Hi all,
I have been trying to germinate some F1 Indian Summer (Suttons) and after 2 weeks only 7 of 16 have sprouted. They were placed on damp paper for 24 hrs then planted 2 in. deep in card root trainer pots containing a mix of John Innes No 2 and multipurpose compost.
Where did I go wrong and do I still have time to get some going in new pots?? ???
Cheers
Paul D
You certainly have time to do more.
I don't pre-germinate sweetcorn. I put them in rootrainers, about an inch deep in a mix similar to yours, water it and leave them alone - don't water again until the leaves show. I do find that they don't like it too wet when germinating.
Have not even started mine yet, tis on this weekends "to do" list!
Do the same as Jenny, rootrainers, water and leave alone.
Thanks for the encouragement
I had then outside in a plastic mini-greenhouse and may have overwatered them.
Will now add resowing to my ever increasing weekend to-do list. :)
Cheers,
Paul D
I seem to be getting the same germination rate on sweetcorn - roughly 50%.
And on peas too and sweetpeas too. Not quite sure what's up. I suppose the lesson for me is to sow at least twice what I want. :)
i had 11 of 12 come up - if you are careful/not careful, you might end up with lots more than you want and need, denbee :D
I have been very successful with Lark F1 germinating on top of soil in airing cupboard. As soon as the shoots appear, I transfer to tiolet rolls. I know they say you shouldn't transplant Sweetcorn but I have had a 95% success rate on 3 successive plantings. Then just drop loo roll into final growing position making sure that the roots are deep to give the corn a good strong footing. Cheers....Dinger
I lost all of my first lot to mice - 60 plants :'(
However, I sowed more seed a few days ago and they are already sprouting, sprinkled onto compost in good heat. They will then be potted on until ready to plant out, just hoping the pesky mice don't get them again.
thanks for the reminder i have yet to sow my sweet corn oh dear this to do list gets bigger every five min ;D
Quote from: Svea on May 05, 2006, 08:45:47
i had 11 of 12 come up - if you are careful/not careful, you might end up with lots more than you want and need, denbee :D
You can't have too many of these! :P :P
I've done 3 lots so far, and had varying success. Kelvedon Glory and 2's Sweeter had about 95%, but the 17p Netto ones (Silver Dew) only about 60%. All were placed an inch deep in standard B&Q compost in loo rools, in a propagator.
Still have 40 more Alan Romans 'Extra Tender & Sweet', I think.
I'm about a month earlier than last year and anticipating a decent crop this time. ;D ;D
Personally I only sow sweetcorn (and squash) in my diddy heated propagator.
Only water on sowing, leave alone, with the lid firmly on and the vents just open.
As soon as they show through the soil I transfer them to an un-heated one.
This year only one sweetcorn failed to show. ;D
Got 12 from 12 'til they got about 2" tall then all 12 went brown and died ??? The compost was just damp (not wet) and they hadn't been watered since sowing. All seemed to have some damage to the tip of the tap root even though they were grown in root trainers. I've sown another 12 and await their appearance. Here's hoping! Lance
sounds like damping off?
the failure of which i spoke earlier did make an appearance but has been lost to damping off
Ive put mine in pots on the kitchen window, 9 out of 10 have appeared, they have been watered tooooo much by the sounds of it, and carried lovingly backwards and forwards into the sun outside ::).
they are about 2" tall at mo, when should i plant outside?
I sowed 20 Lark and 20 Early Extra Sweet. Got 18/20 from Lark, 13/20 from the Early Extra Sweet. They were sown in coir root trainers - and the tap root was out through the coir extremely quickly on tthe Lark - was a bit alarmed by that! Looked in my Joy Larkcom book - she says "Does not transplant well unless raised in modules and planted quite small" and"Plant before plants get too big or growth stunted." So mine have gone into the plot! The Early Extra Sweet is proving a bit slower - the difference between an F1 and non F1? Am trying Lark after so many recommendations on A4A!
Lancelotment: Just a thought - if yours were in those foldover cell root trainers perhaps the tap root couldn't get through, hence the damage and the loss?
Mine have been in plastic greenhouse for over 2 weeks in rootrainers and nothing showing yet, didn't know about the watering. I'll give it a few days and may try again. If they do come up are they ok next to tomatoes outside?
I just sow mine in ordinary pots, two to a pot, and leave in the far greenhouse. If both germinate plant the whole thing, in USA where they can direct sow they tend to put three or four seeds in a hill at the final spacing and let all that germinate grow!
Mine are up now and might get out next weekend or the week after depending on the temp.
:-\
I did mine in loo rolls again -and have 11 out of 12 -thinking of planting them out soon. One thing I have found is to sow them shallower than suggested. They do come up quicker in the heat.
I sowed mine into water cups (from the watercooler at work) in regular potting compost and ignored them for about a week. All but one of 20 have germinated and look healthy. I think they like to be left to sit and think on their own!
How long do they take to show? Mine have been in loo rolls for a week now but I have watered them.
Depends how warm they are, they can take longer than that from memory.
Well saying mine aren't showing yesterday I've had a look this morning and there are signs of life but some little monkey has started eating them pulled them right out of soil to eat the corn.
Question for someone in the know....... If I saved a few of my kernals from ones I have grown would they grow?
