Ok so it makes me feel Incredibly dumb but i know nothing about
planting from seed in Pots. my mother has always had her gardens, but
honestly she always planted them directly in the soil. Now i live in an
apartment and i miss her Morning Glorys, Teresitas (thats spanish name
i dont know what theyre called in english) and my cat misses her
catnip. So this is my Dumb question. what are the first steps to
planting seeds in a pot? i know about spacing my seeds when i plant
them directly in the soil, but how does spacing work in a pot?? esp
small ones? when it says, plant no less than six inches apart, is that
per seed? i m planting a few herbs, basil, parsley, marjoram, chives
and sage (cuz i love cooking w/ fresh herbs) and for rec. plants i have
some morning glory seeds.

help anyone?

i guess pple around here arent so friendly..i doubt i m the only one
that doesnt know this. theres 4 replies to the thread posted right
after mine, so i know pple havent overlooked my question...

In article says...
So this is my Dumb question. what are the first steps to
planting seeds in a pot? i know about spacing my seeds when i plant
them directly in the soil, but how does spacing work in a pot?? esp
small ones? when it says, plant no less than six inches apart, is that
per seed? i m planting a few herbs, basil, parsley, marjoram, chives
and sage (cuz i love cooking w/ fresh herbs) and for rec. plants i have
some morning glory seeds.

Growing plants in containers can be tricky. With limited space the key
is to plant most efficiently putting plants in the smallest container
possible so as to not waste space and allow for more plants. This is
rather difficult since plant tags do not contain information on the size
of the root ball or a recommendation for a minimum sized pot. Therefore
you can only experiment and learn from other's experiences.

For example, the container size for growing tomatoes is a big issue.
Many people claim to have success in 5 gallon buckets or less but that
depends upon the type of tomato grown. My neighbor has a patio breed of
tomato on her balcony in a very small little pot (8" wide) and it has
grown very nice round tomatoes (but not very many). Plants like hot
peppers seem to thrive in 5 gallon buckets and over the years I have
learned to use them exclusively. You can get away with even smaller
containers for herbs like basil and parsley. Perennial herbs like
chives, sage, and oregano can start in smaller containers but if you
keep them alive for a couple of years you'll need to promote them to
larger containers if you want them to get bigger or you can split them
into several containers. If you don't just keep them as is.

I'm no expert at planting seeds in pots but when I do I tend to forget
the rules and in a say 8" pot, place 5 or 6 seeds equidistance from each
other in the soil. When they start to grow then separate into bigger
pots or let them grow as a clump of flowers. Many plants are easy to
transplant this way. The key is to start small and promote the plants
to bigger pots when necessary.

As for morning glories, this year I experimented with one in a very
small 6" pot, 5" deep. Since I grow a lot of morning glories in
containers my goal was to understand its root system better to see if I
can optimize my system next year. Eventually the root ball filled the
entire pot and started growing out the bottom. I then made a
rudimentary hydroponics system using the plastic cover of a 50 CD-R
spindle. The pot fit perfectly in the plastic cover leaving a few more
inches at the bottom which then filled with water for the roots to grow
in. Over the last month or so the roots have almost completely filled
that area too and the plant has grown more than 10' high producing a lot
of flowers in a relatively tiny little area. You might be able to get
away with something like this on a balcony although you do need
somewhere for the MGs to climb.

thank you so much for taking the time to reply, this helped me alot!

so its ok to place a couple of seeds in one pot right? thats what i was
gonna do. but i didnt wanna mess them up. i m planning on maybe
trannsplanting the MGs into the soil next to the fence once they start
to grow and get bigger.

again thanks alot

Hi,
Planting in pots is not all that different from planting in the ground. Spacing is just a
matter of experience and common sense. I would tend to plant the seeds very closely, and then thin
them out, later on. You should select a pot size appropriate to the resultant size of the plant, in
question. Use a well draining mix for your pot, like a potting soil. Make sure there are drain
holes at the bottom. I cover these with stones to allow water to pass, but not soil. Pots tend to
dry out much more quickly
than ground soil, so keep the pots well moistened. Biggest problem I have with pots is figuring out
which plants are the ones I planted from the many varieties of weeds that want to take over.

Good Luck with the Pots,

Sherwin D.

Switchblade wrote:

Ok so it makes me feel Incredibly dumb but i know nothing about
planting from seed in Pots. my mother has always had her gardens, but
honestly she always planted them directly in the soil. Now i live in an
apartment and i miss her Morning Glorys, Teresitas (thats spanish name
i dont know what theyre called in english) and my cat misses her
catnip. So this is my Dumb question. what are the first steps to
planting seeds in a pot? i know about spacing my seeds when i plant
them directly in the soil, but how does spacing work in a pot?? esp
small ones? when it says, plant no less than six inches apart, is that
per seed? i m planting a few herbs, basil, parsley, marjoram, chives
and sage (cuz i love cooking w/ fresh herbs) and for rec. plants i have
some morning glory seeds.

help anyone?

Some seed packets show pictures or drawings of what the first leaves look
like when the seed sprouts. Keep the seed packet after you plant the seed,
because sometimes there are weed seeds in the pot which will germinate first
and fool you otherwise.
"Switchblade" wrote in message
ups.com...
thank you so much for taking the time to reply, this helped me alot!

so its ok to place a couple of seeds in one pot right? thats what i was
gonna do. but i didnt wanna mess them up. i m planning on maybe
trannsplanting the MGs into the soil next to the fence once they start
to grow and get bigger.

again thanks alot