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"A Family Tradition for 133 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Wednesday, May 26, 1999 - 17 Gardening Favourites--Seeds Quick, which would you rather have--an ounce of gold or an ounce of begonia seed? Gold at its current market price an ounce is mere pocket change compared to a series of tuberous bego- nia seed called "Charisma" that rings in at an astounding $200,000 an ounce. Mind you, an ounce of begonia seed does con- tain anywhere from 1.5 to 2 million seeds, and in all fairness, only the world's largest plant propagators would ever buy an ounce. Thankfully for home gar- deners, growing your own plants from seed is substantially less expen- sive. It can also be an incredibly rewarding experience, but at other times it can be just plain, downright frustrating. I remember when my. husband and I first got started in market gar- dening back in the early 1960s. We needed a large number of tomato trans- plants, and obviously that required a green- house, so we built one--a small, plastic- covered, wood-framed structure. Having very little seed experience, I rationalized that if I sowed double the recommended number of tomato seeds I should, at the very least, get half to grow and therefore be pretty darn close to my target. After about a month, not one seedling had emerged. Of course, I blamed everything and everyone, including my husband, on this abysmal failure, but it wasn't until he decided to check the soil tempera- ture that he was finally exonerated. The soil tem- perature was a rather frigid 50°F (that was in the pre-metric days), and tomatoes, being warm- season plants, prefer a nice warm 72°F (21°C) to germinate properly. Installation of some heating cable solved that problem for us, but for many gardeners, poor control of soil tempera- ture is still the primary reason for poor results. Each year more and more gardeners are starting their own seeds, which I'm sure has been fueled in part by the tremendous satisfaction derived from successfully nurturing a plant from seed to maturity. Undoubtably, the adventure of trying the new, the improved and the unusual is a strong motivator as well, and never before has there been such an extensive selection of seeds. Yet, for many garden- ers, there still exists an unwarranted fear of growing seedlings. So to minimize the trauma of starting seeds, here is the seed starter's primer in one highly condensed, nontechnical paragraph. The first thing to do is purchase only high-qual- ity seed (which is typical- ly a little more expen- sive). Place the seed in a tray on top of premoist- ened soilless seedling mixture. Cover the seed lightly with horticultur- al-grade vermiculite (that's the small stuff). Mist the seed tray sever- al times with a pump bot- tle. Cover the tray with a clear or opaque plastic cover and place the whole apparatus on a heat register or heated cable as close as possible to a south-facing window. Inspect the seed daily and mist as required. That's all there is to it. Most seed fits rather neatly within these para- meters, although, of course, there are those seeds that deviate some- what. Some like a little warmer or a little cooler soil, some like a little more moisture or a little less moisture, but the same basic principles still apply. Still, there are .some plant species, particular- ly a few perennials, that can be rather obstinate. Some perennial seeds require a treatment called stratification--a one- to four-month cold treatment in moist soil to break the seeds' self- imposed dormancy. Other perennial seeds must be scarified, which is essentially delicate cutting or etching of the seed coat to allow germi- nation, allowing water to be drawn in. I remember a few par- ticularly stubborn peren- nial seeds that I've tried to germinate in the greenhouse. One in par- ticular was the Himalayan Blue Poppy. After my disappoint- ing experience with tomato seed, I must admit that I leaned on the warm side for start- ing all other seedlings, including poppies. After about six weeks of tender care, the poppies, like the tomatoes, had failed to emerge, so in frustration I just pulled the trays off of the heated tables, left them on the cold floor and forgot about them. Annuals, perennials, clematis \ vines, ig honeysuckle vines and , #2 HUNDREDS of HANGING BASKETS Inadvertently, I had pro- vided exactly what the poppies wanted--a nice, cool spot, and within days the tiny seedlings were popping up. If you have seed left over when all of the spring seeding is done and youre wondering just what is the best way to store it, just remember the rule of 100. Any com- bination of relative humidity percentage and air . temperature that exceeds 100 will reduce seed storage life. For example, if the air tem- perature is 60°F (sorry, 'this rule only works with Fahrenheit, not Celsius) and the relative humidi- ty is 40 percent, you're in the correct range. However, if the relative humidity climbs to 6( percent, then the an temperature shouldn' exceed 40°F to maintair the 100 rule. The lower the number drops below 100, the better. If you have a bright window, some heat and ¢ little patience, give start. ing your own seed a try Remember--all that glis- tens is not gold. o ew. ' siding ig SHOWROOM 60 Vanedward Dr, Unit #7, PORT PERRY CLASSIC ALUMINUM Bring yourBlue Prints in today... ...for a FREE ESTIMATE! + sof fit fusca, eavesrough 985-0075 Greenbank Garden Centre LTD. Wey ve gol ROSES Hybrid Teas, Floribundas, Climbers 1 gal. size Y(905) 985-7667 Located on NE corners Hwys. 12 & 47 "|Flowering Shrubs us. 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