23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

Just answered this question over on the Growing from Seed forum. Heat mats are for germination only. Once sprouts appear, remove from the heat to avoid damage to the seedlings.

Dave

Thanks! Perfect.

No need for anyone to apologize,
All the info shared is very informative.

Perhaps I didn't make myself very clear.
The peppers were started inside,
on my kitchen counter under an overhead fluorescent light.
As soon as they popped up,
I took them outside,
where they stayed as long as the temps stayed 'friendly'.
(we're only talking about 16 little peat pellet pots,
so they are easy to move around)
But as it has been very cloudy,
I thought that was why they were so leggy.
So I brought them back in and dug out the Ott light.

They were inside during the 31 degrees,
Also during the 91 degrees.
They are back outside now,
In dappled sun.
My intentions to pot them up yesterday
Were derailed when I woke up with a sore throat, cough, migraine, etc.
Hopefully I will get them potted up later today or tomorrow.

Again, thanks to everyone for all the information,
And also again, no apologies necessary!

I will post an update when I see how they react
To being set deep into the Styrofoam cups.

Rusty

My guess as to the legginess was not the clouds, but due to the lighting indoors on hot/cold days. The shifting light values from bright sunlight to dark indoors light is, to me, your most likely culprit. Your best bet is, if starting seeds early, to leave them inside under lights until you are ready to harden off and transplant. Unless you can keep them outside during daylight hours and only bring them in at night until transplant.

P.s. pepper seeds don't need light for germination, so, save yourself a few extra $$ and leave the light off until they sprout ;)

Tater Antler's. Should we go (gently) forth?

Looks like a bag of organic potatoes in my basement. Waiting for snow to melt so I can plant.

TATER ANTLERS; opinions welcome

Tater Antler's !

If you want to find well-suited multiplying onion cultivars for TX you need to communicate with Jeff Cupp, in AL. He is collecting all the southern cultivars he can find. I bought some different ones from him a year ago and set them out in Florida sand and left them for 10 months. Not only did some survive (some did not but that is very tough conditions) they are doing quite well. One is a top setter, others are just base multipliers.

In our area, the Farm Coops carry "multipler onions" which are planted as sets in the fall. You pull the clusters apart and plant each little onion about six inches apart. They each make a cluster of green onions that grow larger (the cluster, not the onions) all winter. When I want green onions, I go out, dig up a cluster, replant at least one of them in that spot and bring the rest in. Even as cold as our winter was this year, I still have beautiful green onions to pull for the early spring lettuce. I have never tried saving the sets. May have to give that a whirl this year. These are what farmerdill was referring to. I'm just giving you a bit more info. The first time I planted them I had no idea what to expect and planted WAY too many.

I'll continue to use popsicle sticks in spite of their one-season lifespan, because I get double enjoyment from them: first, the cold sweet treat on a hot summer day, and second, the following springtime, the plant marker.

Carol

With the mini-blinds, write with a pencil. It never fades and is legible years later.

We have a clear plastic high tunnel type of unheated greenhouse. The ground never froze all winter (NH) inside. Spinach has continued to grow. I would be concerned about how hot your greenhouse gets during the day. Recently, on a sunny day, mine got up to 97 degrees F. Eliot Coleman has written at least two books on extending the growing season. He market gardens year round in Maine. We have an indoor/outdoor thermometer so I know how hot it gets in the high tunnel. The sides can roll up when it gets warmer. When it's warm all the time, the sides will stay up all the time and the door will stay open.

I try to get spinach planted in the open garden as soon as possible. One winter it wintered over and started growing again as soon as it started getting warm enough. Somewhere I read that spinach is day length sensitive and will bolt when the days get longer. I've had good crops ever since I started planting early.

Market gardens using high tunnels in our area are moving indoor grown (cold hardy plant) seedlings to their high tunnels right now. But, I wonder why you have white plastic instead of clear. You might not be getting enough light right now.

How cold will the coldest nights be? Keep in mind that a plastic greenhouse won't retain much heat at night (although it will to some extent if it has a concrete floor). A dry dirt floor is a poor heat source. A moist dirt floor is a good heat source but keeping it moist all the time is a good way to encourage diseases.

Not all cool weather crops are equally tolerant of cold. Spinach, carrots, broccoli, kale, collards and tatsoi are very hardy but lettuce, celery, beets, swiss chard, bok choy and endive are somewhat less hardy. A 20 degree frost, for example, will not harm the first group but could damage the second.

Row covers are a good idea. I'm sure it will work out for you but start off with the more cold-resistant crops first.

Don't forget to vent the greenhouse on hot days - spinach does not like germination temperatures over 70 degrees.

Thanks, all. I guess I should add to my post the fact that as my name might suggest... I like to build and create things. I build complex, eccentric, and challenging interior architecture all over the world, mainly for the very wealthy. Sometimes (more often than that!) I get tired of millionaires and just want to make something simple. For me. This "screen room" is perhaps unnecessary effort, but it does bring together 2 of my favorite things: Growing and Building. Anyway. This is probably too much information! The beds I'm planning to cover are in full sun, though i hadn't given thought to the window screen blocking some light. Do any of you feel that the light blocked would have any significant impact... positive or negative? Also, i have it in the back of my head that these hinged frames (basically a 30" tall cage) will provide support for shade cloth to shield some of the cooler temp loving crops from summer heat in hopes of extending their harvest.

The top gardener in our area built a screened covered raised bed for broccoli last season to deter the root maggot flies. It worked great. No problems with root maggots, and the broccoli grew very well. I don't think the screening blocked enough sunlight to be of any concern.

There are many options with cucs. You could go all the way to a seedless variety but you may not be happy with the price of starting seeds. Sweet Success seems to be a popular variety that won AAS status many years ago. For burpless picklers Ballerina, Picolino and Cool Breeze all have hardly noticable seeds.

Thank you all so much for your advice. It is much appreciated.

Thanks all

Thank you all

Do you have voles or rats in the garden? If yes, they will clean out all peanuts you grow.

Thanks for the suggestions! I do have voles and moles and deer, so I'll have to stay extra vigilant.

Wayne, what variety(s) do you grow? I'm in zone 6 a/b in Indiana also and plan to grow sweet potatoes for the first time this year.

I plant mostly O'Henry which is a smooth light yellow. Other decent ones are Beauregard and Covington orange ones. For bush Vardman might be ok.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sweetpotatoes

I always knew it as a winter vegetable.

While it is more of a winter vegetable, seeing as you are in zone 2, I would go ahead and try it. Seed is relatively cheap and if it does not work for you, you could probably try again.

Runswithscissors, I have had problems with it too. I am still trying to get the right conditions for it and have not found them yet but I want to keep trying. I really enjoy it but suspect my timing may have been off in the past.