Seed Starting

Whaddaya do when a friend from Tennessee tells you her Cornus Florida Dogwood has gone to seed and is making a mess of pods in her backyard?Ask her to send seed, of course. And what do you do when you are moving and have a patch of columbine you just love? Save the seed heads of course.

And of course since I like things that are a little nutty, I had to try 3 different methods of seed starting just to turn this whole escapade into a scientific journey.

My seed starting equipment will show 3 methods of lazy dude seed starting, and involve an investment of about $5 in equipment and $9 in starting mix. First the equipment & methodology.

Method 1 - Used jug (in my case antifreeze) - cost $0.00

Method 2 - Used salad container greenhouse - cost $0.00

Method 3 - Discount rack Christmas decoration storage box - Cost $5.00 (+/-)

All the stuff which includes the bag of seed starting mix (vermiculite, topsoil, peat, manure, etc.) some extra vermiculite since it was lying around, and leftover disposable cups from our Christmas parties.

The seeds. Florida Dogwood on the left, columbine on the right. Since Columbine is like a weed and easy to start, it will give early indications if all is going to plan. Dogwood is an unknown to me, so will take patience.

At first I thought I would mix the starter soil with the vermiculite in the salad container.

OK perty, but not enough volume, and (duh) I can't transfer to the cups easily for the salad container greenhouse. Further mixing to take place in the Christmas ornament storage box.

Helpers helping. They're cute. Should improve the blog's hit count.

Used salad container greenhouse filled and planted.

Salad Container greenhouse and Christmas ball storage container filled, planted, and ready for cold strat. Jug planter to be sealed up.

Everything ready for cold stratification, with cute helpers to boost the blog hit count.

Now all the planters are sitting out on the porch, and the juice jug is buried up to the tape line in the garden (with the lid off). As instructed by a gardening friend. After a month or so I'll bring in the ornament storage and salad green house to put them under lights. The juice jug will stay out until spring. It's anyone's guess which containers will show the best results.