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Anyone grow basket plants from seed?

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  • Anyone grow basket plants from seed?

    ....petunia, bacopa etc etc
    Not something I've tried before.
    Northern England.

  • #2
    I've grown, geraniums (pelargoniums) petunias and lobelia in the past - if they count? Fairly easy if you have a propagator and also somewhere warm to grow the seedlings on, once pricked out into modules (frost-free greenhouse or warm window ledge?)

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    • #3
      Yes that's the kind of thing Thelma . Thanks .
      I'm using house window ledges
      Northern England.

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      • #4
        Don't sneeze on the petunia seeds! Hardest thing I found was the potential for over-watering the smallest seedlings, but not as bad if kept warm. Enjoyable but we've gone back to buying them from a supermarket (oh the shame).
        To see a world in a grain of sand
        And a heaven in a wild flower

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        • #5
          I can't drive yet as have knee injury so was thinking about growing them myself. Not sure yet.
          Northern England.

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          • #6
            Container garden, yes, they are easy to grow from seed but they tend to be slow growing.
            If you have somewhere warm get them started now.

            And when your back stops aching,
            And your hands begin to harden.
            You will find yourself a partner,
            In the glory of the garden.

            Rudyard Kipling.sigpic

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            • #7
              If you try lobelia my advice would be to prick out in a bunch of 5-10 as the seedlings are too fiddly for me to do individually. I just scoop with a teaspoon and then plant on into modules.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by mcdood View Post
                If you try lobelia my advice would be to prick out in a bunch of 5-10 as the seedlings are too fiddly for me to do individually. I just scoop with a teaspoon and then plant on into modules.
                That's my kind of pricking out too
                Thanks
                Northern England.

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                • #9
                  I'm trying to buy as few container plants as possible this year, by sowing my own, in the interests of saving money.

                  So far, geraniums, snapdragons, verbena, swan river daisies sown and pricked out. Sweet peas coming up (sown outside). Nemesia sown but no sign, same with datura (been a while too).

                  I'll be keeping them all on windowsills until it's warm enough to put them in the cold greenhouse or out in the garden (April/May).

                  In the next couple of weeks I'll also sow cosmos, miniature sunflowers and french marigolds inside.

                  Lobelia has such tiny seed, and costs so little to buy as plants that I'm not growing my own.

                  I'm trying to go for things that are expensive or harder to buy as plants, or varieties I particularly like.

                  In April I'll sow a few things outside - poached egg plants, nasturtiums, pot marigolds and whatever else I fancy.

                  I'm enjoying having a go. Last year I grew a fair few things successfully, but am trying far more this year.
                  Mostly flowers, some fruit and veg, at the seaside in Edinburgh.

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                  • #10
                    Babru, way to go.
                    Learn from experience...
                    Good luck and patience is king.

                    And when your back stops aching,
                    And your hands begin to harden.
                    You will find yourself a partner,
                    In the glory of the garden.

                    Rudyard Kipling.sigpic

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                    • #11
                      I usually grow petunias from seed for baskets, but I've got tired of dead-heading them, which you need to do to keep them flowering, it needs doing every day and runs to dozens of flowers in each basket. This year I thought I'd buy a few surfina petunias and make more plants by taking cuttings.
                      Location - Leicestershire - Chisit-land
                      Endless wonder.

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                      • #12
                        I stopped growing petunia due to the incessant dead heading. Not a task I enjoy, made more unpleasant by the stickiness of the plant . After a while I'd end up with scraggly stems with a few flowers on the end

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                        • #13
                          I'm beginning to wonder - if - by the time you've bought all the seed, some packets aren't cheap are they?, plus the compost (plus extra modules/pots - if you need them) if you actually do save money growing your own...
                          What do grapes think?

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                          • #14
                            Thelma, no I personally dont think you save money growing your own.
                            Lidl and Aldi sell trays of bedding plants dirt cheap and all ready to pot up.
                            I used to grow mine from seed but they take ages to come to maturity.

                            And when your back stops aching,
                            And your hands begin to harden.
                            You will find yourself a partner,
                            In the glory of the garden.

                            Rudyard Kipling.sigpic

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Agree , dont necessarily save money but when I'm already seed sowing anyway plus our aldi plants never look good and lidl is in such a ridiculous place to get to.
                              Northern England.

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