Starting Nasturtiums

[MuddyToes]

I have fallen in love with nasturtiums. I bought a pack of Burpee seeds and the package says you can direct sow or start indoors. I was going to start them in jiffy pots because I read they don't like being transplanted. The package also says to file the seeds with a nail file to speed germination. I have never filed a seed before. I am afraid I may damage it. Is this really necessary? Can I just soak them first? Anybody out there ever done this before?

[Durgan]

I just put the seeds in the ground after the last frost and they grow almost anywhere. I do nothing to the seeds , but tend the planting area by keeping damp. Nasturtiums are beautiful. The flowers are vey tasty and pretty in a salad. Zone 5.

[Tracydr]

I've had better luck direct planting nasturtiums.

[gardeninglee]

I've never done that. I have grown nasturtiums from seed. I give the seeds to my kids and they throw them around on my patio and nasturtiums will pop up all over the patio - in pots, in between cracks. I don't think they are too difficult to germinate. Now the nasturtiums come back every spring and they are all over my patio and my neighbor's.

[MissMoustache]

I soak mine instead of filing, they do just fine. And I've started them in four inch pots and toilet rolls. They also do fine being transplanted as long as they aren't too big or rootbound and you are gentle.

[AlittleSalt]

I'm unsure on the nicking and filing thing too. As you wrote, I'm also afraid of damaging the seed. I know that isn't advice, but it is saying that you are not alone.

(A thought) I wonder what happens in nature that nicks/clips/files a seed to make it germinate?

I use a nail clipper and just make a small cut on the seed then soak a few hours- they germinate pretty easily.
I like nasturtiums too, but discovered Sweet Peas last year and will grow a lot this year. They tolerate summer heat better than Nasturtiums do- they bloomed all summer. This year I found some at Ace Hdwre- got some tall growers and some that get 12" and don't need anything to climb.

[oakley]

One of the few things i use those netted pots for. Seeds that don't care for transplanting.
Just two-3 weeks ahead while waiting for warmer soil. I direct seed as well after soaking.
If they spend to long in pots they often do not recover.
Something finds them tasty and not sure what. Maybe bunnies. Flowers and leaves are
edible. Nice in salads.

I use sandpaper. Clipper is a good idea. Just helping to break the hard seed coat.

All a plant wants to do is reproduce. Some rely on going through the warm digestion of a bird
or animal. Or carried off, nicked by teeth, buried, then forgotten about.
If we lose the forest, we lose the insects and the critters, then the animals and all plants become extinct.
All that has evolved to aide in germination is lost.

So many plants produce thousands of seed and only expect a very small natural germination.
Our help with a nick or scrape or controlled soaking only helps increase the %.

I highly recommend this book,Seeds, http://https://www.amazon.com/Triump...&keywords=seed

and his book 'Feathers'. Both fun reads.

[Deborah]

Muddy, update?

[Andrey_BY]

Usually I start half of nasturtium seeds in greenhouse in April and the other half by direct sowing early in May. I prefer Alaska type varieties with variagated foliage and Salmon colored double flowers.

It is easy to transplant Nasturtiums with some soil around root system.

[TessSR]

I grow and save my own seeds every year. I soak the seeds in warm water and direct sow it on the garden. They grow, flower and give seed pods year after year.

[RJGlew]

Super easy to start indoors - I use a 1020 tray filled with decent potting soil, and sow seeds 4 weeks before I want to plant them out. I have never had a problem transplanting, but I do take a good chunk of soil with them.

Veseys has good starting info:
http://www.veseys.com/ca/en/learn/gu...nfo/nasturtium

[MuddyToes]

Originally Posted by Deborah

Muddy, update?

I haven't done anything with the nasturtium seeds yet. I've been busy potting up tomato and pepper seedlings and trying to get the tomatoes some real exposure to sunshine. Spring is brutal in Delaware. 40 degree temperature swings in 24 hours is not unusual. I overexposed half my seedlings the first day out
So I had to start some more. (Fortunately, I still have plenty of time.)

Anyway, thanks for jogging my memory. I will probably start them indoors in another week or two. I was hoping to plant them around my bean poles to make them a bit more attractive since our neighbors are fairly close.

[MuddyToes]

Originally Posted by Andrey_BY

Usually I start half of nasturtium seeds in greenhouse in April and the other half by direct sowing early in May. I prefer Alaska type varieties with variagated foliage and Salmon colored double flowers.

It is easy to transplant Nasturtiums with some soil around root system.

Salmon double flowers sounds beautiful, Andrey. My seeds are Burpee "Fordhook Favorites". I am going to start some inside and will transplant carefully.

[Deborah]

Do any of you eat the leaves?