Sprouting Old Seeds

a reply to: zosimov

A thread that I missed somehow. Now I have to read it all.

I was sort of planning on taking Fluffy's Sister with us when we move. Part of the plan would have involved making a deal with the moles. Like, "Okay, when you see the divot here, tunnel under it so the landlord won't know that I stole some of his dirt."

Doesn't seem crazy to me

originally posted by: zosimov
a reply to: InTheLight

Hi InTheLight!!

I'd be delighted to hear any updates! How exciting just to try.

Yes, it is exciting, isn't it? So I planted the Alaska peas with the tomato plants in that special soil. The peas should come up in 56 days, so I will update if anything happens. If it does, then I will have peas to eat for the whole season. The old peas had a pale green colour, so maybe there is life still in there.

The spinach seeds were yellow, so I'm not to sure about them. Anyway, they should start sprouting in five to nine days in cooler weather, which we have right now. Serendipity? Supposedly, it is difficult to persuade spinach seeds to germinate in hot Summer conditions.

More exciting news, we just bought a grafted apple tree and planted it with bone meal and good soil. It has five different species of apples grafted on it and they supposedly all ripen at different times. The types of apples are: red mcintosh, honeycrisp, fuji, gala and braeburn. We are babying it by fencing it in with chicken wire so the critters don't get to munching on it. We were told we will have apples next Fall and I am excited to try baking a five apples pie.

a reply to: zosimov

Hard to say if the strategy worked, or if I'm just plain crazy.

Why can't it be both.....



Respectfully,
~meathead

a reply to: pthena

Lol, my rational side objects but the intuitive side is adamant.

originally posted by: Mike Stivic
a reply to: zosimov

Hard to say if the strategy worked, or if I'm just plain crazy.

Why can't it be both.....

Respectfully,
~meathead

It definitely could be both.

a reply to: zosimov

Try for a balance, or at least a nice pendulum swing.

originally posted by: pthena
a reply to: zosimov

Try for a balance, or at least a nice pendulum swing.

No balance, life is for circumventing...in other words, life is for living and replanting.

a reply to: InTheLight

Here's an update to those old seeds I planted, for anyone that is interested.

So far, five of the heirloom Alaska Pea seeds have sprouted and I posted a picture of them - four on one side of the planter and one on the other side, so less than a 30-40% success rate I am guessing. I really didn't believe they would sprout at all, so 'never say never' (mental note to myself).

Don't the pea spouts look amazingly strong and healthy?

As for the spinach seeds, germination takes longer, but there is one little shoot of something there...to be continued.

a reply to: InTheLight

life is for living and replanting.

Been thinking about that sentence for days. I guess I'll have to write a fairy tale along those lines.

Fluffy's sister was bypassed by the mower yesterday. Then the edger with the weed wacker took it out, stakes, label tape and all.

We have a Carnation of the Air plant in a pot now, away from the lawn.

originally posted by: pthena
a reply to: InTheLight

life is for living and replanting.

Been thinking about that sentence for days. I guess I'll have to write a fairy tale along those lines.

Fluffy's sister was bypassed by the mower yesterday. Then the edger with the weed wacker took it out, stakes, label tape and all.

We have a Carnation of the Air plant in a pot now, away from the lawn.

Yes. Replanting seeds in all areas of one's being and life. Some get weed wacked while others blossom.

Odd you should mention fairy tale when I just purchased two frogs sitting in rocking chairs from a garage sale for my intended fairy garden; they might need a little TLC.

a reply to: InTheLight

two frogs sitting in rocking chairs from a garage sale for my intended fairy garden; they might need a little TLC.

Ummm — there are two of them. They look fairly happy together. I wouldn't want to interject myself in there much.

Those chairs might need weather protection. Mostly shaded, cool, moist area. Avoid ultra-violet rays.

a reply to: InTheLight

Those sprouts DO look amazingly strong and healthy!

