Late Attempt to Plant Flowers

[naheerameer]

Hey all!
I intend to use this topic as a way to count down the amount of time it takes for these flowers to bloom as well as to use your help in identifying which flowers these are!

Without a garden to experiment with, a recent trip to Empress Market got me purchasing flower seeds ( the name was on the packet but I didn't pay too much consideration to it at the time and now wish to know what exactly it is I am growing ). I think I've started late but I really want my first attempt at ever growing flowers to be a successful and I hope I can be guided as the blooming begins!

I took a small window sill pot and placed the seeds on to the soil and manure mix, slightly pressing them down. I have been watering for almost two weeks now through the use of a spray bottle. I was told not to over water the seedlings, and thus the sprinkling!

My efforts finally bore fruit when today I saw these lovely fellows poking out from the earth.

They must be around 30 seeds in the pot, and roughly 15 or more are now sprouting up! I don't know where to go from here.
Should I start regular watering now that these babies are out, or should I wait for a more mature stem? Will I get a good bloom here in Karachi considering these plants get no less than 6 hours of sunlight a day?

Looking forward to seeing my first attempt at seed germination turn into something gold!!
Thanks for your advice! Will continue to post process as well!

My little custom window sill pot

The seeds are germinating!

Is it just me or is successful germination done in Shade?! It seems that the sunnier parts of the pot have less sprouting than the ones in shade! Any feedback?

[Farhan Ahmed]

Its very difficult to identify the seedlings at this stage.....they have not even set off first true leaves. Maybe celosia or capsicum. Wait and let it grow a little only than anything could be said.

Yes still there is enough season left for summer annuals(which can be sown again for fall display).....the problem is seedlings dying after germination due heat or damping off.

The difficult part is yet to come to see these seedlings through for few days and few leaves.....

I hope the soil mixture that you used was sterile or chances are slim. Keep watering as you have been, however now you can slightly increase the quantity.

Amount of sunlight is good. Keep moist not waterlogged.

[naheerameer]

Thank you Farhan Bhai! I am using old manure from another plant + peat moss. Should be good enough right? I will increase peat as the seedlings mature! The packet had an image of a plant with different colored flowers. Lets see! Can you please explain what exactly is the difficult part? What precautions should I be taking?

Thanks again!!

[Farhan Ahmed]

Most seeds will sprout out of season and in difficult conditions....the problem starts after germination. If its not their season they will be killed by heat/cold and Secondly the soil borne fungus lets the seeds germinate and than attack the seedling....search damping off....Cow manure for seed starting is not a good choice for summer. In cold season it offers no harm....but again pot and poor(fungus prone) medium is a perfect recipe for disaster

[naheerameer]

So your saying that the use of peat to top off the soil is not enough to ensure that there is no fungus on the top?

[naheerameer]

Okay so I read up on damping off and luckily I've got really good ventilation and air flow in my window sill so that shouldn't be an issue. Also as I live on the second floor hopefully all I have to worry about is fungus from the air at max and natural born from the soil conditions itself maybe. I will add some charcoal to the top as it appears it helps to sterilize it! Thanks for the advice otherwise I wouldn't have known about damping off at all!

[jdashraf]

The packet had an image of a plant with different colored flowers. Lets see! !!

Thats a very clear hint to get to know the name of the plant ...

Seeing the seedlings it could be Zinnia, cosmos, portulaca or may be Celosia, as Farhan said ...I think We need to see third layer of leaves for safer guess...

[Farhan Ahmed]

Seeing the seedlings it could be Zinnia, cosmos, portulaca or may be Celosia,...

portulaca is a good guess. Definitely not zinnia or cosmos

[Hello1]

Seeing the seedlings it could be Zinnia, cosmos, portulaca or may be Celosia,...

portulaca is a good guess. Definitely not zinnia or cosmos

Portulaca seeds are really tiny. You normally don't press them down. They re mixed with some sand and then just gently allowed to sit on the planting surface. Soil is kept moist by fine spray of water. Portulaca of the annual variety as well as perenniel are in full bloom.

I would go with zinnia becuse you can start them even now in Karachi. A number of nurseries, which I visited this week,were selling zinnia seedlings. The Saeed Store wala also advised me that this is the best time to plant zinnias. Zinnias started early have flowered and died. I have thrown away several dead plants.

[naheerameer]

Hello1 and everyone else who has contributed so far,
Thanks for the reply regarding the season for the plants! Actually I purchased these seeds from Saeed Store as well.
There the old shop keep simply started handing me seed packets when I asked him to give me some of the annuals that I could plant currently. This happened nearly 3 weeks ago, and thats when I went to the nursery on Shaheed e millat to buy some more perennials as well as get the maali there to plant these for me as I had no knowledge about seed germination.
From what I remember, he simply filled the pot, then went to spread the seeds about and then gently with the back of his fingers evened out the soil. he then told me to spray these with a spray bottle till they start to germinate and said it would take 7-14 days for them to sprout.
Hope this helps!