Are they planted too deep? Did you sow them or make rows?

Small seeds are easy to get covered too deep from watering and/or rain.

A trick that my Dad taught me years ago, is to get the soil very smooth and sow the seeds on top. Cover them with an old bed sheet, then water the bed sheet.

They won't get buried too deep that way. Just check every day for sprouts and remove the sheet when they have sprouted.

"Is it still too warm here? (80's most days)...We haven't had much rain lately so I've been watering thoroughly every 2-3 days."

That sounds like it could be the problem. They aren't getting enough water.

Rodney

Like wertach says, covering seeds too deep is the number one cause for lack of germination. A rough rule of thumb is to cover the seed three times its diameter. For small seeds like carrots and lettuce, this translates into about 1/8" of cover soil. I always sift my cover soil through 1/4" hardware cloth to eliminate the lumps and bumps. Make sure that there is a fair amount of organic matter in the cover soil also, like well rotted compost or aged cow manure. For more information on seed sowing, check out the following website:

Biodynamic French Intensive Method

Here is a link that might be useful: Alan Chadwick

Thanks for the advice so far. Beginning tomorrow I'll start watering in the morning daily. Should I give it a week or so to see if that makes a difference before trying to plant a 2nd time?

I planted most everything in rows, with the exception of the arugula and radish, which I just tossed in a few square feet patch and gently covered (now that I think of it.... those are the only 2 growing!) I didn't think I'd planted the seeds too deep but maybe I did!

If I get through to next weekend with no progress from watering I'll try again being sure to plant just below the surface.

Seeds need to be consistantly kept moist in order to germinate. Never let the soil go dry even if it means watering twice a day. Don't drown them. Just lightly shower them.

When you decide to reseed is when they will sprout. Lol. ;)

"When you decide to reseed is when they will sprout. Lol. ;)"

Yes, exactly! I know that's what will happen.

Maybe I'll water once in morning and once at night, lightly each time.

We just moved into this house in the late spring and it's been years since I've had a garden (and never a fall garden). I'm such a noobie!

Right now the soil is too hot for lettuce to germinate, even in Michigan. This is one of the reasons I always recommend arugula for fall planting, it is one of those brassicas that germinate at any temperature. Cabbage will not germinate in 86F soil, but lettuce is the worst at refusing germination in hot soil (well, parsley or celery are worse, but who plants them now?). Google "tomclothier seed germination versus temperature".

The rest will germinate now, more slowly than in spring, but they need to be moist. covering with a wet blanket until sprouts can be seen will help a lot.

Asides from what others said about soil moisture and Glibs addition about lettuce and warm soil, I have something to add.

I'm not from NC but it seems to me that of the things you list, i'm pretty sure it's too late to direct seed broccoli, collard greens, swiss chard, cabbages or carrots. At least for fall/winter harvest. You may have some success overwintering some things and get a spring crop but i'm not sure this is what you're going for.

Anyway, hopefully the lettuce, etc. will sprout with some more regular watering and you'll have an indian summer to grow all those goodies quickly.

-Mark

I have done some fall planting down South( Atl, GA area).
It is a catch 22 . Because you get the first frost somtimes around early November. So you have to start like in mid August. But it is often TOO hot( highs in 90s) So what do you do ?
There are few things that you can sow in flats/containers and keep them mostly shaded and transplant when it cools off a bit. But if you want to sow a bed full of something, it is better to direct sow. But you cannot because it is too hot to germinate and grow them.
It is not that the frost will kill your fall crops, but when it cools down too much , they are not going to grow. So the best option is to start early in a cool shaded place, if you can.

If it means anything, I sowed lettuce in August and it germinated in a week, even with warm temps. In fact, when I sow them in cold soil in spring, it takes weeks for germination, usually when it warms up a bit and we have steady rain.

The same goes for bunching onions. They just sat in the early spring soil and germinated when it got warm. So now I wait and seed later. I even got seedlings to sprout in August.

I think consistent watering is key and also, late in the season is when the grasshoppers and locusts are in full swing. They can eat down a row of seedlings before you even know the plants are there. I use row covers for late season crops and it helps with that.

Seeds need to be consistantly kept moist in order to germinate. Never let the soil go dry even if it means watering twice a day. Don't drown them. Just lightly shower them.

When you decide to reseed is when they will sprout. Lol. ;)

Just an update if anyone is curious-

After 48 hours of much more frequent watering I had my first cabbage seedling pop up this morning and a second one this evening!

Last night I re-seeded the lettuces, carrots and Swiss chard. I'm fairly certain I planted these too deep the first time around.

I found some cabbage transplants at the farmers market yesterday and bought some along with romaine starts so worst case, I'll have those!! Fingers crossed that the cooler weather moving in along with more frequent watering will bring me better results.

I really appreciate all of the advice! It's helped tremendously.

2 words

indoors
shoplights

Why even mess with 90-100F temps to "hopefully" get a fall crop?

My Broccoli, Brussels, Cauli, and Napa are in the ground (shad cloth today)and it's 100 F here today. Need to restart my lettuce -- seed was old. Good thing on that though -- even with shading, the transplants probably would have wilted to death. October planting will be fine for me.

Kevin

This post was edited by woohooman on Sun, Sep 15, 13 at 18:45

Hey Kevin- that will definitely be my route come spring and subsequent plantings. Just moved into our house in April and got my garden started ASAP with transplants in the spring. The plan was to start indoors for the fall but I didn't have the chance to get a good setup. Just went with a burpee self watering flat with no cover and the cats decided the seedlings would make a good snack one day when I was at work. One of my winter projects is to get a good "cat proof" indoor grow set up so I can be ready to go for spring crops!!

Hi. I live in Gilbert, SC - about 2 hours south of you. I sowed my carrot & rutabaga seeds about a month ago. I had absolutely no problem with germination. I kept the soil constantly moist -- I sometimes misted them 4 times per day. Root crops do not transplant - you need to direct sow. I have heard of covering with burlap or a shade cloth until germination - keeps our hot, hot sun from drying out the seed for those who cannot mist more than 2 times per day. Good luck with your second sowing!

Meg: Good deal! Just to let you know, you don't need an elaborate setup and lights to get going. Just a standard shoplight fixture and a couple tubes.--- around 30 bucks total. I use T8 6500K "daylight" tubes. No need to have actual expensive GROW lights. That, and a couple of shelves, and you're good to go.

Deborah's right about root crops needing to be direct sown. Onions, however, actually do better as starts IMO. Also, most root crops are pretty early DTM. So, holding off a month or so before sowing should still get you a crop. Plus, they hold up to light frosts pretty well.

Check with your local county extension for a planting calendar.

Good luck.

Kevin