I had not planned on a plant share on May 12 in our community.
Now i would like to start a tray or two for them.
What is fast growing under lights?
I am thinking towards veges, herbs or flowers okay too.

Gee, Caroline, that's a tough question. Lots of things will germinate but most I can think of would still be tiny.

I grew some Mammoth Sunflowers for a friend this year. I wintersowed them, but they sprouted and grew fast. I WSowed them March 10, and gave them to my friend yesterday. They were 6-8" tall. All least they looked like big plants.

Most perennials from seed seem to stay small for so long. I can't even think of any other annuals that won't still be pretty tiny in 4 weeks time. Basil grows pretty fast. Maybe big tall zinnias or marigolds? or cosmos? If you pick big tall varieties they at least show growth fast. I imagine you want to share something bigger than 1/2" tall.

Karen

Tomatoes should be a respectable size in 4 weeks. Cucumbers, squash, zucchini, pumpkins (or mini pumpkins) would definitely be ready. Beans. Lettuce. Swiss chard (I love the "Bright Lights" variety). And I agree with Karen about the zinnias, marigolds and basil -- they germinate fast and would be a nice size in a month. Maybe nasturtiums, too. That should give you enough to keep busy!

I was wondering if tomatoes would be good or not.
Maybe I could do "salad in a six pack".
Some lettuce, some herb and perhaps a tomatoe.
How about onions? Maybe I could use multiplier onions?

This is about long term gardeners encouraging new gardeners.
Some just have a small plot in the Community Garden.


We have a good solid rain today.
I ran around and sowed wildflower seeds last night.

Bok Choy jumps right up. I'm thinking around 3 weeks if the soil is warm ... but then they'll want light and cool air.

It could be part of salad-in-a-six-pack. Plant four seeds in a cell, and remind them to eat three of them as salad thinnings before they plant the biggest one.

4 o'clock seeds get huge quick

I did find a packet of baby Bok Choi, and it says 35 days to maturity so, yes, that is an option.
I did not know Four O'clocks would grow fast---that is another option too.
Thanks for your ideas.
I have some cold hardier bush tomatoe seeds under lights.
I also bought some multiplier onion sets.
The plants won't be hardened off,but new gardeners need to learn about that so I will include that on the labels.
And I found packets of lettuce seed which is a blend of several differently coloured lettuce.
I am thinking that I will sprout the seeds under lights,
and then make up the six packs with different coloured lettuce, and the other salad ingredients.

My problem is that my light space is already crowded with my own starts. So will be juggling trays around to windows.

Sunflowers and zinnias are fast growing under my lights.

Allison, how long should 4 o'clocks take to germinate?

let me go check my DG journal.. brb

I have entered sowed limelight rose, broken colors, red glow - 2/27/08 -- germinated 3/4/08.. of course that wasn't every single seed.. but majority of them.. I usually mark it when I see enough popping up to take the cover off the flat

every other year I WS'ed them

So about one month.
I think I have some zinnia and sunflower seeds.
I'll start them all in vermiculite, under warmth and lights
and see what happens.

Those things all grow fast if wintersown in warm weather, but if weather is cold, they can be a lot slower.

Karen

Had I known ahead of time---then I would have winter sowed some of these.
This year I did mostly perennials as winter sows. I will use them for plant shares held later in our growing season.

I'm not sure how annuals needing warmth would do in your zone, Caroline, since I'm so far south of you! But then you are way ahead of me in terms of daylight available, so maybe... I've never gardened anywhere but here, so it's hard to guess.

Karen

Thanks, Allison - I WS'd some 4 o'clocks as well as putting some under lights inside and so far (a couple of weeks now for the insiders) nothing is showing -- I think my seed was a couple of years old, so maybe I'll pick some new seeds up and give them a try!

think soaking them is the key for sure.. peroxide helps the soak time.. I usually only do them for a 1/2 a day.. rather than overnight .. had some crack open in the soak sometimes.. just plant carefully..

unless WS'ed ... the elements usually break them down enough

I did soak my 4 o'clock seeds that I planted indoors in water, but will try the peroxide the next time... who knows, maybe the WS'd plants will still come up, it's still pretty early here.

I've given up on the yellow 4 o'clock seeds I started earlier, so I'm going to soak a few more, adding peroxide. How much peroxide would you add to just a little medicine cup (about the size of a shot glass)?

I'll let someone else address that, since I don't claim to know. I've read some dubious stuff about peroxide, claims that it can do everything from sprouting seeds to curing cancer, so I think it's hard to know what is reliable information and what is just goofy stuff. Understand, I believe that peroxide might help seeds sprout, just not sure how much to use, how long to soak because the claims vary so much and some reports are so outrageous.

Woofie, did you file or nick the seeds at all? Doing that before soaking can make them swell much faster.

Sandy, when wintersowing big seeds like 4 o'clocks, if sown in winter they can rot after being in cold wet soil for months. It's not a problem with small seeds, just those really big ones. Sometimes those do better if sown in spring when temps are warmer. I had that happen- those sown in winter rotted, that same batch of seeds sown in spring did great.

Karen