What is the most Difficult Seed you Had Luck with?

[journey11]

I read just about everything on here, but how much I actually remember...that's another story! I have traded all of my brain cells for 2 cute little girls and I have no short term memory anymore.

I've never grown parsnips, but have never had trouble with germinating carrots. I always have to thin them like crazy. Maybe it's my clay soil?

 

[baymule]

Carrots. Carrots have always hated me. Probably because I ate them........ MUHAHAHA!!! Finally--last year---SUCCESS!!! Out of 3 packets of seed---I got about half dozen carrots! BOO-YAH!!! I am the Grand Poo Bah Of Carrot Growing! The Caroler of Carrots!

Fast forward to Fall 2013. I had to wait for it to cool off as finally I learned that carrot seed won't germinate above 80 degrees-which is practically all year long. I have a bed of feathery carrots now........can't wait to eat them!

Tomatoes are fairly easy to grow Nyboy. It's about time you got in the game and joined us in the anguish of failure. But on the up side, you can also join us in the joys of victory! Probably the easiest crop to grow is beans. You can show beans some dirt, spit on them, and they GROW! Durndest thangs.....

 

[cityfarmer]

While not a seed, sweet potatoes. I have beautiful foliage and sweet potatoes are the size of pencils if I'm really lucky.

 

[so lucky]

cityfarmer, do you have a long enough growing season there? I haven't been very successful with sweet potatoes, so I'm not the person to be speculating on your issues, but it sounds like it could be too much nitrogen, and not enough warm/hot days...?
I'm gonna try again this year. Last year I didn't get my plants out at the right time.
Someone else on this forum will give us both some good hints, I bet.

 

[cityfarmer]

I don't know if it is long enough or not. I know I cheerfully plant melons every year and about the time they start to form, we cool down. I even start the melons indoors ahead of time. Never thought about too short a season for sweet potatoes. Interesting. Kinda gave up after 3 years of not having success. Any ideas would be great.

 

[buckabucka]

I read just about everything on here, but how much I actually remember...that's another story! I have traded all of my brain cells for 2 cute little girls and I have no short term memory anymore.

I've never grown parsnips, but have never had trouble with germinating carrots. I always have to thin them like crazy. Maybe it's my clay soil?

Wait a minute...., I think you were the one who lost many brain cells when discovering the meaning of "cray-cray", so that could account for your memory loss.

We have success with carrots in our sandy soil here, but I water frequently until they germinate. I grow sweet potatoes in this cold climate. Before I had the hoop house, I put them in black plastic with reemay covering. The best information I ever found on growing sweet potatoes is here: http://www.sandhillpreservation.com/pages/sweetpotato_catalog.html

 

[digitS']

That guy from Sand Hill probably knows his sweet potatoes.

He grew up around here. In fact, I think his parents may have been my neighbors when I lived out in the sticks. He said that his Blacktail Mountain watermelon was started here. I don't doubt that because I know where that mountain is. One problem is that I don't know how it got that name since there isn't a Blacktail deer in hundreds of miles from there!

Another problem was when I bought a packet of that watermelon seed, not from Sand Hill but from Seed Savers, not one solitary seed sprouted! . . must've had negative thoughts when I planted 'em.

Steve

 

[journey11]

Thanks for that link, Buckabucka. That was very enlightening! This year will be a first for me with sweet potatoes. I had a couple in my fruit basket that decided to start slips and I've been collecting them for a few weeks now (I know it's too early, but they just wanna!) The article said too many roots is not ideal, so maybe I'll save these for a trailer in my planters.

I am planning to get a few old tires from the farm to plant mine in and I will run a low tunnel over them to get some extra heat and probably start them in June. I will also do a second planting like the article suggested in July, just for comparison!

 

[baymule]

I grew sweet potatoes in 2012 from grocery store sweets. I stuck toothpicks in them and suspended them in a jar of water. I cut the vines in 10" to 12" pieces and stuck them in the ground. I had a smashing success. The vines wanted to take over the world and in the fall, there was a laundry basket of sweet potatoes. I was pleased with my first efforts.

2013, flush with the victory of success, I did it again, only somehow the sweets didn't get the message. Production was ho-hum, June bug grub worms chewed every one of them and I was disappointed.

2014-I have ordered slips from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. I ordered Beauregard for a traditional orange sweet potato. Aaaaannnd I ordered All Purple because I must have something weird. We'll see how 2014 goes.

 

[cityfarmer]

Thanks for the information!