Germinating now- - photos of seedlings

[fermi de Sousa]

Not sown by me:
1) Zauschneria seedlings show why it's been lumped into Epilobium!
2) Oxalis coming up in neighbouring pots!
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

Not sure if these are what's on the labels as some seeds get cast into other pots!
Moraea unguiculata (Silverhill Seeds, RSA) sown 16-08-2014,
Narcissus ex Oidle Loidle (one of Lawrence Trevanion's "Baby Talk" seriesof hoop petticoat hybrids) sown 15-10-2015
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

Some more of this year's sowings:
SRGC 2015 Lapeirousia anceps
SRGC 2015 Crocus cartwrightianus ex 'Halloween'
NARGS 2016 Lachenalia pusilla
cheers
fermi

[Matt T]

Some (well grown) seedlings from my spring sowings, including from SRGC Seed Ex 2015-16.

First up was received as Primula geraniifolia and sown on 05 Feb 2016, but is clearly a Lewisia, L.brachycalyx I think?
Primula magellanica (I hope) and Limonium minutum - sown 05 Feb 2016
Saxifraga ex Tumbling Waters seed from a plant I gave to my mum, sown 20 Oct 2015.
Cyclamen colchicum from Cyclamen Society seed - 7 seeds sown 17 Oct 2015 and 6 germinated Jun/Jul 2016.

[Lewis Potter]

Some (well grown) seedlings from my spring sowings, including from SRGC Seed Ex 2015-16.

First up was received as Primula geraniifolia and sown on 05 Feb 2016, but is clearly a Lewisia, L.brachycalyx I think?
Primula magellanica (I hope) and Limonium minutum - sown 05 Feb 2016
Saxifraga ex Tumbling Waters seed from a plant I gave to my mum, sown 20 Oct 2015.
Cyclamen colchicum from Cyclamen Society seed - 7 seeds sown 17 Oct 2015 and 6 germinated Jun/Jul 2016.

Primula looking good Matt, very envious .  Also the crocus you sent have arrived and have been planted. A quick question though I have some cyclamen seedlings, was pondering about how and when to pot them on and if they require anything specific, good drainage I hear is key. Be awesome to know what you do because the seedlings you have there certainly look healty. Thanks Lewis

[Matt T]

Primula looking good Matt, very envious .  Also the crocus you sent have arrived and have been planted. A quick question though I have some cyclamen seedlings, was pondering about how and when to pot them on and if they require anything specific, good drainage I hear is key. Be awesome to know what you do because the seedlings you have there certainly look healty. Thanks Lewis

Hi Lewis. I'm glad the Crocus arrived safely. One at least should be flowering size, so hopefully they'll do something for you this year.

In my experience most Cyclamen are pretty trouble free with a moist but free draining compost. I think with seedlings it pays to keep them growing for as long as you can, which allows them to build up a good sized tuber - this means not letting them get too warm or too dry, which will encourage dormancy. I find that many seedlings will keep growing all summer long if they're kept cool and watered. Regular feeding also helps - I use a half strength balanced feed once a month when in growth.

In terms of potting them on, I would not be in a rush to do this unless they were very crowded, as they seem to like a bit of company when small. Potting on is best done when they are dormant, you could do this in their first summer but when they go dormant in their second summer might be best (remember to feed). If you have a potful of very young but crowded seedlings you could just pot on the whole pot into one that is a bit larger.

Good luck.

[Lesley Cox]

I also tend to leave Cyclamen seedlings in their sowing pot until their 2nd season. They're so small to handle in the first year. If it's my own seed, say of C. coum and in a large number, I just divide the mass into 3 or 4 and put them back in larger pots. In other words, just what you would do Matt.

[fermi de Sousa]

A couple more new germinations:
Alstroemeria pseudospathulata, SRGC 2015 sown 21-05-2016
Iris pumila, Ashley Allshire, sown 4-05-2009! It pays to be patient - I try to keep any iris seed-pots in the hope of delayed germinations like these,
cheers
fermi

[ashley]

Good going Fermi.  I've had oncos germinate after 8+ years.  Just as well life is long

[Lewis Potter]

Ok. Thanks for the advice Leslie and Matt.

[Matt T]

Having said all that... Today I tipped the grit off these Cyclamen mirabile seedlings sown on 28 Aug last year to see how they were doing. These are in a 7cm pot and most are 1cm diameter. They are big enough to prick out now 12 months after sowing. Always use your best judgement.

[fermi de Sousa]

This pot was in a tray under another one! Just as well I check them ...occasionally
Geissorhiza ovata from Silverhill Seeds sown 16-08-2014
cheers
fermi

[Lesley Cox]

Having said all that... Today I tipped the grit off these Cyclamen mirabile seedlings sown on 28 Aug last year to see how they were doing. These are in a 7cm pot and most are 1cm diameter. They are big enough to prick out now 12 months after sowing. Always use your best judgement.

I agree with you Matt there, but I wouldn't be "pricking" these out as I would say primulas or small iris seedlings where there is space between them. These will already have good active root systems at their age and size. I'd tip out the pot and separate each one off carefully. If there is more seed left in the pot this can be sprinkled on a new pot or on the newly potted little seedlings and will most likely come through in due course.

[Lampwick]

Locoweeds & Bladderpods.

Earlier this year I ordered 19 packets of seed from Alplains. These were: Astragalus (10), Oxytropis (5) and Physaria (4).

They arrived in a Bubble Mailer on 8th June, and a few weeks later were all sown in 9mm pots in a compost mix as
recommended by Ian Christie. I stratified and scarified where advised.

There was an abundance of seed in every packet and I sowed less than half of each in all 19 pots.
Now! . . A question, if I don’t get good results with this batch of sowing, when is the optimum time to sow the others?

In the past I have sown seed of Penstemon, Eriogonum and Collomia (from RMRP) which I forgot I had! Two years later I came across them and got good results from sowing them. 

Please take a look at the Physaria alpina seedlings — can these now be carefully pricked out, or should I let them grow a bit more? 

[Carolyn]

As a general rule, I tend to avoid pricking out seedlings after July. They will be safer undisturbed in the seedling pot until spring. If the seedlings grow a lot in the next few weeks you could always pot on the whole potful.