6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
I got them last fall at our local IFA. As soon as they get there seeds out I will see if they have them again. Most seeds Catalogs have them, its the red candy ones I cannot find seeds for. I will get back to you as soon as I know if they are carrying them this year.
I don't do the paper towel technique...too much work for me! But, I do have light above my sand bed, so the minute seedlings emerge they have light. I too don't wait for all seedlings to sprout before taking them off the heating bed(I do wait for a majority to sprout though), but I am a bit slower to remove my peppers. I have seen peppers absolutely stall once off that
heat:( Providing light when seeds germinate solves many issues.
It sound like more work to sprout the seeds in towels. More chance of damaging the sprouts & roots. I'm starting seeds like my father showed me. I plant in Rubbermaid trays and use sheets of thick plastic to trap the moisture while on the heating pad. But I hold the pepper on the heating mat longer too.
'It is always fun to save a few bucks!'
I realise you are enjoying this project for its own sake and maybe relish working out the technical aspects of lighting etc., but all of your 'companion' plants are hardy and would grow perfectly well if sown outdoors. No bucks at all. Sledgehammers and nuts come to mind. ;)
Flora UK, yes I do have a tendency to really geek out on the engineering aspects, but right now it is getting down into the 20's at night so I don't knwo if those companions would survive, and with the plague of pests I had last year, I want to be sure these things are ready to help from the moment my veggies sprout outside.
We're using the same lights. I have two of those fixtures over 4 trays total (as of today). But mine are probably leggy because they were too hot previously, and also maybe because they were under HPS lighting.
Keep us posted on how they harden off outside. I'm going to sow another batch of cabbage, broc/caul with my now lower temps and fluro lighting. I'll update later to see if there is a noticeable difference.
Same here - Ferry Morse seeds are my preference by far over Burpee. Price differences aside, there are just as many, if not more, complaints about Burpee seeds on garden watchdog sites than about F-M.
Stray seeds in a packet leading to a different plant is possible with any seed company but it is difficult to blame not germinating or germinating but not fruiting on the seed itself. Those are grower-caused issues for the most part.
Dave
I agree with Dave. I started using Ferry-Morse seeds quite a while ago and am very satisfied with the results I've had. I've quit using Burpee for the most part. I have used American seeds and haven't really been disappointed with them. Maybe I've been lucky or maybe I've just been doing things right for ... years. We won't discuss how many. I also like using seeds I've gotten in trades.
Dave, thanks for the links, and pardon my possible error, but I do not find the tall bags I am looking for on either of those links. I don't need the most common sizes; I need TALL bags, like a Pringles can but a little wider so the tap roots have room to grow. If they sell what I'm looking for, please give me specific directions.
Thanks,
John
Well there is Tubex http://www.arborday.org/shopping/trees/TreeDetail.cfm?ID=271
and Rootmaker http://www.arborday.org/shopping/trees/TreeDetail.cfm?ID=269
but they are quite a bit more expensive. The easiest and least costly I know of are the ones I linked above. You just roll them into a tube of whatever size you want depending on the size of your cuttings, stand it up, separate the sides into one chamber with a bottom, and fill 1 chamber of the tube. For example the 1 gallon bags are 10" tall so rolled in 1/2 you end up with 3" in diameter, 10" tall tube.
You can also make your own rooting tubes out of any 3-4mil thick roll of plastic. Just cut a piece in the dimensions you want (height x finished diameter), turn it into a tube, overlap and tape the edges with duct tape, fold in the bottom like and envelope to seal it off, and melt in drain holes with any hot metal object - I use a soldering iron.
Hope this helps.
