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I've been feeling really down latly , so I decided to start a little garden in my dorm room. I lost my dad when I was thirteen to suicide, and he always loved to garden, we always had flowers and plants everywhere in our back yard, so I'm doing this as a bit of a tribute to him. also plants are very relaxing.

I don't have my dads green thumb by any means but I do ok. I have planted(in starter soil and peat pots ): Lavender, Panseys, lobelia(crystal pallace) scarlet runner bean and irish poppies.

The panseys and lavender I think will be fine, ive never tried to grow lobelia or Irish poppies in pots/a planter box.

Sofar I have just watered them , plastic over their case and plopped them under a florescent light. (about 12-16 hours a day aswell as natural light in the day)

My room has plenty of sun in the day and things for the runner to climb, so they should be fine. IF anyone can give me any tips to keep these babies healthy and happy I would love to hear


*note: I haven't really watered them much(its only been two days. I fear over-watering ) but I have been giving them a good misting with a spray bottle once a day to keep them moist rather than soggy

Hi Forever, welcome to the forum.

Do you get direct sunlight in your room? If so, make sure the soil with plastic over it doesn't get too hot. Your seeds need warmth to germinate but it can get so hot under those things in direct sunlight that the seeds will not survive. Keep us posted as to your success with them.

Good luck with the plants in your dorm room. This time of the year is great for lifting spirits, and you have selected a great way to pay tribute to your father. My dad's birthday was last Monday, but he passed away several years ago. I always remember him when I am working with soil, plants, etc because he is the one who taught me to work hard, growing up on a cattle farm.

Let us know how your plants turn out. When I have plants under a grow light, I normally do not water them but every third or fourth day, and the plastic cover keeps the moisture in.

Thanks for the kind words and welcomes guys ^.^

As for the direct sun, they are situated in a spot right now where they would get direct sun...if it weren't so over cast every day. Once the sun comes out I have a curtain to draw(or partially draw) so I don't cook my poor seeds to death.

Once they start showing true leaves I think it should be safe to open the window full and let my babies start photosynthesizing

Ill keep you all posted

Sounds like you are doing just fine and are aware of things to be careful of (like over-watering). This is a lovely tribute to your dad, keeping his memory forever green.

Just be careful not to leave the plastic cover on too long once seeds start sprouting....

rainbowgardener wrote:
Just be careful not to leave the plastic cover on too long once seeds start sprouting....

Yeah I plan to take the ones that sprout out of the box about a day after they sprout. I think the lavender will be in there for a while, my friends took about a month to germinate

Woot! I about half of the seeds I planted have already poked through the soil and its only been three days. The scarlet runner and the lobelia. The scarlet runner is so big already it was almost touching the top of the grow box so I moved it out along with the lobelia pot with the most sprouts in it.

^.^ couple more days and ill start snipping out some of the lobelia, theres about twelve sprouts on one pot XD I may have been a touch overzealous with my seeding