Peter, what is that silver material you have behind your seedlings? Looks like it would be a great thing for me to add to my set up.

Over the weekend we planted our new seedlings outdoors in the gardens. We have wanted to get them in the ground but temps have been so warm and very dry and windy so we were looking for more ideal weather. We got them planted and the storms rolled in and watered for us.
Right after planting we got 1.2 inches of rain, the most we have had this year. Should be good for the new babies to get off to the right start.

That is wonderful, Terry! I am glad your seedlings got a great start.

Ashton and Terry, what luck, as that doesn't happen that often
in our garden. You guys must feel so relieved to have that job done and
off to a great start. Just today, we've begun to harden off the seedlings
which takes two weeks, and try to get them planted by end of April.

Terry - Don't you love it when the planets align and things go as hoped! Sounds like your seedlings got a very good start in the ground. Now you can dream of what kind of blooms you might get from all those seedlings! How long does it take typically to see your first bloom from seedlings?

Great question Becky, I want to know also.

Our timing was perfect for once. These seedlings will start blooming in spring of 2017 but we will have to see what percentage of them will take another year until 2018. I mentioned earlier in this thread that we did not have much success starting our seedlings indoors so our plan of 2000 seedlings became 250-300 so it was an easy job. It all worked out since my wife decided that we needed to go back to vegetable gardening and I had to put in a big garden which we have not done for several years.

There are two rows of daylilies in the vegetable garden. They are edible aren't they. I have to think of some kind of vegetable that looks like dayliles so I can tell my wife that may be what is growing until she figures it out. By then it will surely be accepted. I won't have to worry too much if they are thought to be weeds since I am the only one around here to tries to eliminate weeds.

Love your sense of humor, Terry. However, those veggies make for some great
dinners. Fresh veggies, wonderful, nothing can beat that. So now you have
both flower power and tasty treats.

kidfishing said: I have to think of some kind of vegetable that looks like dayliles so I can tell my wife that may be what is growing until she figures it out. By then it will surely be accepted. I won't have to worry too much if they are thought to be weeds since I am the only one around here to tries to eliminate weeds.

Here is my end of month update on my seeds/seedlings.

So 10 of the 12 El Desperado X unknown seeds sprouted. I currently have 9 that look awesome and 1 that isn't going to make it. I have transplanted them up to 2 larger 1 qt pots and moved them to a sunny windowsill. They are about 6 inches tall and have two leaves.

I also have 5 unknown x unknown that are now in another 1 qt pot. They are ranging from 3-6 inches tall. Funny since they were never refrigerated and hadn't started to sprout like the above ones had, so they have definitely been working hard to catch up with the others. Oh and one of them is looking very pale/almost white.

There are several more still in the other room that are just sprouting. They are ranging from just a green pip to about 2 inches tall. Two more of those ones are also pale/almost white. Guess I'll just go with it and see what happens.

My daughter and I are enjoying our science experiment.

Most of these seedlings are now 8 months old. They will be going home with my students (or planted at our school) next week when I return from medical leave

A big thanks to Cindy (Hemlady) and Donald (needrain) for their seed donations for my students!

Wow, they look great Regina

This is the first day my seedlings have been outdoors. It is cool and rainy, so it I thought it would be a good day to start hardening them off. This is the first tray and some of the early germinating ones seem a little leggy. I hope they improve once outdoors. I have another tray still under the lights. In case you are wondering my younger bother brought home about 100 Pepsi cups. I finally have a use for them!

My first go at growing daylily seedlings has been a learning experience. In a major change of plans I am now growing them inside the house in a spare bedroom.

Not very many seedlings and only 6 different crosses but nonetheless happy with a 100% germination rate. Stratified for 6 weeks in the fridge, with seeds in plastic bags with a paper towel soaked in hydrogen peroxide.

My seedlings are about 2 months old. For an experiment I’m keeping the lights on 24 hours a day, and they don’t seem to mind that, especially since the lighting is not really enough. These guys are looking pretty straggly so I do think I’ll need to up the light intensity next time.



Not the best photo, but I’m very concerned about a lot of yellowing leaves and leaves dying.



Possibly may have been over-watering because I had been lightly watering every morning and every evening. I am cutting back now, trying to wait until the top inch or so has dried out to see if that helps.

Dennis - What I do is water thoroughly once a week and then let them dry out until the next week's watering. If you are watering just a little each day, the potting mix may not be getting wet all the way down to the bottom where the roots are growing. Just a suggestion. I also add a few drops of H2O2 (Hydrogen Peroxide) to my water before watering all my babies.

Becky - Great advice, thank-you so much! Makes a lot of sense and I will definitely try everything you said.

Planted in late February 2016 inside and moved to the greenhouse in April. Some of these are ready to plant outside, they have roots coming out of the holes in the bottom of the pots. This crop of deliberate crosses should be interesting next year. I have a seedling outside from last year with a scape on it and I am waiting to see more scapes on the others. They will be my first daylilies from seed and I am anticipating the blooms like a mother hen waiting for her eggs to hatch. LOL!

Those look really nice and healthy! Congrats! I think all of us newbies will be all like mother hens!

Wow, Theresa those seedling are do great! My seeds are still in the fridge. I need to get mine planted. The seedlings from last year are looking good. Some are larger than others.