Dave
I have fastened heat cables under hardware cloth being careful that the cable does not touch or cross itself. I just tied the cable to the underside of the wire with string. It lasted for years. I would not recommend setting pots or anything else directly on the cable. I have tried burying the cable in wet sand with very poor results. The sand soon dries out and is a very poor heat conductor. Al
We use a sand bed with our heating cables, and depending on the wattage of the cable, you need to adjust the sand depth. For ex. our 25w hydrokable did not perform very well with sand that had a depth of 3/4" or more on top of the cable....at least for keeping our peppers toasty in a cool room. But, our 50w cable, easily chugs out enough heat to be buried a good inch under the sand and keep the pepper seeds at a toasty 80 degrees. We also do not keep our sand moist, in our experience the wet sand only made a difference (keeping things cooler) if the wattage of the cables were too low.
Also, I see no reason you couldn't use the cables on the wire shelves (at least the ones I use)...although I am thinking they will be a lot more inefficient due to heating the surrounding air as well as the wire shelves.
m
I set up a basic strawbale frame with plexiglass and it melted the snow and warmed about the top 1 1/2 inch soil up but it is still frozen below that do I need to wait untill the ground is totally thawed to plant this is my first time I plan on spinach arugla and the other hardy greens and in a few weeks setting my trays of brocali and cabbage out in a frame to grow. Do you direct sow your beets and swiss chard? thanks
Hi All ;
There are a few of these seed searches on the net, one at Mother Earth New also. But try this one at:
www.seed-finder.com
It works like a seed search should. Let's you search by city, state, region, country, and also GMO-Free if you prefer. I was impressed with the results, found a few different seeds that I was looking for a long time.
BR
Cresard
Here is a link that might be useful: Ultimate Seed Finder.
The ones I have came Pretty close to the parent from seed.
There are no other roses near by to cross with. SO they should be really close. Jessica, If you like I can do some cutting for you. PM me and lets talk. Its worth a try from seed. I love the ones I got. They were volentears ! I cannot tell them from the parent plant.
Oasis Horticubes are made from a low density foam with rock wool added as a binding agent. The issues are the same as with any rock wool product. The FAQ and product info sheet on their website make it very clear that they are for hydroponic use only.
Similar foam plugs but with out the rock wool component are sold by a couple of other brands - Reddi Rooter is one that comes to mind and the Biodome plugs are another. And the problems they all share in common (several discussions here about them) are (1) how rapidly they dry out if not kept consistently wet and (2) their inability or decompose once transplanted into soil and the resultant root stunting that causes and (3) their lower germination rate. Others have reported pulling up dead plants only to find the foam plug dry and hard even though buried in wet soil.
As already mentioned by not potting up the seedlings are missing a necessary trigger in their growth cycle. But the easiest way to double or triple your production numbers and still use existing space is like commercial growers do it. Just full-seed a 1020 tray (one with holes) and then prick and transplant once they begin to develop true leaves. You can do 200 plants in one 1020 tray and 2" of seedling mix. We do hundreds of different flowers and vegetables that way in the greenhouse every year - including petunia.
Otherwise all I can suggest is order some and give them a try. See if they will work for you.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: one of the foam plug discussions
For several years I have been using a product called "Rootrainers". They are in a unit of 32,1&1/2 x 5 inch deep cells which open for easy seedling removal. Regular seed starting or potting mix may be used depending on what you are growing. They may be used up to 10 times before falling apart. Cost is about $18 and is available with or without plastic domes. I have bought them from Lee Valley and Charlies Greenhouse. Al
monet_g, sorry, your reply came probably the same time as I was typing my reply to Moonpeople, so I didn't see yours earlier.
Thanks for your suggestion. I have used wicking method for my African Violets, but they are mature plants. I was/am a little concerned about the vermiculite getting too wet, but as you said, I should try it out before the last day....
Reporting on what have happened since last post:
On 2/1, I decided to enclosed the seedling in a terrarium-like environment. Then I left town on 2/2. Here is how the "terrarium" looks before I left.
I just came back from overseas a couple of hours ago. This is how the thing looked like when I came back:
And here is how the inside looked/looks:
All seedlings survived my 3 weeks of absence!