Planted seeds inside on sat. Now what ?

[unionwirewoman]

Hey all ! This is the first time I have ever started plants from seeds so I need some help ! I bought one of those plastic containers with the little "button" pods that you add water to and the soil expands ( sorry I don't know what they're called hopefully you know what I'm talking about ! ) Anyway I planted the seeds on Sat. and now over night the plants have popped out and some are 2" tall , almost touching the lid ! What type of container do I need to put them in , and how big ? They are an assortment of flowers (Dahlias , Cosmos , Daisies etc. ) Any help would be great ! Oh and one more question , can I wait till friday to re-plant or do I need to do it right away ?

 

[patandchickens]

I bought one of those plastic containers with the little "button" pods that you add water to and the soil expands ( sorry I don't know what they're called hopefully you know what I'm talking about ! ) Anyway I planted the seeds on Sat. and now over night the plants have popped out and some are 2" tall , almost touching the lid ! What type of container do I need to put them in , and how big ? They are an assortment of flowers (Dahlias , Cosmos , Daisies etc. ) Any help would be great ! Oh and one more question , can I wait till friday to re-plant or do I need to do it right away ?

Congratulations! Green thumb! I hope you are in the South, though, as it is quite early for most of those plants...

I am thinking you mean jiffy-pot type things, that expand from a flat disc into a sort of roundly cylindrical shape maybe 2-3" tall, with a sort of very fine flimsy netting holding the outsides together?

If that is what you mean, then you would not normally be transplanting the sprouted seeds anywhere-- they will just stay in the jiffy thingies til they are big enough to put in the ground outdoors. (Well, if they get way too big way too early in the house, and you absolutely have to, you could *try* repotting into a large pot later on, but unless you have an extremely bright sunny place for them it may not work well.)

If you have planted more than one seed in each jiffypot, wait til they get to having one or two sets of true leaves, then thin 'em down to one plant per jiffypot (the strongest one). Do this with fine scissors, snipping the culls off at soil level, do NOT pull the weaklings up by the roots, as that could damage the roots of the one you're keeping.

If you don't mean jiffypots, if you mean some of the synthetic expando-soil <g> type stuff, and you've planted them en masse into flats, wait til you have 1 or 2 sets of true leaves (not the blobby shaped pair of cotyledons they first sprout with), then you will use the tip of a table knife or something like that to 'prick them out' and replant into individual pots or cells.

Probably right at this moment, though, all you need to do is transfer them pronto to a good bright place so they don't get all tall and stretched and spindly. DO NOT WAIT til friday, do not even wait til dinnertime if you can help it.

Will you be using fluorescent lights? If so, now is the time to plug 'em in. Hang 'em from chains so that you can adjust their height easily and often - you want to keep the bulbs about 2-4" above the topmost leaves.

If you will be growing your seedlings in a VERY BRIGHT windowsill, or a bright warm frostproof place outdoors, or any of the other possibilities, now is the time to put them there. If you use a windowsill, make sure there is a white curtain or piece of white paper or suchlike *behind* the plants (that is, on the room side of them), otherwise they will constantly be veering around to bend towards the light, and even if you turn them every day or few days it weakens their growth. With a curtain or paper to reflect some light to them from their back side, they will still need *some* turning, but will grow better and more normally.

Hope this helps, and good luck,

Pat

 

[patandchickens]

Hey unionwirewoman - you're in Montana (I looked on byc)? It is possible that you may have, er, ah, jumped the gun a little bit on planting those things...

I looked 'em up (not really an annuals person) and even dahlias are mostly like just 4-6 weeks before last frost, cosmos even less (actually, folks usually just direct-sow them into the garden where I'm from). So unless your last frost date is in late March or early April, you may want to contemplate doing another later sowing too

Here is where I looked 'em up, it is not a Big Official Horticultural Site but it was among the early google returns and it actually does seem to be a nice concise and reasonably correct (afaik) summary of when to start what where: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf33412885.tip.html

If you *are* too early, it is NOT a serious problem - it would give you a chance to get your feet wet with these seedlings, and *maybe* you can keep some going in acceptible shape til the world is warm enough to plant them out (magic 8 ball sez, "build a cold frame"), and if not, then what the heck, chalk it up to experience - think of it as getting 2 years' seed starting experience in 1, not a bad deal

Good luck,

Pat

 

[silkiechicken]

Have fun! I don't plan on starting any seeds till about a month from now, and they will be inside for two months before they go out. It's too cold here for them now. Since they are already sprouted, a big bright light sunny spot would do them the best.

 

[unionwirewoman]

Yeah , I know I jumped the gun . It's just SOOO hard when the sun is shining and the weather is warmer ! It is my first time though and I kinda wanted to see if it would work (or more importantly if I wouldn't screw it up !) I'm growing these in hopes of using some of them as flowers for my wedding bouquet . Can I not just re-pot them inside and grow them in here till it gets warmer ? I know very little about this stuff so I'm gratefull for any advice ! Thanks guys !

