6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed

There are some great ideas in this thread! I usually just put my seed starting kit on top of the fridge. It's warm up there and they can't get bumped (I have children and a dog). This year, however, as we have moved into a new house, my cats love to sit on top of the fridge and nock everything down up there. Needless to say I am looking for a new setup this year.

Lights are a good source of heat. Here in Texas when we expect a freeze that could kill some tender plants we wrap a cage around that plant using what ever kind of structure that will surround and cover the plant most wrap this with plastic being sure it does not touch the plant. We place lights inside the structure for the heat source creating a small greenhouse. I am finding uses for those empty plastic milk cartons. By cutting the bottoms our and placing them over plants such as tomatoes as they stop producing as soon as it hits 95 which comes too soon in our area. I have also started to cut a hole in the bottoms of those plastic ice cream containers, leaving a flap which can be closed at night if the temps will drop too low for good growth. I am also thinking about maybe using other small white frosted containers for seed starting here in our area with a hole cut on the bottom for venting during warm days to prevent too much moisture build up. Again Thanks for the wonderful posts on gardenweb.
Paul

Thanks folks! Shoot Dave, I need to be a little more resourceful...... Never knew there was a pepper forum. I'm on it!

I just got some seeds & the sites I'm looking at say the seeds germinate between 80-85 degrees. The room I'm thinking about using is 75 degrees. Somone above mentioned a warming pad, would a heating pad work just as well?

Also - are there any special instructions to growing the Scorpion pepper?

Thanks so much!

You can find some usefully informations this link:
http://www.ehow.com/how_12094796_germinate-leptospermum.html

Good luck...

I am a first timer and I respect that different methods work for different people. I tried half of my daylily seeds in cells (1 per) and the other half in solo cups 20 oz. The solo sup seedlings are twice the size as the cell packs. germination rate was pretty much the same however.

Good discussion!

Lots of images on How to Start Seeds

YouTube Seed Starting Videos

Dave

We are talking about two different situations jurden - seed germination and then growing the plants,

Very few seeds need light for germination but they all need heated soil.

For growing on AFTER germination they need light but not heat.

So using lights to create germinating heat isn't nearly as effective nor as energy efficient. First because it is fluorescent which create minimal heat. Plus it is radiant heat not direct and most dissipates into the air and so wasted. Plus it is inconsistent and cannot be regulated. So for every kw used the degrees of heat achieved from lights is minimal when compared to the direct consistent heat created by using germination heat mats.

Then once the seeds have germinated it is time to remove them from the soil heat, reduce the air temperature if necessary, and provide them with as much light as possible.

Dave

I don't like cell trays. I like 2.25 in. individual plug pots for versatility. I order a bunch to fill standard trays and then as cells need swapped out they can be.

I have a question though can the T12 bulbs be swapped out for the more efficient T8 or T5 bulbs or does it even matter?

As I posted above
Normally T5 or T8 bulbs will not work in T12 fixtures but T12 work well too.

I have tried to adapt T12 fixtures to T8 bulbs several times and while it will work, with some re-wiring, in older T12 fixtures that have built in ballasts, it will not work in the newer fixtures that only have computer chips instead of a ballast.

And that is only with T8s. The T5s will not fit the fixture at all - totally different diameter on the bulb ends and the contact pins cannot engage.

People have used T12 bulbs for decades with no problems but they are gradually being phased out of production because they are much less efficient so more difficult to find.

To easily use T8 or T5 bulbs you'd need to covert all the fixtures to either T8 or T5 fixtures depending on which you chose to use. The fixtures aren't cheap - T8 cheaper than T5) so if you get the stand I would stock up on T12 bulbs now while cheap and available and plan to use it as is until the fixtures themselves shoot craps and then replace the fixtures as needed.

Dave.

Thanks Dave I reread your first post as I was scrolling down and saw where you said that T8 won't work in a T12 fixture. I wasn't planning on changing anything for now. Supposedly the bulbs and ballasts have been hardly used so I figured I had a couple years before I did anything. I read that bulbs in the 6500K range were the best for plants and seeds alike is that true? I really only need it for getting things started as I will be putting them in the garden as soon as possible. Will the 6500K bulbs be good for that use or will something else work better for what I am planning on? My last average frost date is 4/12 which makes it about 2 weeks later that I will transplant. I was planning for about a week for hardening off before planting in the ground. If I start the seeds this weekend that would be about 8 weeks under lights is that about right? I was planning on about 12 hrs. a day using the lights with the T12 bulbs is that enough or not? How much water should I plan on in the beginning?

Glad to be of help Kevin. I had to edit my first post because I found out that Onalee is a she not a he :-)

This post was edited by art33 on Fri, Feb 8, 13 at 19:01

I've never heard of propagating a Datura from cuttings. I have always been told it was seeds, but I could have always been told wrong. I haven't looked for a proof positive answer, because, though I see quite a few of these absolutely beautiful plants growing in people's yards, I do not know them, therefore, I just can't walked up to them & start asking questions. I purchased seeds online of two trumpet plants. I tried sowing them last year without any luck. This year was off too a bad start as well. Unlike the first try, these did not even germinate. The seeds rotted in the soil. Damping off killed my first set. I am currently in my third attempt. It has been about two weeks since they have sprouted, & things seem to be looking brighter.

Potting up is one of my least favorite things to do but it is sometimes the best thing to do in my opinion. If you start in too large of a container then seedlings may grow slowly and have a tendency towards root rot. If you leave them too long in small containers then keeping them in those containers can lead to a challenge keeping them from drying out. Tapping them out of their containers and looking to see how root bound they are getting can be a decent baseline for potting up.

Yep...............you are going to quickly realize that there are many different ways to go about getting your garden started. I am the one who suggested the potting up in the different size plastic cups - it works well for me, but this time of year I like to fuss with my seedlings. My experience (little though it may be) is that leaving them in containers that are to small for them is much worse than the slight trauma of re-potting. I tend to start things to early, and need to move them to larger containers, but I have a short growing season. I am harvesting pretty much everything a good two weeks before my neighbor who buys his transplants in 6 packs or direct seeds.

When the broccoli and cauliflower is repotted from the 3 oz. cup to the 9-12 oz. cup how many sets of true leaves should it have?

How many sets of true leaves should the pepper, tomato and eggplant seedlings have when repotted from the 3 oz. cup to the 9 oz. cup? When repotted from the 9 oz. cup to the 16 oz. cup how many sets of true leaves should the tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant have?

I plan to do asian greens (asian cabbage mostly) and swiss chard as seedling transplants too. I know they don't like having their roots disturbed when transplanting and are more finicky with transplanting in general. I will use cow pots for them, but since they don't like to be transplanted, they won't be repotted while being grown as transplants indoors. So what size cow pot should I use for them? They will be about 2-4 weeks old when transplanted outdoors.

Swiss chard grows well direct seeded.

To test when to transplant container seedlings, gently knock plant up and out. If roots take up all of soil, then transplant. If you transplant too soon, the plant spends time growing roots to fill container.

If plant needs constant watering, transplant to bigger container. Or just time growth to plant directly outdoors from the first container and avoid all that transplanting work.

After you've been at it for a few years, you will learn a lot from your notes. Keep a pad handy with notes like "start __ later" or "use bigger container for ___."