I was reading about sorghum andfoundevery few years the seeds need crossed with other from other places , it also looks like a good field bird food plant
I still enjoyed my small jar of homemade sweetener
The seeds and storage bag , microwave plate I have more ,, and more ,, and more

Also if anyone is interested in a larger amount of Purpurea Purple Coneflower seeds I may have time to do them , I have one offer in my list , the seeds are the size of medium to smaller Sunflower seeds ,,
A seller has plenty , and does not want them , i have enough stalks for winter interest (ice Balls) regardless of what I do , the last time I looked , I had about 30 or 40 stalks I could clean ,

Maybe a baggie like the 1000 baggie size , or is that 100 , anyway a larger baggie , Not as popular a trade item as once was
Anyway if you would like ,lmk and I will see ,
Roughly today I cleaned a100 Tithonia pods and will at that every time it is warm for a few hours ,
Pellitory to collect , and looking for the Hackberry sandwich baggie

Lalambchop1 said: I'm wondering if I need grow lights?

Depends on your house, what you're growing, and how much. Although I received a grow light as a gift last year, I managed to get away with another year of placing the seeds in my bay window for sunlight. Super cheap, it just required a table to raise the trays up to the level at which the sunlight hits. This worked because I was only starting a couple of daylily seeds at that time and the rest were 5-6 trays of veggies and herbs.

The previous year, I tried--mostly unsuccessfully--to germinate seeds with heat before placing them in the window. I did that so I could reclaim my bay window for a few extra weeks during germination time, but after all of the trouble I went to in order to build a home-made warming platform for my basement, it didn't work. The seeds needed the sun to germinate.

This year, I plan to do a LOT of daylily seeds and I need a cheap way of rigging up a bunch of grow lights in my basement. We'll see how that goes...

Libby,
What I did with my daylilies before that was pretty economical in the long hall. I got metal shelving units and shop lights from Lowes. I suspended the shop lights from chains above each shelf and covered the back and sides of the units with heavy duty aluminum foil. I left the front open so I could access the plants. I used an oscillating fan once the seedlings got growing. I use 72 count cell trays and bottom water so fungus gnats aren't such a problem. I did have a problem with my kitties snacking on the leaves but what are you going to do? Cats are cats.

If you just have one light above each shelf remember to rotate your trays or you will have uneaven/leaning growth.


Can anyone suggest a good informational site on how to start different kinds of seeds? How do you keep all the info straight? I'm thinking of trying annuals for my two back beds and I have lots of things to try. Do you go out with a chart on instructions for each?

Leslie, that's exactly what I've been planning to do this year, although I'm glad you explained your process because I s not planning to do aluminum foil in the back and I think that is an excellent idea!

I'll try to return the favor with a suggestion for your seeds...

This year I separated all of my seeds as such:
1) seeds that MUST be started outdoors (don't transfer well, are just easier to start outdoors, etc)
2) seeds that can be started indoors 8 wks before first frost
3) seeds that can be started indoors 4-6 weeks before first frost

Within each of those categories, you could put them in separate binders/boxes/bags based on the following:
A) height
B) companions (if you do companion planting)
C) type (since most within a given type have the same or similar growing instructions)
D) planting depth needs
And/or...
E) soil type needs

mylar is better but more expensive than aluminum foil. ebay sometimes has some good deals on it. just search mylar roll on ebay it's 99% reflective and don't make hot spots on your plants like aluminum foil does. It's basically a mirror on a roll. I used it all the time when I started seeds and cuttings inside. Now I just wait until spring and do everything outside but I'm in zone 7b borderline 8a so I don't really need a head start.

Hi guys! This is my first seed swap, and I'm wondering if you guys might be able to help me better identify some seeds I accidentally let the label fall off of. (I wasn't feeling so great that day and didn't notice!) Currently I have it in my swap list as a combo pack of both dwarf golden spur columbine and petunia exserta, but if I can, I'd like to separate them.




