Germination Ideas, Tips & Guides

Doveweed is a summer annual broadleaf weed in the dayflower family. It has a low-growing, very grass-like habit and appearance. It produces stolons (creeping horizontal stems) and can rapidly grow from segments distributed by mowing. The leaves can easily be confused with centipede and St. Augustine grass blades. Doveweed is easily overlooked unless it has choked out large patches of the desirable turfgrass. Doveweed seeds can stay viable in the soil for several years, so achieving control of the weed can take multiple seasons. Fortunately, cultural controls can help to limit doveweed infestations.

It’s a beautiful spring day, and you’re tempted to walk barefoot across your lawn. It can be a painful experience if you have a nasty cool-season weed called burweed (Soliva sessilis) growing in your turfgrass. When the spring temperatures begin to warm up, this signals the plant to produce seeds. The seeds have sharp spines that will stick to anything they contact, including your bare feet and your pet’s paws. The stickers will also embed into the soles of your shoes, enabling seeds to be spread further around your landscape.

Zack Snipes reports, “It finally feels like spring in the fields. The strawberry crop is really behind schedule this year. Most farms have plants with 3-4 crowns on them.  In most years, we have 5-8 crowns at this time. I blame the cool weather right after we planted them and then an unseasonably warm winter followed by two really cold events recently for them being so far behind. I am seeing an uptick in spider mite populations, so scout, scout, scout this week. This warm weather will have them active. Spring planted crops are germinating or being transplanted and have no issues so far.”

Extra precaution should be used when thawing fish that has been vacuum packed and frozen. The aquatic environment in which fish live can be a reservoir for the bacteria Clostridium botulinum. When harvested, fish may have these bacteria in their skin, gills, and intestines. Therefore, it is important that fish be carefully handled during harvest, storage, and when preparing for cooking.

Prostrate spurge (Chameasyce maculatais) a low-growing, mat-forming, annual summer weed. It grows from a taproot that can grow to a depth of 18 inches and can spread as much as three feet across. It has milky, white sap, and the stems can be smooth or hairy. The leaves have a toothed margin; some can contain a reddish spot, earning it the pseudonym spotted spurge.

They go by many common names, including horsemint and bergamot, but the common name I like the most for the plants in the genus Monarda is “Bee Balm.” Just as the name suggests, this group of plants is highly attractive to many types of bees and other pollinators and is a fantastic addition to any pollinator garden, providing an attractive flower display and nectar source through the hot summer months.

This is cutleaf evening primrose. This weed germinates and starts appearing in the fall and grows through the winter and spring until the weather gets hot.

Cut leaf evening primrose (Oenothera laciniata) is a native, biannual plant. It forms a rosette during its first year of growth and produces yellow flowers on low spreading stems in its second year. The pretty, yellow flowers open in the evening and close during bright, sunny conditions Flowering will last for over a month, and sphinx moths and native bees pollinate the flowers. Unfortunately, the plant also hosts the tarnished plant bug, a piercing, sucking insect that feeds on vegetable and ornamental herbaceous plants.

ABOUT THIS TIME OF YEAR I GET FED UP with holiday to-do’s, and need a solid dose of horticulture instead. What better task to treat myself to than getting ready for seed-catalog shopping season: making an inventory of leftover things, testing for germination, writing a wishlist—and ordering a few new catalogs to widen my winter world.

The flowers (from purple to white) are followed by poisonous red fruits, and this year I may try to germinate the seeds inside them, unless I can score some plants from Whitman Farms, perhaps, the only source I have tracked down (and where I have not ordered before, so no personal history to recommend it from). I only want the purple ones; fingers crossed. I never expected the Daphne to live so long, I guess, judging from where I sandwiched it between a shed and a gold-leaf Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Crippsii.’ My previous plants gave up the ghost one after another, as Daphnes do, but this one just soldiers on, the sentry to another spring of heady scents.(1885 print from the University of Hamburg library collection.)Categoriesdeciduous

What do you want (need?) to know about seeds?Do you experience failure with some particular crop, like spindly seedlings or poor germination, or need help with a better lighting set-up or watering method or something technical like that? What’s the craziest thing you ever grew—or wanted to grow but didn’t dare? Your biggest win—or to

From iconic desserts such asPineapple Upside Down Cake andPineapple Fluff to savoryPineapple-Pepper Slaw or tropical cocktails such asPineapple Coconut Fizz, nothing conjures up a trip to some exotic locale like pineapple! If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to grow one yourself, we’ve got the answers.

Zinnias are easy to grow. They are half-hardy annuals, so need to be sown in the protection of a greenhouse or a propagator on a bright house windowsill in mid to late spring. Once they’re large enough to handle, prick them out individually and grow on before transplanting outdoors when all risk of frost has passed.