Quote from: Rosyred on May 06, 2006, 19:48:46
How long do they take to show? Mine have been in loo rolls for a week now but I have watered them.
Last year I planted sweetcorn in toilet rolls. They shot up within a few days, grew strongly, then fell back and died back after a week. So no sweetcorn last year >:(
This year, taking tips from A4a, I am sowing later, sprouting the corn first, planting less deep, and will whisk them out to their permanent home (protected) as soon as they grow a strong shoot. All the Kelvedon Glory sprouted after two days, only a few Swift have sprouts after four. So it may depend on variety and age of seed as well as the gardener rosyred ??? ::)
Hi
I've planted Swift as well and the germination rate, is rather bad 45%, trying not to water them now and see what happens, but using 35 seeds to get less than 20 plants doesn't seem quite right.
First-time sweetcorn grower and I'm slightly nervous ;D...
Grew mine early, in toilet rolls, germinated in airing cupboard - grew very quickly.
I was concerned in case they became leggy so transplanted into kitchen rolls.
They have been in a heated greenhouse, which is now un-heated, and I'm going to plant them on plot
with some fleece protection.
Just in case anything happens, I am going to sow some more.
Debs
I sow my sweetcorn in small plastic pots, I get good germination and very good crops.When I see organic root trainers at £4.00 for 10 I will stay with my pots. I grow Suttons Applause as it cooks well needs no butter as it is very juicy on it's own. When I first started with sweetcorn the seed tended to rot easily,so they dressed it with captan and charged extra. Now we pay extra because it is not dressed but called "organic". >:( >:( >:(
(http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/9661/10000054hj.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/2264/1000004wince5zd.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
First time sweetcorn grower - I sowed 35 Swift in paper pots and after a week, 31 had germinated. That was in a plastic greenhouse and cover with a propagator lid. They are now being hardened off outside and I plan to plant them at the lottie on BH weekend.
Also sowed 16 Minipop and had 100% germination.
I have sown over 90 seeds, of 4 varities, in rootrainers, I have had very mixed results.
Early Pearl - 90%
True Gold- 100%
Inca Rainbow - 0%
Apache Farine - 20%
I suspect I have over-watered, I exhumed the failed corn and they had gone mouldy.
blimey - I've sown 12 seeds in pots in plastic greenhouse - 1 germinated >:( back to the drawing board
We sowed 18 pots with 2 per pot, except we were a few short! Ovation and similar for Minipop and only one pot failed to germinate...
now we have to risk transplanting some into seperate pots...
;D
I sow mine this way initially;
(http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Misc.Photos/Pics/SC%203.JPG)
Then as soon as they have germinated I pot the plug up into 3" pots.
(http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Misc.Photos/Pics/SC.JPG)
Mine look like your top picture some have some haven't at the moment.
Only a day or two longer Rosyred and they will all be through like the top picture!
Given up on mine,not sure whether to start again or buy some plants ::)
I think I had beginner's luck when I started sowing seeds earlier this year.
Almost every seed I sowed turned up green and lovely. In fact, I still swear I got more beetroot plants than I sowed!
But as time has moved on, and the weather's improved, my germination success rate is actually decreasing.
Like I say, beginner's luck. ::)
Quote from: AndrewB on May 09, 2006, 19:21:57
Given up on mine,not sure whether to start again or buy some plants ::)
Don't give up! there is still plenty of time to grow more plants. Get yourself some more seed, plant 2 per pot this time and best of luck!
Quote from: DenBee on May 09, 2006, 19:25:41
..., I still swear I got more beetroot plants than I sowed!...
You might have done DenBee, the seed case that you sow often contains more than one actual seed.
Thank you for that Jenny, it explains a lot. I wasn't kidding about thinking I got more than I sowed. It was only part of a multi-pack from Poundland, and yet I got quite a few, possibly half as much again as there were seeds.
Quote from: jennym on May 09, 2006, 19:29:51
Quote from: AndrewB on May 09, 2006, 19:21:57
Given up on mine,not sure whether to start again or buy some plants ::)
Don't give up! there is still plenty of time to grow more plants. Get yourself some more seed, plant 2 per pot this time and best of luck!
Agreed!.....and soak them this time for a few hours before you sow them, then water them again when you sow them, and no more.
You should find this should be enough moisture to germinate them, that is they shouldn't require watering again till after germination.!
Perhaps another case of beginners luck? I planted 9 Lark in toilet rolls and left to germinate on the window sill. 100% success rate. Now in plastic greenhouse awaiting planting out in a few weeks. Next batch, 15 in root trainer on same window sill. 14 have germinated. Just dampened compost, plopped in the seed and covered with about half an inch of compost and left them to do their stuff.
I had pretty much given up on mine but popped 10 in the airing cupboard and they all came up in 2-3 days. looks like they just need more heat than most.
Have moved all the towels etc out now so I can whack just about everything else in that is a bit behind as well, check twice daily and move and seedlings that emerge into a light place until leaves emerge than pop them in an unheated greenhouse so they don't get leggy.
Thanks for the encouragement, I'll give it another go, may put them on the windowsill this time.
My second batch is not showing. How I can get 100% germination over 48hrs with my first batch and 0% over the same period from my second batch, when using the same seed, compost and technique, is beyond me. Especially as I am working with huge numbers.
Who ever thought Gardening was a science where things could be measured? Take a deep breath and check again at the weekend!
;D