How tightly did he pack the soil? If the plants are happy, I wouldn't disturb them.

very tight. I dumped a few out today and they looked like sand castles. They have been in the pots a couple weeks and they all have at least a few yellow leaves. I am going to repot them and hope for the best.

Good luck Kimmie. I hate it when my dh goes near my plants.

My DH has one plant, well, maybe technically 4... 4 sticks of Bamboo in a milk bottle. Every 6-8 months he adds new water, and very proudly mixes in a teaspoon of fertilizer.

I can't get him to help with my plants to save my life... well, at least not unless it comes to saving energy, I can get him to turn off the grow lights for the seedlings :-)

BTW, I am growing Geraniums first time from seed and can't believe how easy it is! I planted 2 weeks ago now, I must have had about 95-98% germination, and they have really well established first true leaves already!!

@homemommy.
2 weeks ago? wow. i just sowed some seeds 3 days ago. they are under a clear plastic lid (mini-greenhouse). how long do you think it will take to germinate?

I am really not sure... I suppose it depends on a number of things, the quality of seed, your planting methods, even the seed itself seems really variable. But, about 402 of my seed sprouted within 7 days!

I put mine into peat pellets, just under the surface, then into a flat with a cover. The temperature was around 70% in the room. Sometimes with more stubborn seed I will place it on the heating register to help warm it up, as that usually seems to help...

Best of luck! Let us know how it goes!

3 days from planting the seeds in jiffy mix under a greenhouse, 1 seed has begun to raise through the surface. I have about 30 total geranium seeds so the others should be following suit shortly

:)

I meant to say 40% where germinated in 7 days, I had some up in 3 too I think... they don't seem to take long at all! Not like growing Sweet William! lol.

Just planted mine, too. I'm in St. Louis.

But now I read I should have done it mid-January...will I even get any flowers this summer???

Scared! Because these seeds weren't cheap. ; )

Thanks,

Paula

Dowbright, you are in the same zone as me, give or take a few degrees, so I think you are just fine ;-)Other factors go into growth times, such as soil type, fertalization, and lighting. red light promotes flowers...

I'm not new to growing but am growing zonal geraniums currently and today about a week after I planted individual seeds to 50 cell trays, I have a few 10 that popped out of 200. No bottom heat but in a greenhouse at 60 F.

Here's a website (I'll include another as well) that tells the time it takes to make a sellable/flowering plant. Also as suggested above in a few words, if you use supplemental artificial lighting for the remainder 4-6 weeks and prior to a last frost, then you'll have plants that are ready to bloom all summer and at the very beginning. Pretty cool huh? :) Turning them on between 10pm and 2am with a mimic to the light conditions being observed outdoors, you'll induce flowering.. and have plants that are ready to bloom all summer in your own garden, from your own seed.

Best Regards,

Dax

Seed Germination Database

Weekend Gardener

Tom Clothier's Garden Walk and Talk

Seeds:
neseeds

Swallowtail Garden Seeds

I would love to provide light to get earlier blooms but what we call a "greenhouse" others probably would not. The only lights are the ones along the top that have regular light bulbs so I do not think they would help any...LOL!! We will have to wait on ours.

This is my first year starting pellies from seed, and what a charge! I've been seed starting for 18 years, and these guys have really got me excited. Gardener 365, thank you for the links.

I'm a little late to start mine, too. They were started on 2/6 and are just getting their first true leaves now.

Isn't she sweet? lol

Mine are definately warmer then 60 degrees, so that may explain the more rapid growth. They are closer to 70 degrees.

As for the lighting, if you have a regular light bulb, then surely you can modify it to get in a Florecent! All you have to do is visit the lighting / hardware department at any good hardware store, and in the section they usually keep switches / plugs etc, they have an adaptor that you can screw into a regular light, just like you would a light bulb. instead of having a light in that spot, you adapt it to a plug! Now, you have a place to plug in the flouresent! Remember though, you want the flouresent as close to the plants as possible, not at the top of the green house!

Is one florescent enough?

Depends on how many plants you are growing, as ot iff one Florescent is enough or not. I thought perhaps a 4 foot shop light, with 2 bulbs would be enough for the geraniums that this poster is growing and worried they won't be ready on time. Change a regular light in the greenhouse, to a socket power plug adaptor that a florescent light can be pluged into, and place it about 2 inchs above the geraniums, and it should maximize their growth. (one 4 foot light can light up 2 seed trays). Plus, as an added benifit they get the natural sunlight of the green house as well.

Obviously, one 4 foot light would not be enough to light up the whole green house! But, for the geraniums, it can give the extra boost they may need. All the other plants are on sun time

The important thing though is don't overload the socket. If it is designed for 60 watts, don't go above say, 2 T8 bulbs (32+32) watts, (now that is 4 watts over, but in my untrained opinion I don't think 4 watts is too much of a stretch, just you don't want to put anything else in it!) or if you think you could put a 90 watt bulb in it, then perhaps you can use 2 T12 bulbs, 40+40) Two T8 will put off the same amount of light at two T12, they are just more energy efficiant. You just need to make sure the shop light can take the type of bulb you are putting in!

I can't get the photos to work, but if you are not sure what a light socket outlet adaptor is, these are few examples..

http://electrical.hardwarestore.com/12-34-outlet-adapters/lampholder-socket-adapter-601209.aspx

http://media.mydoitbest.com/imagerequest.aspx?sku=520243&size=2&warehouse=C&newsize=200

Thank you Homemommy. I only have 7 geraniums. The other seedlings just get regular old sunshine in a sunroom. These little pellies have me as excited as a newbie, though. We have florescents in closets, so I can stack books on a shelf so the 7 pellies get right about to the one tube. I'm hoping it's adequate. On sunny days, they join their contemporaries in the sunroom.

That reminds me. I haven't looked at them in a few hours ..... lol

Here is a picture of 2 packs of geranium seeds that I started 3 weeks ago. I had good germination rate and, they are my favorite to start from seeds.

Betty