Marisa

Sorry ! I almost forgot ! Can I take the lid off even though some seedlings are just barely coming up ? I'm afraid the other big seedlings are going to start bending over .

 

[digitS']

Marisa, you are really jumping the gun.

I'm not very clear on your growing arrangement. If your seedlings are up, they need to be put into light fairly quickly. If they are going into sunlight, they can't be covered with a solid plastic cover. If it is clear and unvented, they are going to cook. I start seed in cookie boxes from the bakery. When the plants go into the sunlight, the lid is cut off and placed under the box to serve as a tray.

I grow lots of dahlias but have only started plants from seed a couple of times. I think they may be fairly suitable for potting up into a couple of larger sizes and so can stay indoors longer - provided there's adequate light.

Cosmos might "get away from you" fairly quickly. They are also susceptible to mildew so the indoors probably won't be a very healthy environment for them. I always just start them outdoors.

Seedlings can be to transplanted to larger containers when they have their first set of true leaves. The leaves that came out of the seed aren't "true" leaves. Give them a couple of weeks to grow.

I will start snapdragon and pansy seed this week and peppers next week. These will be the first seeds to go in the starter mix. Here's another website with information. You'll need a clear idea of when you can set your plants outdoors in the garden. Then work backwards to find the date to start the seed. Most plants only require 5 to 8 weeks of indoor growing. And, I always plant everything twice, anyway.

Steve

 

[patandchickens]

It is my first time though and I kinda wanted to see if it would work (or more importantly if I wouldn't screw it up !)

That is perfectly fine, everyone needs educational experiences

I'm growing these in hopes of using some of them as flowers for my wedding bouquet . Can I not just re-pot them inside and grow them in here till it gets warmer ?

I'd like to suggest that you plan *several successive later* (properly timed) sowings, if these are for something important like a wedding bouquet.

Here is the thing about growing them on indoors for months on end -- outdoor garden plants (well, ones that will grow in Montana <g>) need lots of light, and they need outdoorsish temperatures. It is exceedingly difficult to provide an indoor equivalent of 'full sun', especially once things are past the seedling stage - you can't have fluorescent tubes 2" from all surfaces of the entire plant! A sunny window is NOT sunny enough. So you get a stretched pale weak plant. And then, too, they're designed to grow in cool temperatures. Even in midsummer they have cool nights, and the seedlings really do better in coolth.

It is still worth trying to carry them on, don't get me wrong, I'm just saying, don't hold your breath for early Cosmos

Sorry ! I almost forgot ! Can I take the lid off even though some seedlings are just barely coming up ? I'm afraid the other big seedlings are going to start bending over .

I'm with steve, I still don't understand your arrangement.

Is there more than one kind of flower in each jiffy pellet? If so, I fear you are scr*wed and what you need to do is get out the sharp scissors and ruthlessly snip away til you are left with only ONE plant per pellet. Then, put the tall ones together, the shorter ones together, and the not yet up ones together. Each group can then recieve its own height of lid (NEVER have the lid 100% shut, btw, even if they get no direct sun), and if you are using fluorescent lights you can hang 'em at an angle so they suit different heights of seedlings.

Does this help? Good luck and have fun,

Pat

 

[unionwirewoman]

Guess I'm not too good at describing things !LOL , I have the same plants in each pellet (2-3) and am going to cull the weak ones . The advice was great ! Thanks to all ! I have tons of seeds left over so I can try the whole thing again at the right time . It seems to me though , we started planting seeds in the garden around May . I'll try seeing what happens with these plants indoors . When I picked out the Cosmos I had no idea they were going to grow up to 4' ! Guess I should read the whole package first ! Thanks again for the advice !

 

[Settin'_Pretty]

Yeah , I know I jumped the gun . It's just SOOO hard when the sun is shining and the weather is warmer ! It is my first time though and I kinda wanted to see if it would work (or more importantly if I wouldn't screw it up !) I'm growing these in hopes of using some of them as flowers for my wedding bouquet . Can I not just re-pot them inside and grow them in here till it gets warmer ? I know very little about this stuff so I'm gratefull for any advice ! Thanks guys !

Marisa

Sorry ! I almost forgot ! Can I take the lid off even though some seedlings are just barely coming up ? I'm afraid the other big seedlings are going to start bending over .

You need some 4 foot grow lights.
They are growing high so fast because they are getting low light.
The grow light should be about 1/2 to 1 inch above the plant, otherwise they will get spindly.
By spindly I mean they will grow tall fast and have real thin stalks, and will in turn be very unhealthy plants overall.

With the light, you can actually slow their growing a bit and contain them and possibly stretch them out until planting time.