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Monday, February 4, 2013

Recipe For Blooms


Geranium Blooms!!!

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Oh ya…kids…it’s time…yep..time to GET YOUR PLANT ON!!!
LETS GET SOME DIRT IN OUR HAIR!   WOO HOO!  
Yes…I am a little excited…but hey…it’s planting time…what do you expect?   IT’S PLANTING TIME!  :) 
Okay…ahem…I am going to pull myself together here…and stop celebrating for a few minutes…so I can help you guys get YOUR plant on!   It’s a simple recipe really…

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You will need a few little supplies…I use the items above quite regularly.   Included in this photo are:
~Plastic garden markers (made out of an inexpensive mini blind that I cut up)
~Chamomile Tea bag
~Stainless Steel Widger (helps to move soil and seeds)
~Seed spoons
~tweezers
~scissors
~permanent marker

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~Geranium Seeds!!!

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~soil and pots!!!  
Lets get busy!
!!!!!!!!   WAIT   !!!!!!!!
Now, before we continue here, I think it is important to discuss my choice of planting medium.  I have had a lot of questions regarding what I use to plant in, and I think it is about time, I answer this question once and for all…don’t you?  
sun_gro_family

I like to use Sunshine professional growing mixes!   There are many different mixes…and there is always one that is just perfect for your planting needs!   I have used Pro Mix 3 and Pro Mix 4 for YEARS now and I have never been disappointed in this product.



 To visit the website for more information and to see what else this company has to offer, click on the highlighted words or the photos above…and you will be taken straight to their site!
Okay…I feel much better now…so lets get back to business….

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Geraniums are vulnerable to damping off …and I like to take some precautions to try to prevent this disease from becoming a problem in my greenhouse.   At one time I used a chemical product, but have learned a more environmentally friendly way to manage this issue.  I use chamomile tea!     I haven’t had any trouble with Damping off since…so it must be effective!
I use a plastic greenhouse tray, add a plastic liner (as some of them are getting old and have a few little leaks)   I fill the tray with water and put a tea bag in there to steep…

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(I also steep a full garbage can of chamomile tea in the greenhouse for watering purposes for a few weeks) 

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Next we need to make a little dimple in the soil to put out seed into…I use the tip of my marker to do this…it’s the perfect size.

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Remember…not too deep…just be gentle!  Now that we have our little dimple made…it’s time for SEEDS!

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Using the seed spoon or tweezers, place one tiny seed into the dimple you just made in the pot!

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There it is!

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Lightly cover that tiny seed with some of the growing medium and you are almost ready to grow!

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If you are like me, you like to know what color everything is going to be.   I label each pot with the color of the geranium that is planted in it.  I use the cut up mini blinds and my permanent marker to tag each pot with the bloom color!

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All tagged and sown…ready for some water!

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Once I have sown and labeled each pot, I like to let them absorb some of the tea steeped water from the bottom.  The chamomile tea will help to prevent damping off disease, and soaking in from the bottom will prevent our little seeds from being moved from their new little homes.   Once the soil is evenly moistened…I move them back into their growing trays and wait. 
…and wait.
…and wait.
…and wait.   I can’t even explain why I love to grow from seed so much…anyone who knows me knows I am NOT a patient Tootsie…and it seems there is a LOT of waiting involved in this hobby doesn’t there?  well…it’s worth it.
You will need to repeat the entire process again and again and again until all your Geranium seeds are sown…

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I planted 200 Geraniums of various colors today…How many do you plant?  Do you have a favorite color?

Well that’s it for me today…

Until Next Time…Happy Gardening!

*)*)*) Trials of life can either make us or break us - it's our attitude that makes the difference.

(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•.
www.tootsietime.com
 
sunshine

8 comments:

My Garden Diaries said...

WOW! That is fantastic! Oh what I would do for a greenhouse!!!! Your methods are right on...thank you so much for sharing. It is always nice to see how a pro does it! Have a great week!

Joani said...

OMG. 200 pots of seeds. That will be a lot of geraniums. What do you do with all of them? I love the cherry red color. I usually have a few around but not the extreme that you do. Happy planting. Have a great week.

Gardener on Sherlock Street said...

There will be color at your place!
This was a great how to. Love the chamomile tea trick.

Clint Baker said...

Thank you for sharing this with us!

Country Gal said...

Fantastic pots so much info and your photos are wonderful . WOW ! 200 geraniums I would be in gardening heaven if I could do that , I love geraniums . Brought mine in from the summer and they have greened up bloomed three times and grown new leaves so I must be doing something right lol ! I need a proper gardening house like yours but that's just not in the cards right now , one day ! Thanks for sharing all your gardening know hows with us . Have a good day !

Karen said...

I just found your site and LOVE IT!!! Thanks for all the info. I'm just getting my seeds started myself!

Pippi21 said...

Great tuitorial on growing geraniums..and the useful tip with using camomile tea..I've heard of that somewhere before but you make it seem so simple. I see you have all your bottom trays lined to hold in the water..that answers one of my questions..the water is sucked up via the soil to the seedling. You only use one tea bag per tray of geraniums? Do you use the tea on other type seedlings too?

Pippi21 said...

Glenda, your tuitorial on planting Germaniums is wonderful but why do you only plant one geranium seed per pot? I'm sure there's a logical reason. If I read your tuitorial correctly, you line your trays with heavy duty trash bags, and use camomille tea bags..is that water that you are adding to the trays warm enough to steep the tea bag? What size teabag were you using? Any particular brand that you prefer? I love geraniums, especially red and the coral ones. Last year a friend had a beautiful hanging plant and come Fall she was going to throw it to the trash and I asked her if I could have it and see if I could try overwintering it in my sunroom. By golly, I did it, and come late March or early April, put it outside hanging on the limb of the dogwood tree and it has bloomed itself crazy all summer. I hope to take some cuttings from it and try to propagate them in the sunroom over the winter months. Do you save any of the seeds from your plants and harvest them for next year? You are really gifted, gal!
Sure enjoy your tuitorials and blog.