6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
In any case I decided to move things around in my setup last night to compensate for loss of heat and loss of lighting in my previous setup. All my flats are up against a common wall now instead of being in the middle of the room. I am planning on adding three Zippi non-oscillating fans (all will be set to LOW and connected to a timer set on RANDOM - simulating a random outdoor breeze) to provide cross ventilation. In the photos below you can see the proposed location of all three fans (but only one fan is pictured). In addition I will be adding reflective white panels against the walls (only one pictured for now) so that any light that would normally be absorbed by the wall will be reflected back onto the plants. Does anyone see a flaw in my setup that I haven't considered?
@digdirt I don't think he had an issue with the fan just it was more cumbersome because it was in the way.
@njitgrad each to their own but for ME those fans are just not big enough. While much cooler than other lights T5's do put out a lot of heat. At the moment I am running 6 T5HO bulbs in a 10' X 13' insulated grow room in my unheated shop. I have a large fan, about twice the size of the one on your chair, on low blowing between my seedlings and lights.Those lights produce enough heat to keep the room at 19-22C (69-74F) which is above my intended temp of 16-17C (61-63F). Even with our outside temps dropping below freezing (28) at night and being slightly over during the day (36F). I have to open windows to lower the temp and my fan is thermostatically controlled to come on when the temp rises under the lights above 18C. Later in the year when the temps rise and I am running all my lights I have to run an air conditioner to keep temps down. It is quite possible I am being overly anal, but why not!!
I will also add that I move plants that like it a bit warmer out of the direct fan breeze and temps go up fast.
Not saying your set up won't work as it will and will do so well, it is just what you want. Moving lots of air lets me keep my lights closer, around 1" away, which I find better. YMMV.
Reflective material around the sides isn't as important with overhead fluorescents as it is with, say HPS. With HPS you have to keep the lights farther away to avoid scorching the plants so you benefit from reflective sides. With the overhead fluorescent lights only being inches away very little light is being lost out the sides to reflect back. I put mylar on the sides of one light and had zero increase in lumens according to a light meter. Again YMMV.
SCG
I sow basil and parsley direct into the garden. Parsley often self sows but not the basil. I never managed to save these tiny seeds either.
For most perennial herbs I would rather by a plant. How much do you spend meanwhile on herbs? Buy a plant and you can harvest in the same year, take some cuttings too.
But with the few hundred seeds i have, i can get a few hundred plants,fast, and cover my fence in Golden Chalice vines,....I can only take so many cuttings from my one plant. So...with seeds, I can plant them along the fence and get coverage fast,blooms in a year or two.
Hello,
I was planning to make adjustments once the plants germinate. I had used potting soil for the germination stage before realizing there were much more suitable options. Since I did use potting soil (77 to 87 percent aged pine bark, sand, and perlite), would you recommend me sticking with that soil for the growing stage or would different soil be optimal? Pigweed is used in a lot of studies on herbicides because it can grow fairly quick as a test subject, and I received seed from a research agronomist. The aim of the project is to demonstrate ways in which weeds can be effectively controlled without the usage of chemicals.
The biodome and similar designs are intended to be bottom watered. But if you firm the potting medium into the cells - and that's a potting medium with a lot of peat or coir in it - it shouldn't "wash out" unless you are watering over-vigorously. If you are using a very gently top watering method it isn't going to wash anything out, just soak down gradually. Any more than that and you are over-watering.
There are older seeding methods (may still be used commercially or for specific plants) that involved seeding directly into large flats of fine vermiculite and then "pricking" the seedlings out and repotting as they emerged. I don't know if that is at all common any more but I've never cared for that method myself as the pricking out of the seedlings is to fiddly for me. Commercial growers used to do it (and still may) because it saved space and it saved pots, especially if you are working with a low-germination seed.
Anyway the point is we do not want to use a vermiculite seed starting mix in these types of containers, or anything else that is crumbly when damp.
Start with a moist potting mix. If it will hold its shape, more or less, when you squeeze it into a ball in your hand, that should do.
Tamp it firmly into the plugs (not Magilla-Gorilla firmly but just enough so it is going to hold together and there are no voids in the medium). Water from the top gently if you like, but bottom watering is actually usually easier. Either way, you don't want to leave it sitting in water all day. It should soak up into the medium fairly quickly, otherwise you've over watered. "Fairly quickly" being on the order of an hour or two.
