… have started to sprout in their little seed trays.
Rossa di Milano red onions
some kind of flower. don't remember what. we pulled the seeds off of something that clearly we wanted to propagate!
And my mother, a resourceful and eccentric person (okay now you know where I got it from) sent me some of what we believe are garlic bulbils from my grandmother’s garden, which had started to sprout in the bag she collected them in. I put some in soil yesterday, and one of the little sprouts I swear has already gained a few millimeters. Can’t take a photo yet because my little digital camera can’t focus that close on something so small.
Notes on germination ~ the onion is showing very slow, and low germination rates. I have read that the best results are attained with warm soil and a humidity dome over top (or even a plastic bag slung over the soil until the sprouts start to pop up), neither of which I did. Warming the soil is best achieved with a low, direct heat to the underside of the seed flats; electric germination mats are available store-bought, and I believe that jerry-rigged versions are documented on the internet for anyone who wants to build their own. Just don’t have the resources or time this year to try to DIY some mats, but that will definitely be something to try in future years!
As for the lavender – I don’t know. There’s not a lot of useful information on the internet about starting lavender from seed, and many people are discouraging about even trying it; yet I remember growing some beautiful Yellow Lavender plants from organic seeds in BC. These seeds this time were collected from a garden; maybe I didn’t store them properly, or collect fertile seeds.
I have always had a hard time with lavender too. This time I have the seeds in wet soil in the fridge. Apparently they need to be cold for a few weeks to germinate. I will let you know what happens but hey-they might end up surprising you and sprout late. Good luck! Love reading about your seeds sprouting!
Okay – I thought I might have read that somewhere, about cold-stratifying the seeds first. I kind of couldn’t be arsed to do that, so if they don’t want to sprout … fine! I’ll plant some parsley seeds on top of them.
Do let us know about the lavender you’re working on. Where did you get the seed from?
Aright. I have to take back those cold words about the lavender seeds. Some just sprouted overnight! Huzzah!
You mention that you had some trouble with your onions germinating, i’m a bit like that but it’s worse with spring onions which I reluctantly gave up on last year, not sure whether to try and grow them again this year. Anyway I live near a company who specialize in onion growing where i’m doing my work experience. Should be fun.
Good to see the seeds sprouting as it is one of the most fasinating aspects of gardening in the fact that it is hard to believe something so small will grow into something so beautiful!
That is so well put! Thank you for that wonderful sentiment. Love to see your appreciation of nature.
So you are going to learn about onion growing? That is fantastic! Do let me know what I’ve done wrong.
Do you think you’re interested in farming for a living? Or is it just an interesting hobby for you?
I have to say that I have no formal training in gardening and my practical experience is solely what I’ve gleaned off several years farm-handing at an organic farm, and some other stints here and there as a volunteer. So I’m really making it up as I go along and hoping it will work – and that nature will do enough of it’s own thing without my interference to have some good food to eat this year!
Hmm, good to know about the lavender. I held back sowing these seeds in my first round since the packet itself said it would be difficult. By “difficult” I thought it meant I have to try sprouting them in gel, not soil. I was going to set some agar agar especially for them. Didn’t know it needed to be cold stratified, so I’ll make sure not to put it on the (pricey) heat mat.
Yellow onions will be included in round two!
P.S. — leek sprouts look funny.
Sprouting in agar gel! Goodness, I hadn’t heard of that. What is the advantage?
I planted maybe 80 – 100 lavender seeds (hard to tell, we didn’t thresh them), and 12 have sprouted.
Ha! Sprout leeks look funny? Are they the foreground ones in your photo? My onions are doing atrociously at this point. I’m guessing they won’t be my star crop this year. That’s exactly why I diversify my options!
Cheers to both of us experimenting with new gardens in our new homes with big hopes for healthy harvests!
Yeah, you’re right, this is really an experimental year for gardening!
The agar is supposed to help with difficult to germinate seeds. Not sure how, but that’s what I read in a You Grow Girl sidebar. I’ll try a small batch and let you know how it compares to potting soil.
Yes, those are some of my leeks. Apparently they can be trimmed to keep them tame until they go into the ground. The roots (when transplanting) too. Also, I read a blog post where, if you still have leeks in the ground once it starts to get frosty, you can dig them up, earth and all, and keep them in a bucket in a cellar til you’re ready to eat them. It worked well for that blogger.
I sowed pole beans yesterday but I found out this morning I should have soaked them first. I hope they still sprout :/