New to vegetable gardening at the age of 63. Curious about the days printed on seed packets. When planted or when?
Way to go! It's never too late to start. Depending on the seed company, the "days" can be counted from time of transplanting seedling from germinating tray, transplanting plants into the ground, or sowing seed in the ground. While "days" should be used as a guideline, they can vary due to many factor; temperature, light, soil, nutrition and seed vigor to name a few.
Is it possible to make a tree sterile so that it will never produce seeds that one can take from a mature tree to grow another one of the same? I ask because I am trying to do just that, grow a tree from the seeds that it drops/produces. But someone told me that those are hollow seeds and the tree has been made sterile so that one has to go buy that species of tree if you want one, like it's a marketing thing.
Yes, it's possible to produce suicide seeds that develop but never produce offspring. But I highly doubt this is the case, as the technology necessary to produce such a plant is very rare. Most often, insects have already eaten the seed before you've gotten to it. Continue searching for these seeds, and look into the ways to grow that variety since some seeds need a stratification period where the seed needs to be chilled or frozen for a while before growing.
I have a box of grass seed that has gotten wet several times and has dried. Can I still use it?
Yes, you can still use it. However, the germination rate will probably be quite low.
What is an open pollinated seed?
This article may help: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/seeds/non-hybrid-seeds-vs-hybrid-seeds.htm
I am looking for gardening suggestions in Michigan in March (i.e. starting seeds). This is for a gardening newsletter. Thank you.
For March, you can put your peas in outdoors in mid-March, as you can Swiss chard and spinach. Indoors at the beginning of March, you can get any of your cole crops (https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/vgen/cole-crop-plants.htm) started and they should be able to be planted out into the garden by mid to late March, depending on your last frost date.
Is it a good idea to start all seeds indoors even if they say plant in direct soil? Will they grow better if you start them indoors?
You do not need to start all indoors unless the weather is cooler where you are and you simply want to get a jump on the season. Many people choose to start them indoors since it allows the plants to get some size on them and become stronger prior to transplanting outside in about mid-spring. Those that are directly sown in the garden are fine to plant per label instructions. Here is more information that should help: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/vgen/growing-vegetables-with-seeds.htm
This isn't for gardening but instead a science project about germination. One of the most common things I have read is that if mold appears on the seed, then the seed will not germinate properly. If this is true, how can I avoid this mold from growing? What kind of conditions would I want to avoid to not have this occur so my germination process will not be affected?
Too much moisture usually causes this. This article might help: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/seeds/preventing-white-fluffy-fungus-on-seed-starting-soil.htm