Bio Domes ARE a bit larger than most plug systems. Its more like the ARS system I used years ago (which is still available). Its sort of a cross between actual plugs and regular plant paks. I had ARS system containers up to 4" individual cells and nothing ever washed out of that. Of course it is a bottom watering system as well.
I too used the BioDome and sponges last year and the sponges left a lot to be disired. Would it be wise to cut some cheesecloth or even gauze to line the holes and then fill in with potting mix? It seems that the whole idea behind the sponges is that the soil will never leach into the water below and the sponge ensures the seedlings get watered via absorption..
I am not qualified to comment really since I don't know your conditions at all. But there is another reason apart from temperature for starting plants indoors - pests. If you live in slug/snail country they can destroy direct sown lettuce and brassicas the moment they emerge from the soil. So I start both of these inside. But not particularly early - just so that I can set out reasonable sized plants which are less likely to be mown down in a single night. I keep starting lettuce inside all season.
I thought only tomatoes grow roots from the stem?
Not at all. Many plants do including peppers, artichokes, eggplant, potatoes, and corn just to name a few. But all benefit from the additional stem support of transplanting deeper. Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, many flowers, etc. can't support even a few leaves on a leggy stem much less support a head or a set of blooms.
Dave
edited to correct spelling
This post was edited by digdirt on Fri, Feb 6, 15 at 13:40
You could try Winter Sowing. It is conceptually very easy and I shouldn't think it's too late in your zone. But the people on the WS Forum can certainly tell you.
Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Sowing Hollyhocks
Hollyhocks are a confusing plant, at least to me. It seems if you research them some are annuals, some biennials and some perennials. All of the ones I have ever grown have been biennials, even seed from people that claim they are annuals or perennials (more often). I have ordered some seed that is supposedly supposed to bloom first year and is an annual and some that may bloom the first year and is considered a perennial, so time will tell.
So whether or not you will get flowers this year is unknown, I have never gotten blooms the first year even from seed started indoors. You have a longer growing season so that might help.
I have not found that the seeds need any type of stratification or cold treatment so you could plant them as soon as you can work the soil and let nature do the rest, you could winter sow as suggested or you could start them indoors to give them a jump start. IF you have a so called variety that will bloom the first year starting them 6-8 weeks before last frost will have them bloom earlier.
SCG
CanadianLori, the "T" is the "size" of the bulb. The "K" indicates the peak wavelengh/frequency (color) of light. All fluorescent bulb packaging that I've seen gives some information about color. If there's not a numeric rating, there should at least be something like "Warm/Soft White" (2700K-3500K), "Natural/Cool White" (4100K-5000K), or "Bright White/Daylight" (6500K). Different manufacturers use different terminology, but, if the Kelvin rating is not given, these light color terms will at least give you an idea.
Good advice on places to locate the clay.
I'd suggest making the balls small. Dry them quickly in an area with good air flow. Setting them in front of a fan is good. If you make them larger and set them close together to dry, you may be disappointed. The seeds will stay moist long enough to begin germinating, and when the balls are used later the germinated seeds will be dried out and dead. Don't ask how I know this :)
Doesn't realty matter too much on easy to start plants.
I would caution on the use of the word potting "SOIL" What you want is potting "Mix". The stores sell both. I have gone back to store potting mix for starting seeds and for re-potting them.
If you have the seeds covered, get the cover off as soon as they pop up and give them air.
Not helpful for gardenia. Soak seed overnight, then sow covered by about 1/4", peat moss and sand or peat and perlite at about 75F. Germination in about four-six weeks but could take up to three months for the seeds to germinate, and germination may be erratic (meaning not all seeds will germinate same time)
rubyshoes_gw Thanks for reminding me! During the germination and until the sprouts are of some size NEVER let the surface dry. Those tiny sprouts will disappear really fast when they dry out.
SCG
Thanks for your advice! Yes, SCG, all my seeds are on heat mats (with digital temp control) in a germination chamber. I have a temp variable of +/- 5F....... I use ProMix Bx in my seed starting flats with proper moisture, fresh seeds sown on top of media, with a good light source......
When I read here of folks germinating 241 of 250 of these same seeds on top of their fridge (without any supplemental heat, etc.) in paper cups, it makes me wonder what I could be doing wrong....... Am I trying too hard?......LOL
OBTW .......FWIW........ I've started over with fresh seed (even though it's a couple of weeks late).......... The only thing different this time is the temp..... I've lowered the digital thermostat from 75F to 70F (+/-5F)....... & I doubt this will make a difference....