Have you ever wondered how often you should water your vegetable garden? Watering may seem simple and straightforward, but there are some important considerations to think about before you get out your watering can or the garden hose. The way you water your plants is essential for them to grow and thrive. “Just like the sun, water is a key component to having a successful veggie garden,” says Nicole Shah, gardener and co-founder of Garden Girls, a garden design company in Houston, Texas.

I maintain that buying seeds is truly the best kind of shopping—seeds are relatively affordable and are literally bursting with potential. Quite frankly, I think seeds are a miracle; you get a small envelope of little hard things, you sink them in soil and nurture them, and before you know it, you get beautiful free food. Seeds are the antidote to a broken food system and the epidemic of being disconnected from what we eat.

Radishes are one of those first treats to come from the spring garden. There is nothing like pulling out a colorful root veggie, giving it a little dust and polish, and biting into it before it has a chance to see the kitchen. Did you know you can also enjoy fresh radishes in the fall, as well? In this article, I’m going to explain the difference between spring and winter radishes, and share some tips on growing radishes from seed for a spring crop and for a fall crop. Timing your radish seeding is simply a matter of counting forwards or backwards to frost-free and frost dates.

I maintain that buying seeds is truly the best kind of shopping—seeds are relatively affordable and are literally bursting with potential. Quite frankly, I think seeds are a miracle; you get a small envelope of little hard things, you sink them in soil and nurture them, and before you know it, you get beautiful free food. Seeds are the antidote to a broken food system and the epidemic of being disconnected from what we eat.

Microgreens are the first set of leaves also known as cotyledons. They are not the true leaves of plants. However, microgreens can be harvested between cotyledon to first true leaf stage, when 3-4 true leaves appear, and they grow above 2 inches tall.

Most of us gardeners have a good read on which plants in our gardens are problematic—which we often refer to as weeds. Typically these plants make seasonal appearances, like the common mallow ( Malva neglecta ) that germinates in my home meadow with an impressive, if troubling, degree of tenacity. Each year I weed all that I can, digging their fibrous, white taproots from the backyard clay. And each year as soil temperatures approach those appropriate for tomato planting, a fresh crop springs anew from the seed bank left before I began weeding the space. Occasionally, however, a new undesirable plant makes its debut on our horticultural stage. 

You’ve probably heard the old saying that the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, and the second best time is now. If you’ve recently been inspired to add a new tree to your landscape, there are a few steps you can take to get your new acquisition off to a great start.

Knowing about Asparagus Growth Stages will help you to understand the plant better, giving you insights on how to properly take care of it in order to get the best harvest.

The Sago Palms (Cycas revoluta) are not real palms. These tropical and subtropical low-growing plants belong to the Cycad family. Native to the warm climates, these palms are usually grown as houseplants. Though sago palms are grown through cuttings, you can also propagate them by seeds as well.

These are some of the most common Seed Starting Mistakes many new gardeners make. This guide will help you avoid them and encourage you to grow seedlings that will survive the test of time.

Follow this easy-to-do technique on how to Sprout a Corncob & Grow Unlimited Corns! This will surely tempt you into growing them in your home garden!

USDA Zones: 7-11

Glycerine is an underrated component that can bring extraordinary results for plants. Head to the article to find some brilliant Glycerin Uses in the Garden!

It’s hard to tell whether it is just the natural scheme of things or if the last twelve month’s weather conditions have made a difference, but there are a number of things in the garden that have proved to be real good doers this year, starting with the lovely white larkspur above, L ‘White King’. Larkspur seed can be tricky to germinate, and I kept this seed in the freezer for at least a week before I sowed it. For some reason, the blue larkspur I sowed last September germinated really easily and gave me enough plants for the cutting beds as well as to add to the blue & white borders, but overwintering left them leggy and they only flowered a couple of weeks later than the white variety sown in February. Last year, larkspur seemed to flower for months, so hopefully that will be repeated.

It seems strange, I know, to talk of growing winter crops for the polytunnel or glasshouse, smack-bang in the middle of a very sultry Irish summer. But the simple truth is that the secret to making the best, and most productive use, of these valuable covered growing spaces throughout the year has always been to plan and propagate very far ahead.

USDA Zones — 5-10

Petunias are everywhere. They tumble out of hanging baskets, flank doorways in pots, and fill flower beds across the world.They bloom all summer long, come

Common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) is a North American native plant in the aster family. It has a rapid growth rate and can reach four to six feet tall.

A dusty Nick Stanek stepped off his tractor after an evening of round baling hay.

Years after the fact, I remain flummoxed as to why my neighbor Daniel – an otherwise normal, rational person – ripped down and pulled out a spectacular, 20-foot-tall labyrinth of colorful crossvine that was growing on a trellis he had built up against his house.Crossvine is a fast-growing climbing vine that can reach 50

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Growing your own vegetable garden

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Growing a vegetable garden from seed this year? St

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Spring is the perfect time for ga