I'm pretty happy to find a place I can rehome my extra seeds. I tend to deadhead most of my flowers ruthlessly and when I let them go to seed I tend to only collect a few for myself, but when I read about the seed swap I got a few extra of a couple of the nicer things that happened to be winding down at the time, and I'm open to collecting from what's still blooming now, which is:

salvia 'hot lips', salvia 'maraschino', a couple of different agastache whose specific species I have not been good at keeping track of, cuphea 'bat face' and 'fat bat' (well, that's what I thought it was called, now I am not sure, but it's got relatively large, rounded leaves for a cuphea)... I have a ton of different fuchsias but only god knows what they'll actually grow up into since many of them were cutting propagated and they've all been *thoroughly* cross pollinated. But they're still offering seed pods, so I could grab some. :)

Anyway, hello to all, and thank you for potentially offering homes to my seeds. I know most of the ones on my list right now are very common, but their brothers and sisters performed very nicely in my garden this year.

Welcome, Julie! You have a beautiful raised garden bed and some great seed offerings. I wish I could help you decipher seed types, but that is not my strength. I could only hope to stare at Google results long enough to attempt to shed light on your conundrum, but I only have limited experience with petunias. Mine produce TINY, spherical seeds that are very dark in color. Similar to poppy seed, but smaller, and a little more dark brown than black, as I recall. (They look just like what you have labelled as petunia seeds in the picture.)

Thanks! I spent SO much time squinting at Google results, but nothing really definitive popped up for me. I am *pretty* sure I got them identified correctly, but my memory is the good old rusty sieve variety these days. I saw both columbine and petunia seeds that looked like the seeds I've identified as petunia exserta, so I decided to go with safe over sorry and just make them a package deal.

Though, to be fair, the petunia exserta may grow up to be something odd, since I had a bunch of other petunias both in the bed and in hanging baskets and the hummingbirds weren't shy about sampling from the buffet.

At any rate, if they don't get positively identified, I hope someone will want both.

I have done that frequently with seeds . Mixed together some sunflower types as a matter fact , they will stay here unless I grow them ,

Been really warm here almost 80 today really unusual , so fall starting some .

Spring Sunflowers Heliopsis type I believe , They have a few weeks to root in ,





if not , I might feel as red as the Dogwood leaf ,and try again of course , if the seedlings live though , I get early blooms

Hi Julie, don't want to say they are not petunia exserta because every camera is different but my seeds are very very tiny and yours look like they may be too big.

film digital can be a tough accuracy with seeds .
these are still green and I cannot get that to show


These are peppermint candy canes

luvsgrtdanes said:Hi Julie, don't want to say they are not petunia exserta because every camera is different but my seeds are very very tiny and yours look like they may be too big.

Oh, you make a good point - there is *no* reference point for that photo! Here's the seeds with a ruler:

Those sure look like petunia seeds to me!

Awesome! Thanks, guys! I'll go update my swap list.

Hi and Welcome to Joolie!
I live near Seattle. I would go for some of the fuchsia seeds, but only if the parents are in-ground perennials for you. I understand some fuchsias will overwinter outdoors here and it would be fun to try some! I have mostly given up on pots, as I am too unreliable with watering. The only fuchsia I have is Fuchsia procumbens which is a far cry from the usual thing. I have fun saving the seeds, and they sprout easily. Here is a photo of the plant with the berries (the purple flowers are a verbena).

Hi Joolie, welcome aboard. I wouldn't worry to much if you are not sure which is which between your petunia & Columbine seeds if you are going to offer them as a package deal. Both of these seeds are on my wish list. I am sure there must be others like me. Best of luck, just remember to not stress over the small things in life. Relax and enjoy the swap.

Pistil said:Hi and Welcome to Joolie!
I live near Seattle. I would go for some of the fuchsia seeds, but only if the parents are in-ground perennials for you. I understand some fuchsias will overwinter outdoors here and it would be fun to try some!

Agoo said:Hi Joolie, welcome aboard. . . . Best of luck, just remember to not stress over the small things in life. Relax and enjoy the swap.

Thanks for the welcome, both of you!

@Pistil Just look at those lovely fuchsia leaves. I love them. I'll go out tomorrow and see which of my hardy fuchsias have been cleverly hiding seed pods from me and snag whatever looks mature enough to add to my list. :)

@Agoo Good advice! I'm most looking forward to my seeds finding loving homes. I'm so overflowing with seedlings (inside) and volunteers of all sorts outside I know I could never possibly use all these seeds. I think the only seed I'm in constant unending need of is austrian winter pea and similar crop covers. Maybe I'll have to go make a wish list post for that, though at this point I buy them in bags by the pound!

Are fuchsia hard to start from seed?