Angelao, I'll be stating my OG in a couple of weeks.

I must admit you have lots of patience starting seed of tuberous begonias ;)

Sharon

Sharon are tuberous begonias hard to start? I've never started them before and now you have me worried :o)
I didn't get them started yesterday - hopefully this weekend.

I've never had any luck with starting Begonia tuber seed; I rather just buy new tubers and store them over the winter ;)

The seed are minuscule, you also need to keep them well misted but not too wet otherwise they are vulnerable to damping off and take a long time to grow.

If you can find pellet form Begonia tuber seeds, that would be ideal for easier handling.

TheyÂre a challenge to get going, however, thatÂs whatÂs so pleasurable about starting seeds ;)

Good luck!
Sharon

I have a seed starting question for you all...I was given some seed for a beautiful tall pale blue siberian iris, by my wonderful neighbour...I'm wondering how to start it...does it need to be chilled? W/S? Start in doors...in the dark or light?? And how soon should I start them? Can any one shed some light on this??

I'm looking forward to the return of the winter sowing thread this year too!! I'm starting to collect my milk jugs, and I can't wait to try it...someone let me know when you start and what, so I have a guide to go by!!

Verena

PS - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!! I was out with the "Plague" (after Christmas) for a couple weeks so I hadn't been on. ...OH!!! I did get a digital camera this week...so I'm looking forward to sharing some pictures this year...K back to topic ;o)

Welcome back Verena!

Tom website says....
Iris barbata, bucharica, bulleyana, chamaeiris, chrysographes, foetidissima, forrestii, graminea, hollandica, illyrica, kamaonensis, kaempferi, lactea, laevigata, magnifica, missouriensis, orientalis, paradoxa, pseudacorus, pseudocaucasica, pumila, reichenbachii, sanguinea, sari, setosa, sibirica, sintenisii, spuria, tectorum, tenax, variegata, versicolor, virginica, and xiphioides , Impervious seed coats. Shake in dry sharp sand or nick carefully with a file. Sow at 18-22ºC (64-71ºF) for 2-4 wks, move to -4 to +4ºC (24-39ºF) for 4-6 wks, move to 5-12ºC (41-53ºF) for germination.

So therefore, I would sow them in your milkjug, set aside in the house for a couple of weeks and throw the jug outdoors around Feb 1st ;)

Check out the new Canadian Winter Sowing forum.

Sharon

Here is a link that might be useful: Tom Clothier

Perfect! Thanks Sharon!

Verena

I bought some fibrous begonia seeds yesterday - thought it was worth a shot since begonias are so expensive at the nursery. Mind you, the seeds are $6.99 for 18-20 on a seedtape. They are 'Go-Go' Mix. It will give me something to start early and scratch the seed starting itch ;0)

I also bought Sedum seeds, 'Voodoo'. Anyone grown sedum from seeds before? Do they take a long time?

(Hi Verena, good to see you beat the plague!)

Gil, fibrous begonias are way easy to start compared to tuberous, don't start those till 4-6 weeks prior to last frost.

I had great success with wintersowing Sedums.

Sharon

Gil, delete my advice about the fibrous begonias, I was thinking of Dahlias, doah! I guess I was up way too late last night ordering Dahlias ;)

Oh Sharon you scared me, I thought I would have to keep itching until April ;0) LOL. I'm going to wait a few weeks anyway, and according to my notes from last year I will also be planting Astilbe and Alyssum saxatile early because they were slow. According to my notes from last year, I will NOT be planting Venedium or Ornamental Kale early, what a disaster! LOL!

Notes are good Gil, way to grow!

Angelao, if you should find your grass seedlings getting a little long, don't be afraid to trim them back a bit (no more than 1/3). I've found with some it actually helps get them to bulk up (Festuca glauca comes to mind - they just went to town after a haircut). I'm also wondering if you seed several seeds per cell, or only one? Several seeds per cell helps grasses look like real plants way sooner than just one seed.

Gillian, I grew Sedum spurium from seed a few years ago (Purple Carpet). My notes indicate I started them Feb 17, and I don't recall having out-of-control, oversized plants to deal with in May. If you have the room and want to play in the dirt, this would probably be a good one to go with.

However, having said that, I think Sharon's note about wintersowing these is a good one, judging from the many, many, many seedlings in subsequent years that popped up in spring. I feel I would be remiss in not warning you of the seeding out potential of sedum and hylotelephium (those that can be grown from seed). Now, they are not difficult to weed out or anything like that, but they will sprout and grow pretty much anywhere, in every little crack and crevice.
Sower Beware.

Pudge, thank you for the tip on trimming back the grass - I never thought of doing that. So far I have only seeded 1 seed per cell. I'm really disappointed in the germination of the Purple Fountain Grass - seeded 9 seeds and only 2 germinated. I may have to try another packet.

Pudge, thanks for the sedum advice. I'm going to start them in mid to late Feb. I have a few candidates for WS but not going to be doing a whole bunch of it this year.

Also, I looked deeper into the 'Go-Go' begonias and they are tuberous so I will be starting them sooner than I planned.

I'm getting my seeds through the mail soon and will try to start some of them indoors. I'm in zone 3A - Lower North Shore of Quebec, and haven't seen much in the way of variety in veggie gardens here - mostly root veggies and berries such as transplanted (from the wild) blueberries and strawberries. Haven't seen anyone succeed at transplanting bakeapples from the wild here. A few homeowners have gorgeous rosebushes, so roses do grow here. I moved to this property just last year so this will be my first attempt at gardening in this zone, although I've lived on the coast since 1995. Lots of wildflowers and shrubs in the bog nearby, but I doubt they will transplant easily.