumbers, okra, and squash.  It is also the perfect time to make your plan for the fall.  Do you want to try growing some transplants yourself, or maybe attempt direct sowing?  Both of these methods often provide you with healthier plants and better production from them.  The two links below have wonderful planning charts on what you should be starting now for the best success next season.  I also inserted a link to the Farmer's Almanac that has a chart listing the last planting dates for your second round of summer veggies.

http://www.almanac.com/content/succession-gardening-
planting-dates-second-crops
Last dates for planting a second round
 of summer veggies. 

As I am getting ready to start my seeds for fall, this weekend was a trip to Lowe's for some additional starting trays.  To my disappointment, Lowe's has pulled all their seed starting materials as well as their seed racks.  I asked at customer service and they are unsure if they will carry them this fall but will pass it along to the manager that people may be looking for these products.  Evidently, the store manager does not garden.  Oh, go ahead and smack me that was just nasty!  Lowe's currently only has a very narrow selection of Seeds of Change packets and they are marked down for clearance. (Still higher priced than seeds at Pike's or Home Depot, but part of their proceeds are donated to a worthy cause.)  Home Depot continues to have seed racks up; however, they consistently place them outside which does affect the germination rates of the seed and potentially can have affects that carry over to the plant.  In fact, the three largest factors affecting the longevity, quality, and germination rates of seed are light, heat, and humidity.

For those who do not like to order online or desire something locally available, Pike's continues to carry Botanical Interests year round and at present, they have a nice selection of fall varieties.  I have seen a few different cultivars between stores in what they carry and display.  Botanical Interests is actually one of the better seed distributors as they independently lab test all incoming seed from their suppliers before packaging, ensuring a better quality product with higher germination rates.  They proudly tout the safe seed pledge and assure us a non-GMO created seed.  Based on the tests I do at home they continue to run around 93% germination on fresh purchases.  I think the industry standard set by the USDA is somewhere along the lines of 80 - 85 percent, but do not quote me.

If I can be of any help in choosing cultivars, just let me know.

http://www.burpee.com/gygg/growingCalendarWithZipCode.jsp?catid=1000&_requestid=3296629 - link to Burpee Planning Charts

http://www.botanicalinterests.com/img/site_specific/uploads/LateSummFallSowingGuide.pdf - link to Botanical Interests Fall Planning Charts

Happy Gardening,

Denise, Beds 25 & 29

Better Seed Storage

You bought seeds, you planted 5 squares of carrots, 2 squares of radish, 6 squares of lettuce and now what are you going to do with the remaining 600 seeds?

How you store your seeds determines how viable the seeds are the next time you want to plant that variety.  (Viable just means how well they germinate.)

To test the germination rate, get a damp paper towel, put 10 seeds in it, fold the papertowel over and put it in a ziplock bag. Let it sit for a few days (actually, as long as the germination time listed on the seed packet). Then you check and see how many sprouted.  If only 30% (3 seeds) sprouted you might as well just get another packet of seeds. Seed Germination video link

The way I've been storing my seeds is to open the seed packet, pour all my seeds into a tiny plastic bag - you can find them at the Plastic Bag store and the craft stores in the bead sections. I label my tiny bags and then put them back into the seed packets.

You need an air tight, dark, cool spot to store the seeds. If you have an old ceramic canister with a seal (like those used to store flour and sugar on a counter top), you can use that. If you don't have one, just go to Goodwill and you can find them for a very good price. That is where I got mine when I decided I needed a better way to store my seeds last year.

Anywhere in your house is a good place to keep the seeds because we do heat and cool to keep it comfortable for us. The nice thing about using a ceramic container it is much harder to put the seeds in a safe place where you can't find them next time you want them.

When is it Warm Enough to Plant?

Hey Everyone,

With the warmer days of spring just around the corner, everyone will be anxious and eager to get out and enjoy his or her garden.  I hope that many will want to try direct sowing some seeds.  I ran across this chart on the Gardener's Supply website and thought we would all appreciate the guidelines for soil temperature to ensure good germination rates.  Remember the green dots are far from optimum and will produce results that are more erratic.

When is it Warm Enough to Plant?

To obtain the most success with direct sowing seed, it is important to follow a few simple steps.

Bed 50 is a wonderful example of
well worked soil with
a nice loam to it. 

