Round 3: The 4-6 Week Plant Seed Start Weekend

So, a few weeks ago I started seeds during The Great Seed Start Weekend and planted my 8-10 week plants. Then a couple of weeks later I started my 6-8 seeds during Round Two , This post pertains to the 4-6 week plants that were sown February 19. Last frost was about 6 weeks out.

I began my planting by washing and sanitizing my 10 x 20 trays, 6 packs and 5×5 1/8 flat cells. I filled these with my preferred soil mix of potting soil on the bottom topped with fine grained Baccto Lite soil on the top 1/4 inch. My 4-6 week seeds hit a range of interests. There is live wire grass, as I have a newfound interest in decorative grasses. I also started calendula, white marigold, love in the mist, scabiosa, safflower. This year I stepped out a bit and started salpiglossis as well as gilia. I had never heard of either and thought I would see how they do here. These were each given a couple of 6 packs of space because I was saving the rest of the 2022 flats for dahlias.

Last year I grew tall dahlias from seed and they were a true delight. I ended up with a lot of yellow, but also had many other colors and those that made it to flowering were tall and healthy. The photos below are all the 2021 dahlias from seed. I have also grown dwarf dahlias in the past and they were true powerhouses. My mistake in the past with dwarf dahlias was that I put them in cutting beds and they are actually better suited as bedding plants. So, with that in mind, I started Reggae, dwarf cactus and Figaro dahlias for bedding plants in my borders and out front in the stop sign bed. I started more tall dahlias – which promised to be doubles- which will be tall back of the border items. Lastly, I started WAY too may pom pom dahlias. These dahlias were from a mix and I started 72. They are just so cute, I couldn’t help myself. My friend, who owns a flower farm, keeps chuckling at my growing plant issue. I have more than I have space for and she jokes that I have a nursery in my driveway as plants spill over into the driveway in containers. Luckily she and a couple other friends seem willing to help by taking some of my extras.

---

Now that all of my seeds for 2022 are planted and tucked away in the mylar tents to magically turn into flowering plants, I need to move on to the next step- a planting plan. The few days of spring when these go in to my ground is preceded by a couple of weeks of hardening off and vigilant weather watching. So, I have about 6 weeks from writing this to plan where the plants will go. Wish me luck folks. I am assuming I’ll be gifting seedlings left and right again.

Advertisement

Round 2: The 6-8 Week Plant Seed Start Weekend

In years past, my inability to postpone joy caused a bit of an issue in the grow houses. I gave in to the strong winter drive to grow, the need to feel dirt on my hands, the urge to nurture something green again. So, in a great display of ineptitude, impatience and spirited anticipation, I started all of my seeds on one day in January. This was great …. until March when the 4-6 week and 6-8 week plants were root bound and so tall they were hitting my grow lights. This year I decided a couple of things needed to change. The first change was that I am starting my seeds in a date range that should keep them healthier and the second change is that I am starting fewer seeds per variety. You might find this counterintuitive from what you know about me.. I like a lot of plants….oodles of them and I am impatient and tend to want them NOW..so why am I sowing fewer seeds? Well, it turns out I do not really need 20 tomatoes, 100 petunias, 50 ageratum etc etc. I used to let plant greed get the better of me and then was handing off extras left and right come April. It was an “eyes are bigger than your garden” situation. While I love gifting seedlings, I also would like to grow more varieties. So, rather than a lot of seeds of a few varieties, I am sowing fewer seeds of a lot of varieties of plants. I have also moved *most* of my perennial production to summer. You will note that there are some perennials on my list for winter starting as I just started moving this planting schedule around last summer (2021) and due to the seed shortages from pandemic related shipping and supply line issues and a run on seeds, I was not able to get all of the perennials I wanted started.

So, a few weeks ago I started seeds during The Great Seed Start Weekend and planted my 8-10 week plants. This post pertains to mostly the 6-8 week plants, although some sources have a few of these at 4-6 weeks. I figure, if I have made a couple of mistakes, it will not be the end of the world. Our last frost date averages around March 26, but I have had late frosts into early April so am shooting for the second weekend in April to put my seedlings in the ground-which puts me at 8 weeks as of my planting date.

I began my planting by washing and sanitizing my 10 x 20 trays, 6 packs and 5×5 1/8 flat cells. I filled these with my preferred soil mix of potting soil on the bottom topped with fine grained Baccto Lite soil on the top 1/4 inch.

I am pretty excited about a few of the varieties that I started. I am trying out some new-to-me varieties like Flamingo Celosia, Sparklers Petunia, Lavender Impatiens, Gaillardia Sundance Creamy White, Mandarin Orange Gomphrena, Craspedia Sun Ball, Carnation Chaubaud Picotee Mix, China Aster Lady Coral Lavender and Valkyrie Mix and Annual Phlox. I am also growing some old friends including several other Gomphrena, an annual Rudbeckia, Coleus, Pampas Plume Celosia, Royal Ensign Convolvulus, a couple Vincas, Verbascum, Ageratum, collected seed from some Tidal Wave petunias and Elephant Dill. Updates will follow in my weekly updates. Stay tuned for a Learning Moment post regarding vinca later in the month,