I've always brought hanging baskets already done but now i've got green fingers i want to grow my own plants for my baskets. I've brought Lobelia Trailing Fountains & Petunia Tidal Wave seeds. When do i start these?
I would say to start them about now, though others may disagree. Both of these have tiny seeds (unless the petunia seeds are pelleted). Best to mix with a little dry sand for sowing so they are evenly spread. But tiny seeds means tiny seedings, which take a while to get to a decent size. They can be quite slow at the beginning, but do speed up later when they have more leaf area to fuel growth. They will need pricking out, a bit of a fiddly job. The petunias need to be done singly, but lobelia can have a few together in a little patch. It is hard to be precise without knowing - do you have a propagator? (It helps) - do you have a greenhouse to grow them on in? They won't be safe to plant outside till after the last frosts - when is that in your part of the world?
Definitely get the lobelia going ASAP, mine have been going now for several weeks indoors in the propagator, they are still tiny I sow in those trays with multiple compartments, so rather than pricking them out I get my own plugs made up of four to six plants or so to go in my baskets. I buy the seeds with a coating which makes them easier to handle and put the right amount in each compartment.
Do these seeds need to be in direct sun as i have no window sills big enough to put seed trays in, my sills are not very wide and i have virtical blinds. I have a out building with a see through roof but not heated, would that be ok?.
In particular lobelia need light to germinate, the ideal is a sunny windowsill. Our garden center does quite skinny multi-trays that fit a lot of windowsills, though a porch might be another idea.
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I have started my petunias off in a seed tray indoors on my window sill, I want to try this year to grow the plant for my hanging baskets
you could start them now ish
I would say to start them about now, though others may disagree. Both of these have tiny seeds (unless the petunia seeds are pelleted). Best to mix with a little dry sand for sowing so they are evenly spread. But tiny seeds means tiny seedings, which take a while to get to a decent size. They can be quite slow at the beginning, but do speed up later when they have more leaf area to fuel growth. They will need pricking out, a bit of a fiddly job. The petunias need to be done singly, but lobelia can have a few together in a little patch. It is hard to be precise without knowing - do you have a propagator? (It helps) - do you have a greenhouse to grow them on in? They won't be safe to plant outside till after the last frosts - when is that in your part of the world?
I do have a green house i built end of last year and on the web it says my last frost here in Stoke-On-Trent is early May.
Definitely get the lobelia going ASAP, mine have been going now for several weeks indoors in the propagator, they are still tiny
I sow in those trays with multiple compartments, so rather than pricking them out I get my own plugs made up of four to six plants or so to go in my baskets. I buy the seeds with a coating which makes them easier to handle and put the right amount in each compartment.
Do these seeds need to be in direct sun as i have no window sills big enough to put seed trays in, my sills are not very wide and i have virtical blinds. I have a out building with a see through roof but not heated, would that be ok?.
In particular lobelia need light to germinate, the ideal is a sunny windowsill. Our garden center does quite skinny multi-trays that fit a lot of windowsills, though a porch might be another idea.