#12: I Grew Plants From Seed!

An unusually cold and snowy winter here in Southern Indiana turned into an unseasonably warm second half of February. I went out to spray off my air conditioner (which is a thing I have to do every year because my air conditioner is weird), so I decided to stop by my seeds to see if anything was happening.

When I saw what I captured in the picture above, I literally jumped for joy.

If you'll recall, I've been super skeptical of my ability to actually grow native plants from seeds. It all sounds very easy, but I have a bad track record when it comes to keeping plants alive, so I wasn't confident that it would work out. I could not have been happier to see these little guys popping up.

Even better, I have some sprouts from seeds that Prairie Moon Nursery's website said were difficult to grow from seed. I was skeptical that I would grow anything, but I was confident that the "difficult to germinate" seeds wouldn't do anything. But I have lots of Common Blue Violet (Viola Sororia) sprouting.

I stood around for a while staring at my new little sprouts and trying to figure out what all was sprouting, then I made my husband come outside to look at them. After about an hour of reveling in my joy, another thought hit me:

Now what?

I suppose my skepticism of my ability to grow plants from seed led me to look only into how to do it and not at all into what to do if it works. Did I need to separate them and move them into other containers? Put them in the ground? Water them? Bring them inside when it inevitably gets warm again? I had no idea.

So I did what I do and started researching. Apparently the best thing to do is wait until the plants have 2-4 "true leaves."

If, like me, you have no idea what a true leaf is, it's a leaf that looks like what the plant's leaves are supposed to look like. The little oval leaves you can see in my pictures above are just cotyledons, and the shift to growing true leaves indicates that the plant "has shifted from stored seed energy to independent photosynthesis."

I'll be honest, I have no idea what "independent photosynthesis" is, but I am interpreting it to mean that the plant has turned into an actual plant that can support itself from sunlight and water rather than a couple of leaves supporting themselves from only what nutrients the seed itself has on supply.

Once the plants have 2-4 true leaves, the ideal approach is to separate them and move them into their own containers. I guess you can also put them in the ground, but it's riskier while they're so small. One hungry deer or rabbit can walk by and chomp the whole thing down, ruining all of your effort.

It's also really important at this stage to make sure that the soil doesn't dry out. I suppose once roots start growing, they use more water. The best approach is to water them from the bottom: sit them in a tray filled with 1-2 inches of water until the soil starts to feel damp (usually between 15-60 minutes). This keeps the seeds from rotting from getting too wet while preventing the soil from drying out.

As far as managing the plants during the inevitable return to freezing temperatures we're certain to see, most people say it's not a big deal. Since these plants are native, they're as used to the 40-degree temperature swings in weather we see here in the Ohio valley as I am (if you ever visit here in spring, make sure you have a t-shirt, sweater, and jacket with you at all times). However, if you want to be safe, you can bring them inside or cover them with a blanket overnight.

Depending on how brave I'm feeling, I might run an experiment to see how the new sprouts deal with the cold. I'll bring some inside, cover some with a blanket, and leave a few out to deal with the cold on their own. We'll see though. I have so much yard to cover in plants that I'd hate to lose anything, so I might just play it safe and cover them all with a blanket on freezing nights.

Now that I have little sprouts, I'm feeling so anxious to get back out into the garden! I'll have to avoid the temptation to tame that excitement by buying new plants. Though I did discover Pink Muhlygrass (Muhlenbergia capillaris) over the weekend, and I feel like I need some of those in my yard.

I'll start posting much more frequently once the planting season ramps back up, so make sure to subscribe to get new posts delivered to your email!