In article , [H]omer
writes
Hi again,

Well after months of getting to grips with gardening I've discovered two
things:

1) ... I still don't know anything, but ...
2) ... I seem to have a natural talent

With the exception of Coleus, which seems to *hate* me (keeps dying) and
the sad case of the potted Pin Oak (un-watered for 3 years), I seem to
have the Midas touch with plants.

They all turn into a lifeless metal? ;-)

Oh and someone told me that spider plants
are good for sitting next to TV's and Computers, since they absorb,
neutralise and thrive on electromagnetic energy, which is harmful to us
humans. Cool

Franz will prbably have something to say here ;-


I'm getting brave now, and playing around with harvested seeds, but I am
mainly ignorant of such things. So far I think I've figured out that you
can't propagate F1's since they are sterile,

No. They're not sterile.
F1 merely means the first generation of a cross. The reason you don't
propagate from them is that they don't breed true. Simplifying
enormously, the F1 generation will have inherited half its genes from
one parent and half from the other. So taking a particular gene, it may
have A from one parent and B from the other, and what you see on the
plant is the result of this AB combination.

But when you cross with another AB plant, the first plant can give
either A or B to the seed, and so can the second plant.
So the seed can be AA, AB or BB - in other words a mixture.

but anything else should
work, right? I'd like to grow Laburnums from seed (they seed naturally at
the base of the tree in my garden anyway) but I'm not sure how to handle
the process. I've split the (now dry) pods, and planted them in seed
trays, but what now? Do I keep it hot or cold, wet or dry, indoors or
outdoors?

A rule of thumb is use the same rule as for bulbs - plant at twice the
depth of the seed - so big seeds might have half an inch of soil above,
tiny ones scattered on surface. Keep the soil moist at all times, and
keep at around 68 deg F. If nothing happens after a couple of months,
and the seed is not from a tropical plant, it might need a 'winter'
before it will germinate - either leave it outside all winter, or wrap
the seed tray in a plastic bag and leave it in the fridge for about 6
weeks.

There's lots of exceptions. Some seeds need to be buried, others (like
poppies) will only germinate in the light. Some need to have been
through smoke or a fire, some need to have been through an animal's gut.

But most seeds are reasonably trouble free, and it is fascinating to see
the life cycle from seedling through to flower. The tricky stage is
after they have germinated - they're very susceptible to drought, so
important to keep the soil moist (but not waterlogged), and they have a
high light requirement - if it's too dark, they will grow long, weak
and leggy. That's why most seeds are sown in the spring rather than just
after harvest in the autumn.

The arable area (an embankment) that I cleared to make into a kind of
hillside meadow, is now completely free of couch grass and other weeds,
and I've been improving the soil (a bit) with garden compost. Should I be
planting wildflower seeds now or in the early spring?

Is it bare soil or grass? If bare soil, then seeds in spring are fine.
If grass, you'd be better growing the seeds in pots and planting out
plants into the grass.

Think about whether you want annual or perennial flowers. Annuals - the
cornflowers and poppies that spring into mind - will need you to dig
over the area every winter.

I never did get
around to buying a soil-test kit, so I suppose I should do that first
before committing to any particular species. Reminder - it is exposed, NE
facing, coastal, dry/silty (improved), high nitrogen,

that's your problem! With high nitrogen, the grass will compete
successfully with the flowers. You need to reduce the nitrogen level by
mowing and removing the clippings, otherwise you'll have to do a lot of
cossetting of the flowers.


--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"