If you are looking for a fall project to continue into winter, you might consider starting house plants from seed. This requires some patience, but it can be fun watching the little seed plants grow into mature plants. This, of course, will take awhile, but you can use them for gifts.
Pick varieties that have proven to be successful from seed and those you would like as full-size plants. You can get seed from your favorite mail order seedhouse and sometimes from local nurseries.
The medium for starting seed should be a sterile mixture. This will prevent growth of a soil-borne fungus called damp-off, which causes the seedlings to fall over and die and can hinder germination. If you use your own soil mixture, you will need to fertilize it.
A mixture that holds moisture well takes equal parts of vermiculite, milled sphagnum moss and perlite. After the seedlings are up and growing, fertilize regularly with one-fourth strength liquid fertilizer.
The container can be most anything that will hold media and seeds.
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Regular clay or plastic pots are good. Be sure to scrub them well first. Also useful are discarded household containers.
Fill the containers to one-fourth inch from the top. The medium must be thoroughly moistened before planting the seeds. Do this by setting pots in a sink or pan of water. Let the pots sit in the water until you can see moisture at the top of the mix. Remove pots and let them drain.
Now for the sowing. Carefully cut off the tip of the seed packet. Pour a tiny quantity into the palm of your hand and with your other hand sprinkle the seed carefully onto the surface of the planting medium. You don't want to end up with too many plants, so don't plant it all. Put the balance of the seed away in a cool dry place for another time.
Tiny seed should not be covered but lightly pressed into the soil.
Larger seed should be covered just enough so you cannot see the seed. Place the containers in the sink in a few inches of water and let them remain until you can see moisture at the top. Then remove and drain again.
Cover the containers with plastic, making sure it does not touch the medium. Plastic bags work fine. Set a stake in the container to keep up the plastic if needed. This cover keeps the medium uniformly moist.
Place the containers in good light (but not sunlight) rather than in the dark. Check the soil moisture occasionally by lifting the plastic and testing lightly with a finger.
After the seedlings are up, you can remove the plastic. Fertilize regularly. Transplant your seedlings when the first true leaves appear.
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You can transplant several into a container and transplant later into individual pots if you wish, or you can plant singly right away into tiny pots, transplanting later on.
Here is a list of plants that do well started from seed:
E The Gesneriad family: African violets, achimenes, columnea, episcia, gloxinia, rechsteineria, streptrocarpus.
E Geranium: Try a mixed package if you can get them.
E Foliage plants which can be started from seed include cacti, carissa, coleus, rubber plant, umbrella plant, schefflera, philodendron, celosia, aucuba.
E To start fern spores, use the same mix and carefully sprinkle the spores over the medium just as with seed. Keep in a warm spot with good light. After four or five weeks, you will see what looks like green fuzz. This is not algae. Keep it growing and gradually your new little ferns will emerge from the fuzz. Continue to water and care for these as with seedlings. Good luck!
Readers can reach Forum columnist Dorothy Collins at dorothycollins@i29.net
