Sprouting Old Seeds

a reply to: IAMTAT

Think simulate under the ground. Dark and cool is best, like a pantry or closet.

originally posted by: Blaine91555
a reply to: IAMTAT

Think simulate under the ground. Dark and cool is best, like a pantry or closet.

TY.

originally posted by: Gargoyle91
a reply to: zosimov

I just germinated pepper seeds from 2014 Brazilian Starfish and Black Cobra , The problem I'm having is they grow around 6 inch's tall and just stop ... Trying to figure out how to un-stunt them .

Maybe a little nitrogen

Update:
Brrrr! It snowed last night locally and everything's under a heavy frosty blanket. Very late snow!
Luckily for me, the sproutlings mentioned in OP are warm and safe inside, not big enough to consider going into the soil.
Everything has survived so far and looks great! I even think one of the old rosemary seeds I tried to germinate (from 2011-- also have read that only about 30% of rosemary seeds germinate) ended up sprouting and I'm hoping to keep that one going year round by bringing it back inside after the summer.
So far all the stuff I've planted is cold weather friendly so hopefully the garden has not had any big disasters (yet lol. With hail and maybe pests-- though truly haven't had too much trouble with pests I'm not in the clear yet).

How's your garden doing?

One thing I'd say from 30 years of gardening in a variety of locales is, work on your soil as hard as you do on your seeds.

Bagged "potting mix" is expensive as hell and is usually loaded with chemicals and irradiated (!) to kill weeds...

A composter is the first step.
Every kitchen scrap that doesn't have sticks, citric acid, animal grease, or seeds on it should be composted. When you clean fruit and vegetables, those scraps should go into your composter. Cut flowers when they are dead. the moldy strawberries from the bottom of the plastic tub. Your vegetable drawer in the fridge after it turns putrid with that brown water in it...

I have chickens, so the dirty bedding straw from their coop, cleaned out quarterly goes into the 'post.

Vermiculture is where you raise worms to speed up your composting. It doesn't work for me because I start focusing on them for bait when I go fishing. But the worms produce fantastic compost.

I have composted everywhere I've every lived, once I left home. Even when I rent. In the desert, in the frozen north. Everywhere. I am an agent of fertility wherever I live. And if the person who follows me in that place is open to it, they can benefit with the projects I started.

a reply to: Graysen

Great advice. I started composting last year but did not hear anything about sticks/seeds/citric acid.

The soil that's under the top layer is really dark/nice looking.

Thanks for the info

originally posted by: zosimov
a reply to: Graysen

Great advice. I started composting last year but did not hear anything about sticks/seeds/citric acid.

The soil that's under the top layer is really dark/nice looking.

Thanks for the info

Stick aren't bad; they just take forever to compost. The bark was waterproof, when it was alive.

seeds attract mice, and the slimy coating will attract flies and ants.

citric acid from orange peels etc. is antiseptic. It kills both worms and beneficial break-down bacteria.

Also warmth speeds up the cooking process.

And stirring constantly. I have those barrels on a frame that you give a couple of turns every time you add to them. They can do in six weeks what it takes a mound a whole summer to compost.

a reply to: Graysen

Well said.. It's all about the compost..

We even save the shells from clams and mussels, I put them in a Brown papar bag then I put that inside a garbage bag and smash it repeatedly with a heavy mallet and add that to the compost as well..


Nice tip you had about not letting produce seeds in the compost pile too.

Good post!



Respectfully,
~meathead

a reply to: zosimov

How's your garden doing?

It has been a very cold wet spring. I can't wait for some warmth. It was in the mid 30's yesterday and that just sucks for May!

a reply to: JAGStorm

Same here, I've managed to get the potatoes and a few other things in.. but the majority of my veggies are still in the start up containers I planted them in..

I have been putting them out during the day and taking them back in at night..

It's been a generally bad spring up here, wet and cold.

I did manage to go dig up some Jerusalem artichokes though

Respectfully,
~meathead

a reply to: Mike Stivic

Nice tip you had about not letting produce seeds in the compost pile too.

Back in the old days, before garbage disposers, the local trash collector had these big barrels for garbage. People had these small trash can looking things in their homes called garbage pails.

One day my dad got into a dispute with the garbage collector over billing. We ended up doing dump runs ourselves for the dry trash and digging holes in the back yard for the wet garbage. The garbage sprouted and grew.

We got some pretty good stuff from the "garbage plants", as we called them. Potatoes, Tomatoes, Cantaloupe mostly. The good old days of feasting on garbage!

a reply to: pthena

I'm not quite obsessive compulsive, But I like my garden orderly.

Though, I wouldn't turn down some "garbage food"



Respectfully,
~meathead

a reply to: Mike Stivic

But I like my garden orderly.

Somehow or other, we managed to have the potatoes a few feet away from the tomatoes; maybe planned plantings, presorted or something.

I remember we harvested the potatoes quite small, fried up. The tomatoes attracted hornworms.

A hassle picking those off. I don't think they were endangered specie 'cuz I sure remember plenty of these moths flying around at night.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Cold and wet here too..

Also the 10 day forecast shows warm days but nights that a lot of the plants I'm holding on to in here wouldn't like (below 50).

I'm very thankful for this UV lamp I found in Goodwill a few years ago, lol, it's really doing quite the job keeping a bunch of plants alive.

Good luck getting that break in the weather!

a reply to: pthena

I've seen a few of those... they can eat through a plant in no time!!

And you're right they have quite the grip to them.

originally posted by: Mike Stivic


I did manage to go dig up some Jerusalem artichokes though

Yum

a reply to: pthena

We used to have tons of those nasty things in Connecticut. Especially at the farm I worked at..

Up here I have seen 3 in the last seven years..
And I'm not complaining..



/waves at Zozzi !

Long time no converse ...

Yes they are delicious, I planted fourteen bulbs a few years back.. I've got at least 100 bulbs in the area I designated for them now.. very low maintenance once you establish a deeeeep bed for them.

My mom loves them, I honestly think they taste better than carrots..

Respectfully,
~meathead

originally posted by: Mike Stivic


/waves at Zozzi !

Long time no converse

...

Awww... Hi!

Those grow abundantly in my friend's mountain garden. I really like how they taste. I'm a big root vegetable fan

originally posted by: Mike Stivic
a reply to: JAGStorm

Same here, I've managed to get the potatoes and a few other things in.. but the majority of my veggies are still in the start up containers I planted them in..

I have been putting them out during the day and taking them back in at night..

It's been a generally bad spring up here, wet and cold.

I did manage to go dig up some Jerusalem artichokes though

Respectfully,
~meathead

I put in a few tomato plants in a sheltered area. A rabbit ate an entire 3ft plant!!! arggg it was my best one too. I have a lot of others, but normally they don't bother tomatoes.

a reply to: zosimov

How's your garden doing?

I'm suffering something like land envy. Have to move again. My son in law has a bid on a house. Hopefully, he doesn't get outbid by some city slicker commuter.

It would be nice to plant some roots somewhere.

In the mean-time: There is a plant growing in the grass right next to my back porch. It looks kind of like a dandelion, but with a pink flower that opens in the morning and closes at night.

It was my favorite flower in the World, for the time being. But the lawn mowing guy showed up a week ago and it got chopped.

I saw your update and then went out to check, The stem has grown back a couple of inches and there is a new bud, with the pink just visible.