Funny I was going to post my own update today as well, since the lovely looking plants which prompted this thread finally got into the earth today
I'm growing 4 varieties.
Bloody Butcher
Carbon
Ananas Noir
Super Sweet 100 (cherry)
They're all fairly fast to grow/mature, so the shorter growing season hopefully won't impact them too much.
It's been a really cold spring and Saturday was the first day the night temps were warm enough for the hot weather plants.

Very cool update. Thank you InTheLight!!

a reply to: pthena

Awwww dang it.



Still, I am very glad you're focused on living and replanting my friend

That potted flower should be lovely.

a reply to: zosimov

Good luck with your tomato seeds. I just bought tomato plants as our growing season here is very short.

I mixed up the germination times of the spinach and the pea seeds, the spinach should have sprouted up to nine days and the peas should not even have sprouted yet, but they did and the spinach did not, so I am not sure what is going on here.

originally posted by: InTheLight
a reply to: zosimov

Good luck with your tomato seeds. I just bought tomato plants as our growing season here is very short.

I mixed up the germination times of the spinach and the pea seeds, the spinach should have sprouted up to nine days and the peas should not even have sprouted yet, but they did and the spinach did not, so I am not sure what is going on here.

If you ever do start seeds indoors try one called Dester. It is an amazing tomato. It is very dense with little white inside. I would describe it as the perfect tomato. Absolutely delicious flavor.

Finally warm enough here to get things going. I hope we have a long fall this year. We are at least 2 weeks off. Lilacs are just blooming here now, which is super late even for us.

originally posted by: JAGStorm


Finally warm enough here to get things going. I hope we have a long fall this year. We are at least 2 weeks off. Lilacs are just blooming here now, which is super late even for us.

Same here, and also hoping for a long, extended summer now that it's finally got rolling.

Good luck growing!

PS. My tomato plants are settling in so nicely and are really gorgeous and healthy-looking. The Bloody Butcher even has a beautiful purple underside to its leaves. To think a few months ago they were lying dormant stashed away in a dark garage!

originally posted by: JAGStorm

originally posted by: InTheLight
a reply to: zosimov

Good luck with your tomato seeds. I just bought tomato plants as our growing season here is very short.

I mixed up the germination times of the spinach and the pea seeds, the spinach should have sprouted up to nine days and the peas should not even have sprouted yet, but they did and the spinach did not, so I am not sure what is going on here.

If you ever do start seeds indoors try one called Dester. It is an amazing tomato. It is very dense with little white inside. I would describe it as the perfect tomato. Absolutely delicious flavor.

Finally warm enough here to get things going. I hope we have a long fall this year. We are at least 2 weeks off. Lilacs are just blooming here now, which is super late even for us.

I certainly will look for it perhaps next year, but this year I planted Chefs Choice Orange Hybrid tomato plants. Here's a little information about them. I hope they live up to that review.

I also planted two cherry tomato plants but I can't recall the name right now.

www.totallytomato.com...

Great write up for Dester from that site too.

www.totallytomato.com...

Hello thought I'd give an update
Well it's been a bad season for tomatoes so far (long cold spring and a bunch of 95+ degree days in a row) so I can't tell if the blossom drop is due to the weather or the aged seeds...but so far I only have a few tomatoes growing on the Carbon and none that I can see on the Ananas Noire. BUT the cherry tomato plant from this bunch is going wild at nearly 6 ft tall and has a whole bunch of tresses with a bunch of flowers, some tomatoes too... I'll bet I'll get well over a hundred tomatoes from it before the summer's end.

You can see the plants in the back of the picture... really beautiful, tall plants! I hope the weather evens out and the Carbon and Ananas Noire start popping off



a closer look...
(they look happier here than in an old dusty box in the garage!

Also an update. So my peas which sprouted from around 10 years old seeds did not make it but I am not sure whether that was because I planted them in a planter with the tomatoes and they did not get enough sunlight. Hard to say.

My cherry tomatoes are doing really good, but the Chef's Choice hybrid tomatoes aren't doing very well. It is difficult to know why.

a reply to: InTheLight

Did you soak the peas in water for a bit before planting?