Do you grow them from seeds? How long before last frost do they need to be sown?

Karen

never tried them

Never grown them from seed because I never can get them to flourish when I buy plants. Not sure what is wrong, maybe not warm enough. I did see seeds in the HPS catalog. Divine Hybrid Series. says it has bronze foliage. If you try keep us posted.

I've tried growing them from seed a couple of times, but they never did much. And I have the same problem as Julia.

Well that doesn't sound encouraging

Karen

I have just sowed some under lights.
Last year, I started some in March, and they were very small,--- so this year I am starting earlier.

Thanks, Caroline. So they sprouted easily enough and did OK except for being slowpokes? I assume that was with bottom heat and under lights?

Karen

No bottom heat ,but my lights are beside the furnace.
Lights and very warm.

Thanks, Caroline.

Karen

But this year there is a terrible algae problem in the tray.
And I am not seeing any germination.
I have scratched the algae out as best I can, and I also spread fine vermiculite over.
And the algae just grows back!???

can always try peroxide.. or sprinkle some cinnamon on the soil

Caroline, did you sterilize the soil before sowing? I think that helps prevent it. Not scientific, just a personal observation. I also remove the humidity dome after germination and run a fan on them at least for a few hours a day. (my house is too cold in winter to run a fan all the time!)

I think algae usually results from too much water and/or not enough light. Did you use a seed mix? In my experience I find less algae with regular potting mix than seeding mix. I never use the stuff anymore. I have rarely had a speck of algae but it happens a lot with my wintersown stuff (always wet and not much natural light...)

Bottom watering , rather than from above, might help too.

Karen

Thanks. I have not tried the cinnamon, but all the others.
These are in potting mix, but I had added peat because I started a batch of blue poppies.
Drying killed the coleus seedlings, but not the algae.
Everything was sterilized with dilute hydrogen peroxide solution.
Ordinary impatiens are doing fine in the same tray.

I don't think peroxide equals sterilization. It might kill some organisms but not all. Cooking will kill everything. I always cook my potting mix before sowing for indoors under lights, and I don't get algae. I don't sterilize for wintersown stuff, and some years they get a lot of algae. Not every year, though. I think weather is the biggest factor.

Karen

When you say "cook" do you mean in oven or by pouring boiling water?

I looked up my notes from last year and the New Guinea were the Bronze
leaf ones and they germinated in 8 days. Those were from Swallowtail.

I went and got Pro Mix to do the rest of seeds.

I either bake it in the oven or microwave. I moisten and cover it before cooking. It stinks!

Karen

It's quicker in the microwave (although you have to be careful what kind of container you use) and doesn't stink up the house so bad as using the oven. DH does NOT appreciate me cooking dirt!

Mine either. I usually do it when my husband is at work. And as soon as it's cooked, I put the container outside in an attempt to limit the stench. I usually use the microwave, too.

Karen

I don't think there are many people who go to the effort of cooking their potting soils. So, I am assuming it should not be necessary, or more people would do it. I do some times get green stuff growing in my little seed trays, and I think it is caused by being way to heavy with the watering. I grow quite a few plants from seed each year, vegetables and flowers, the first year I washed out every pot, scrubbed them in the sink with detergent and bleach, did all that kind of sanitary stuff, then the next year I tapered off on all that a bit, this year I did not even wash the pots, just knocked out the dirt. I have not even bought any potting soil at all this year, just my compost straight out of the pile. Now I have not grown without problems, a few of the cell packs did develop some green stuff on top, but very few. Also I am having some problem with the compost compacting too much, so I have started adding Perlite, maybe that will solve one problem, and maybe it will solve the compaction and the drainage also. I think if I can ever learn to water properly 90 percent of my seed starting problems will be solved, I just find it so hard to control myself with the watering. I have never grown New Guinea Impatiens from seed, but I did pretty good with regular impatiens, but because of the blight or virus, or what ever it was that killed so many last year it was recommended not to plant impatiens for a couple of years, so I did not plant any this year, I am trying Vinca for the first time as a replacement along with coleus.

And where are you growing? in a greenhouse? Inside your house under lights? or outside? Since you live in Al...

I don't sterilize for outside growing, only inside under lights.

Karen