• Take the time to do a little garden prep work.  Thoroughly check your bed for the presence of any undesirables (grubs, cutworms, vine borer larvae, etc.).  Turn in plenty of soil amendments (free compost is available) and work the soil so it is a nice loose consistency with no heavy clumps of dirt. Fertilize properly and level the bed nice and neat. 

• Look for the seasonal benchmark.  The best advice I ever received was to look for the sweet spot when planting.  This is a great weekend for prepping the soil and then letting the bed rest a few days to a week before sowing.  When turning your bed, you will be bringing the cooler soil to the top and it will take a few days to warm.  We can still have harsh weather and some young seedlings will easily succumb to the freezing temperatures.  Tip:  Unless you are using a frost blanket, it is still too early for sowing carrots, beets, turnips, and lettuce.  However, it is a perfect time for bulbing onions, peas, parsley, radishes, spinach, and mustard greens.  I will start taking soil temperatures this weekend and post them so we have an idea of where things stand.  Temps taken this afternoon ran approx. 37.3 to 41.6 degrees depending on where you were in the garden. Those who have consistently been covering were substantially higher by 10 to 12 degrees.

Freshly watered soil with
a desirable loam and consistency. 

• Follow the seed packet instructions for the depth and spacing requirements.  Some seeds require light to germinate and if sown too deep will not sprout.  A nice rule of thumb is to sow no more than two to three times as deep as the seeds diameter.  However, if your packet states to barely cover the seeds, follow these instructions.   

• Keep the seedbed evenly moist and do not let it dry out. Use a fine mist or shower nozzle to prevent dislodging of the seeds and eroding of the soil.  Tip: Nothing hinders the process more than allowing the seedbed to dry out during germination.  I actually try to mist my bed roughly the same time every day to ensure success.  

• Make sure to know what your seedlings will look like and mark them properly.  Pull all competing spring weeds as they have the potential to harbor disease and insects as well as compete for your seedlings nutrients.  Once sprouted, gradually wean to your regular watering schedule, however, please remember raised beds do dry out rapidly and young seedlings need consistency. 

The attached sowing guides should get everyone off to a wonderful season of growing.  Devra at Botanical Interests has been kind enough to give me their permission to use these charts for our garden needs!  They have excellent recommendations for good germination rates of what is safe to put in now and what you should wait a bit on.  If I can be of any assistance, please don't hesitate to ask or post a comment.

http://www.botanicalinterests.com/img/site_specific/uploads/OutSpgSowGuideVegHerb.pdf - link to outdoor edible spring sowing guides

Enjoy the wonderful weather this weekend!                                              

Denise, Beds 25 & 29

Question on Corn Seed

Hey Everyone,

I have a really stupid question that I seem to see mixed information on.

I am looking at Sugar Buns Hybrid Corn Seed which states it contains sugar-enhancer endosperm.  If it is endosperm enhanced, is that the GMO seed? 

Also on a funny note the endosperm comes up as a misspelling and blogger wants to replace it with the word spender......Maybe it is the late night on the computer, but spender and endosperm in my corn is certainly tickling the ole funny bone.  That would be a conversation piece in the garden, lol!

Denise, Beds 25 & 29

Super Sow Sunday

I received this email for a good chance to get some early spring planting knowledge. Super Sow Sunday at all Pikes Sunday, February 3, 10am - 3pm Start your seeds now so they are ready for spring. Join us for this hands-on event at all Pike Nurseries locations. We will have everything in stock you'll need, and of course plenty of expert advice! No registration needed.

Make Your Own Seed Tape

Pine Tree Seeds sells tape that you use to make your own seed tapes. Just peel back the backing and stick on the seeds.  Seed Tape

Seed tape picture

from Pine Tree Seeds

 

If you want to go the really cheap route and make your own without buying anything special - here is a link to do that from the Instructables website. Be sure to read the comment section as there are many good hints to increase your success. It might be worth trying with some carrot or raddish seeds.  Make-Your-Own-Seed-Tapes

Items need to make a seed tape using the Instructables tutorial

The Garden Betty Blog had a great blog entry on making seed tapes too. Lots of step by step pictures of how to make the seed tapes, what patterns to use, and then how to plant the seed tape. Garden Betty.make-your-own-seed-tape  A nice rainy day like today would be a good day to make experimental seed tapes to use this spring.

 

One of the seed spacings demonstrated by Garden Betty