Well if you guys all stayed cool ysterday LUCKY YOU, it was 105 here and I mean when it gets that hot in Indiana it is unbearable hot, sure glad I was not at the race.as it is my plant room got extremly hot as my air conditioning decided to shut down, I found out it was the elec. company having the problem proberbly from overloaded lines, I may have lost my seeds that were just poking the surface guess I will wait and see.

whew! That's hot, and I thought we had heat. Is it humid too? We used to spend summers in Palm Springs where it would get that hot regularly but with no humidity so it really wasn't bad. Bummer about the electric, it always goes when you want it most.

Doris

i saw it was that hot and i said OMG i remember the dog days of summer in the mid-west Keep an eye out for storms i see your temps drop down a lot in a few days and that kind of temps will produce well you know horrible storms

good luck

stay safe hope seedlings make it

mike

Doris, sorry to hear about the seedlings; hope they recover and that you stay safe. Crazy weather in N. Florida too, they have a ribbon gunning across the bottom of the weather channel warning of dime size hail storms and dangerous winds. We seem to be doing OK on the south end, just severe thunderstorms that quickly pass over.


Jim

Two cents from Me! I find the babies need to be on thw wet side, not soaked, as they are just getting started. I drip water on the seed coat if it doesn't come off the first day. I use a little paint brush, or a coke bottle with a pinhole burnt into the top with a nail and candle flame. That's one tool I use a lot.

I use two long deli sandwich type tooth pics to pry off the brown seed coat, after I've made it wet and let it absorb the water, about a ten minute process. Wet it three times. Then I brace the tiny seedling ( under it's chin(??) )with one tooth pic while pushing on the seed coat with the other tooth pic. And if the plant moves at all, like being pulled up, I stop and figure to let the root grow some more. And, one thing more, I pour fine sand around the seedling, about two teaspoons full, That helps hold the plant down. down. Water the sand in a wee bit.

i have left on for several days to let them get a better root and the did break the shell!! im kinds wondering why we need to at all i bet no one does it in the wild where i bet they are intended to grow in the first place?

Way way back in Daves garden I think, quite a few folks lost seedlings because the coat never came off, after a lot of back and forth it was kind of agreed on a method for removing the coat. If I have a lot of the same seeds I couldn't care less about one or two dieing because the coat would not come off. BUT if you only planted four seeds and three of them retain the shell I go with Melissas's thoughts on removing the shell.

Jim

I'm just not graceful or patient enough I guess. It does seem that these plants must have figured out how to do it over time and hopefully they will shed that coat on their own. I'm spraying them more often and still have 2 little plants, one other seed that had a green bit now seems to be dying. I think it is the one that came up out of the soil when I tried to get the seed jacket off. Frustrating.

I have about 50 seeds to plant and 45 that i soaked trying to decide to plant or germinate in paper towels. Not feeling it today but cant put it off any more

anyone wants the purple rose with buds getting ready to list on ebay!!

i think i have an idea of removing the husk off but it is my secret if it works ill tell yo all but if not dont want to have to many people laugh at me today!!!

mike

Here you go Mike, this one's for you!

The wild DRs are a different creature that these fussy things we're dealing with. Tougher and with more spunk to grow.

that makes sense and my idea did not work very well i rubbed them on sand paper a few came loose and most did not it was after soaking Before planting. them i put in a wire strainer and did the same and worked a little better BUT i squashed some of my seeds to much NON recommended

mike.

Mike I find the best, and easiest for me is to soak in room temp. water for about two hours, then slip the outer shell off, I know you have an awful lot to do but you can do it while watching TV. *S*
By the way where is Wil, have not seen or heard from him in a long time.

I was thinking that, too, WHERE IS WILFRED????????????? He doesn't have his own computer and connection, I believe. Sure hope he finds a good job soon! I've included this in my prayers. Prayer works, if you get it right,.

I too have been wondering where he is.

I have a plant all packed to send to someone who just said don't send it! I'll mail it to him today....

I Hate when that happens like we have all the time to pack and un pack plants. Also its hard on the plants. i hate when i get plants all boxed up and go to print the postage and there address is not correct they give me and i have to email back to get the correct one!!

gee Melissa send it to me

I sent it to Wilfred. Maybe I'll hear from him, or maybe we here will. It's an almost-white pale yellow, not really a nice flower, the first blooming anyway floppy petals. Sometimes a plant will have different or better blooms as they grow older.

Ha, that "Siam Gold" that I posted the white then-it-turned red photos of? Then it turned a lovely shade of "Burnt Sienna" BROWN for two days, with the white stripes. Then this morning it was finally giving up the ghost, looking rather exhausted and wretched. Maybe it'll have fallen off by tonight, I hope so!.

I hope the plant gets to Wilfred, he needs some TLC from all of us. I am NOT supposed to mail plants from here in the Caribbean. I put bits of aluminum foil in the box, and said on the customs certificate that it was a craft project. An export certificate costs at least $65. Ouch!

It is hard to tell what is going on there.
I have a plant called Siam gold but no flowers yet.