Winter Flowers and Vegetable seeds

[naheerameer]

Hello!
I was at Abdul Seeds Store in PhIV today and couldnt help myself. I ended up buying two more seed trays and alot of seeds that the staff told me can be grown in this current season in Karachi. I found out on going home that the pack of one of the flowers says it blossoms all through summer. Now im suspicious of the entire lot so I hope you can help me out! Ill attach a picture of the packets too, but the list is:
1. Lettuce (sowed today)
2. Capsicum (sowed today)
3. Tomato small variety (sowed today in the same seed tray as the above. Hoping no light requirement differences?!)
4. Tomato- Walter Giant
5. Ornamental Pepper
6. Tegetes French-Double Mix Sparky
7. Stock-Midget Mixed
8. Salvia Scarlet-St Johns Fire Dwarf
9. Aster Giant Matador-Double Flowers Mixed
10. Tegetes African Giant Perfecta Mixed
11. Phlox Twinkles- Charming Mixture Dwarf( says when budded out will provide a dense carpet of color throughout summer)
I am sure these are all fake names but I think you experts can still figure it out!
Ive also just recently planted chillies that never germinated (9 days have past) and white eggplant (germinated and doing very well in full sun) based on their advice. Are these really plants for the coming winter to be sown in Sept or is it a scam just to buy alot of seeds? Id hate to kill plants because of a seasonal fault. I obtained iceberg seeds from pride seeds and capsicum from Abdul Seeds and planted those in a cool place with four hours of morning sun and plenty of water spraying daily but only five seeds germinated and they died well before a second set of leaves could form. I was told it could be because of the peat moss i put on top and not because of the organic compost i had used to fill the seed tray. Plesse advice!!

Sincerely
Noob gardener

[Farhan Ahmed]

Saeed store's seeds are generally okay and not fake. Meaning by even if they are not the exact cultivar mentioned on the packet, they will be something close. All of the above except Tagetes are cool season annual. You can wait a little and then sow. Ensure good drainage. How are temperatures these days in Karachi?

Seeds trays remain soggy if the media is not well draining. Do not water excessively. Just keep the media barely moist. Reason for dying could be damping off which is again because of hot and humid conditions and poor media. I advice you sow in clay pots. Sow seeds at right depth its better to sow surface/just below the surface if you are not sure about the depth. Smaller the seed more closer it will be to surface. Share images of what you have been doing for better advice.

[Tahir Khan]

Hello!
I was at Abdul Seeds Store in PhIV today and couldnt help myself. I ended up buying two more seed trays and alot of seeds that the staff told me can be grown in this current season in Karachi. I found out on going home that the pack of one of the flowers says it blossoms all through summer. Now im suspicious of the entire lot so I hope you can help me out! Ill attach a picture of the packets too, but the list is:
1. Lettuce (sowed today)
2. Capsicum (sowed today)
3. Tomato small variety (sowed today in the same seed tray as the above. Hoping no light requirement differences?!)
4. Tomato- Walter Giant
5. Ornamental Pepper
6. Tegetes French-Double Mix Sparky
7. Stock-Midget Mixed
8. Salvia Scarlet-St Johns Fire Dwarf
9. Aster Giant Matador-Double Flowers Mixed
10. Tegetes African Giant Perfecta Mixed
11. Phlox Twinkles- Charming Mixture Dwarf( says when budded out will provide a dense carpet of color throughout summer)
I am sure these are all fake names but I think you experts can still figure it out!
Ive also just recently planted chillies that never germinated (9 days have past) and white eggplant (germinated and doing very well in full sun) based on their advice. Are these really plants for the coming winter to be sown in Sept or is it a scam just to buy alot of seeds? Id hate to kill plants because of a seasonal fault. I obtained iceberg seeds from pride seeds and capsicum from Abdul Seeds and planted those in a cool place with four hours of morning sun and plenty of water spraying daily but only five seeds germinated and they died well before a second set of leaves could form. I was told it could be because of the peat moss i put on top and not because of the organic compost i had used to fill the seed tray. Plesse advice!!

Sincerely
Noob gardener

Naheer, it is safe to sow Tomatoes, Peppers and Tagetes(Marigolds) right now.. for others i will advice to wait for October as they cannot withstand the fluctuating temps and humidity of August. The seed fail to emerge because of wrong topping medium, you need to cover the seeds with coconut coir which dries up quickly, compost will remain damp for long resulting in seedling rot in humid months.

[Munir]

Lettuce can also be sown now, till Nov.

[naheerameer]

Thank you for the swift responses! I have sowed capsicum lettuce and tomatoes roma vf. Will the first two die off due to the season?
Karachi is hot and humid these days with very little rain. Pure summer feel with little cloud cover most days.
Im planning on sowing the flowers in October then. Im confused on the targetes since one response says they are not winter annuals, the other says they can be planted right now and winter is pretty close!
Also i will sow all flowers in clay pots. But as for the vegetables they can be sowed in trays right? I have used seed compost which i got from Saeed Store only. When i topped the last batch with peat moss the lettuce and capsicum either failed to germinate or lasted three days only.. so i shouldnt top the capsicum, tomatoes and lettuce with coconut coir either right?

[Farhan Ahmed]

Regarding the tegete confusion . Do you have winters in karachi?

[Munir]

I have seen nurseries in Karachi loaded with Marigolds, during its season.I think you better sow the seeds now & transfer by mid september or get the seedlings from a nursery even earlier, as your requirement is not much. You can have the flowers even beyond December, since you are growing them in containers-which may not be needed for growing something else.

[naheerameer]

Saeed store's seeds are generally okay and not fake. Meaning by even if they are not the exact cultivar mentioned on the packet, they will be something close. All of the above except Tagetes are cool season annual. You can wait a little and then sow. Ensure good drainage. How are temperatures these days in Karachi?

Seeds trays remain soggy if the media is not well draining. Do not water excessively. Just keep the media barely moist. Reason for dying could be damping off which is again because of hot and humid conditions and poor media. I advice you sow in clay pots. Sow seeds at right depth its better to sow surface/just below the surface if you are not sure about the depth. Smaller the seed more closer it will be to surface. Share images of what you have been doing for better advice.

Farhan Bhai
I have been trying to upload these pics the day you asked for them but size restrictions forced me to edit them first!
Here goes:

[naheerameer]

Please note the next three images:

[naheerameer]

This last picture can be used to gauge if my seeding compost is the right thing to use. I bought it from Saeed store, and its as black as it should be. Seems to clump in my new seed tray...