Tuesday, February 09, 2010

The mysteries of seeds

I have a demanding full time job and my time in the garden is limited, that’s why sowing seeds has never been high in my gardening priority. I don’t have the time or the patience.

This year for the first time I’m sowing seeds in my vegetable garden, and having mix success. In this tray the squash did well and the zucchini did not.
My neighbor tells me that is all about the seeds, and that as long as I insist on buying those sold by the major home stores it will continue to happen. “Buy from catalogs grasshopper”
I have a question when is a good time to transplant the squash to the ground????

This year I am having an abundance of yellow sherry tomatoes.

11 comments:

Ami said...

Rusty: I am not a seed person either. But I know if I want to get more varieties, I should try seeds. So, maybe I will try a little more this year.

I wanted to leave a comment to you since I have been reading your blog for a while, even went through lots of your old postings. Enjoyed it very much. I live in Ft. Lauderdale area, and also used to live in Miami. So lots of things you blogged about are so familiar to me. Your frontyard with all the bromeliads collection are so beautiful! Oh, when flipping through your blog, I fall in love your fire dragon tree. I always wanted a Japanese Maple tree which I don't think will do well in our climate. Your fire dragon tree seems a good alternative. Could you let me know where you bought it? Thanks.

Oh, I also started a blog about one month ago. Welcome to stop by my garden anytime.

Unknown said...

MMM, am a bit too impatient so seedlings the way to go for me!

Great tomatoes!

Darla said...

Seeds are hit and miss with me as well...I keep trying every year though. Squash -- after all danger of frost has past.

Nicole said...

I love sowing seeds-both ornamentals and vegetables. This weekend I sowed basil, dill, arugula and various greens. These are the most rewarding vegetable seeds to sow as in a few weeks you have salads and herbs to snip. I used Johnny's and Botanical Interests.
I have also grown several trees and flowers from seeds, and on Sunday sowed several seeds collected on my work trip-Pride of Barbados, Royal poinciana, sunflower etc. To me its a miracle each time, to get this huge tree from a little seed.

Tina said...

Interesting that one did well and one didn't.
Truthfully, I have much better luck with the cheapest seeds I can buy at the local stores than I do with the more expensive ones. I know, it shouldn't work that way, but it's true. I think it simply matters on the batch you end up with whether they'll do well or not.

sanddune said...

Rusty,
Starting plants from seeds is a enjoyable part of gardening.It really doesn't take much more effort than buying the plants and is much more cost effective and satisfying. I start lots of seeds from many different sources. Some of them are long expired but suprise me and germinate anyway.As in most things attitude is the key. Experiment and don't always expect results. It's fun and a great way to learn.

Steve Asbell said...

I like to use the seeds from fruit at the grocery store such as passionfruit, guava and dragonfruit. These are all very easy to grow from seed and having a full time job, I am pretty neglectful when it comes to watering.

Uniquely Ella said...

Sorry Rusty I'm new to seeds too. I sure LOVE your sherry tomatoes, what a view!

Susan said...

Those yellow sherry tomatoes are beautiful and they look scrumptious. How do they taste? Good luck with your seeds.

Jacquie said...

Hi Rusty,

I've been play around more and more with seeds while still starting the garden with the seedling from HD. This year I had some surprises with the HD not growing into what I expected. No so bad, more broccoli then collard (which my awesome BF is making tonight). I also found rather less then spectacular result from the determinate tomatoes from HD. Luckily I saved some seeds from last year and getting ready to replace the flagging plants. There is magic in prepping the location, planting the seeds going to work for the week and coming back a week later with all the little leaves pushing out. It really help encourage the sequential planting you read about but rarely do. Also cheaper and more choices. My favorite is Seeds of Change and saving my own from food bought or grown. (Really cheap).

Jan said...

You sure are having an abundance of tomatoes, they look wonderful, are they good to the taste? I'm not a huge seed gardener either although I've tried it since I started blogging. I'm thinking about doing a little more this spring to see if I'll have even more success than I did last year. Hang in there, it sounds like you really have more patience than you've given yourself credit for in the past!