I started the rhododendrons in plastic water jugs that I had cut the tops off of and filled with a mixture of peat moss, perlite, and potting soil. The potting soil was a substitute for sand, which I couldn't find in January. They were lightly moistened and then sealed in plastic bags and kept under a grow light 18 hours/day. It didn't take long for them to germinate, and pretty soon I had hundreds of little seedlings. After a few weeks I transplanted 10 into individual pots. The rest of the seedlings are still in their beginner pots, but I'm going to take a few out tonight to repot and then discard the rest, because they are getting a green mold on them and not growing anymore. The ones in the pots are doing fine. I take the plastic off during the day and just keep them by a window. I cover them at night after spritzing them with a little warm water. It's hard to tell if they need water or not.
This has all been a great winter gardening project. At least for me it has, because I love rhodies and could never have enough. I have no idea how many years it will take for one of these to bloom, but if they even live it will be a miracle to me!
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3 comments:
Fabulous blog! Informative, lovely conversational tone. Clear focus. Keep it up. After a few years you could have a whole slew of gardening projects.
This is an amazing blog, one which I hope you keep up to inspire me with my yard. The idea of starting a rhododendron from seeds is an incredible idea - I hope it works! Keep up the good work and keep inspiring me.
Like most people I bought my rhubarb and thought I'd lost all but one plant. It seems one plant comes up before the others. so I do have four which I hope to pick from this year.
No horseradish but would love to grow some.
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