Mornin all! I have been busy with all things seeds since @DogsNDaylilies seed swap. After years of killing things (too much water, dampening off, etc) I finally have lots growing this year.

I have some bird house and speckled gourd seeds that have grown quite well, but are so tall! I'm thinking that it's best to get them in the ground as soon as possible. When I plant them do I put at least half of this growth in the ground? They are almost 6" tall and I am afraid of losing them. Thank you! Terri

They need more light. Like sunlite.
Best to start over. In ground.
If you could bury them up to first leaves, they'd be fine. The problem would be, not breaking the very tender stem, it won't grow back together.

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Philipwonel said:They need more light. Like sunlite.


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Philip!!!! Good Morning my nice man!!!

They have been growing in the sunlight. I've just never seen gourd seeds "bolt" like this! They must be on steroids....?

Well, get em planted Terri !!!

I thought ?🤔??? I told you not to give them that streach- Armstrong fertilizer.

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Philip is correct. These plants have been given too little light or low-quality light. They are etiolated.

I would start over, in the ground--especially with cucurbits. There's no real reason to start them as transplants. It can do more harm than good.

Jai_Ganesha said:Philip is correct. These plants have been given too little light or low-quality light. They are etiolated.

I would start over, in the ground--especially with cucurbits. There's no real reason to start them as transplants. It can do more harm than good.

Goodmorning Jai & everyone,

I think I need to clarify some things about seed germination before next Spring. I have struggled for many years trying to figure out how to do it successfully. Heck, I just found out about scarification and stratification two years ago.

I can't afford heat mats (I actually tried heating pads and shop lights - that didn't work,) and this year I found one of those portable aluminum frame "greenhouses" that has plastic zippered covers. I put my radiator heater in front of the open greenhouse and kept the ceiling fan on. Everything I had in there (except for sesame seed) germinated. Everything gets full sunlight in my sun room so I assumed that would be pretty much the same as being outdoors. NOPE.

So I started carrying them all outside during the day (65°-70°) for air circulation and real sun and would bring them back in at night.
I lost every one of the cucumbers to dampening off, the ageratum seedlings all disappeared, the melons all grew like the pictures I posted and the cabbage actually just stopped growing after the first set of true leaves. I am nursing along the one kandy melon left, the zucchini (just breaking soil), and the tomatoes which look great and are grwing their first sets of leaves.

I guess I'm getting confused about what to put in the fridge (the damp paper towel and baggie method), or cold frame or what to put in a portable greenhouse or what to germinate with seed mats and flouro lights, etc. I guess I need to go back to just sewing the seeds in the ground until I can get some help understanding how to use these different processes. Does anyone know where i could get several seed mats at a senior discount or inexpensively?

I'm not even sure if I'm making any sense right now at all?

By the way, I planted all the gourds and melons that etiolated into the ground yesterday and they all seem to be doing well today - thank goodness!

Thanks to anyone for help, Terri

You're welcome.

In your zone you will never need to start cucurbits (cucumbers, melons, gourds, squashes) indoors. Even in Zone 4 and 5 most people can just sow them directly into the ground and get the same result.

What many of us forget is that if we start plants early, we don't always get a "head start" because the transplant shock and adjusting-to-the-weather that seedlings undergo sets them back. In many years, if you started them indoors April 1st and planted some outdoors April 30th, they would still fruit at the same time. The direct-sown ones could even fruit sooner because they were never transplanted.

Heating mats can sometimes be found for $10 or $15, especially online. I often wait until the end of summer or early fall when gardening supplies go on sale at places like Walmart or Lowes, and get them on clearance for use the next year. lol