6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed

Thanks!

For me it occasionally happens because the dry ambient air causes some of the tomato and pepper seed shells to dry and harden before they have a chance to fall off. They annoy me so I remove them. Don't pull or tug them. Carefully using a small needle-nose pliers to gently squeeze the shell on the ends causes them to expand like a clam shell and pop off. Easy to do although not absolutely necessary, but I like to give the babies their best chance at success.

photopilot,

There are online sources that sell in small quantities, like The Sample Seed Shop, but I haven't had any experience with them.

In addition to the sources that Dave listed (I always look at what Johnny's Seeds and Harris seeds have to offer) I get seeds from Burpees, Stokes, and Parks. I also purchase from Hazzards, but they sell in larger packets and you are looking for smaller packets. Hazzards does have a very wide selection, though. Burpee's seeds are somewhat higher priced, but Burpee has some exclusives that, to me, "are worth it", with seedless tomatoes being a prime example. I buy from The Burpee Seed Company every year, and have done so for many years.

Some seeds naturally last a long time and others don't stay viable for very long. Here is a Table of Seed Longevity to serve as a guide for when you need to buy fresh seed.

ZM
(not associated with any product or vendor mentioned or linked)

Artistic Gardens sells sample pkgs for .40 each.

Here is a link that might be useful: Artistic Gardens

None that I know of. I don't find square at garden centers often either (although I can sometimes at better nurseries that carry supplies). I will order in bulk every few years....much more efficient use of space both indoors and out.

I prefer square slightly taller than wide, my own are 3x4 and 4x5 - my most used size for 'growing on' perennials and shrubs. Last I purchased are ribbed to encourage downward root growth, fewer roots encircling the inside of the pot.

I prefer square also. Space-wise it seems more efficient especially for small plants. The only advantages I've noticed with round pots is that once the young plants get a bit bigger it gives them a bit more room also some plants tend to grow wide and when moving them around some of their leaves can get crushed by the neighboring pot.

Thanks all. So I will use small pots (got a bunch of plastic 1" pots from home depot leftovers a while back) for seed germination. When they develop their true leaves, I will transplant them into 4" pots with potting soil.

Tomatoes, lettuce, and peppers are what I'm doing like this that I've read do well from transplanting.

Just sharing a tip. I starts lots of things from seeds, and have been doing it for years and years. Last year I had my best pepper transplants EVER! This is what I did: 6-7 evenly spaced pepper seeds planted into a 4" pot. When plants were about 2-3" tall they were each transplanted into a 4-4.5" pot. Voila!! No losses, no issues. This sowing/transplanting scheme happened because I did not need to sow many seeds of each pepper variety, and I just did not have the time to transplant earlier and transplant multiple times into ever larger pots. This saved me time and energy, and the plants thrived:)

DBA,

You are correct, with your better lighting you could start earlier than the recommended times and set out much more advanced plants. In past years I have set out tomato, pepper, and eggplant plants that were in bloom and with small fruits set on them, using overdriven fluorescent shoplights as my light source for no more than 1000 foot candles on the leaves. That is less than 20% of full sunlight outside. (Full sun can range from 5000 foot candles to 8000 foot candles). Your lights are probably much better than mine.

If you do plan to set out much larger and more advanced plants, you will need to re-pot them to larger pots as your plants outgrow the pots they are in. I start my plants in 3.25-inch square pots, re-pot to 5-inch square pots, and re-pot again to 8-inch square pots.

If you are growing your plants in a soilless growing medium (I use Premier ProMix BX), you will also need to water your plants with a dilute but complete nutrient mix. The ProMix that I use does contain enough calcium to get the plants beyond the seedling stage, but by the time they start to bud out, the calcium is depleted and the plants start to suffer calcium deficiency symptoms. To prevent that, I add a little calcium nitrate along with the other soluble nutrients. Hydroponic growers always supply calcium nitrate in their nutrient solutions, and you will probably purchase yours from a hydroponics supplier. Calcium nitrate is an inexpensive soluble nutrient.

Actually, if you think about it, growing plants indoors in a sterile growing medium is, in effect, a form of hydroponic gardening. You are just using a different root support medium instead of soil. Hydroponics is defined as "a technology for growing plants in nutrient solutions (water containing fertilizers) with or without the use of an artificial medium (sand, gravel, vermiculite, rockwool, perlite, peat moss, coir, or sawdust) to provide mechanical support."

You might want to use soluble nutrients that do not contain urea as a nitrogen source. Most plants can absorb urea through their leaves as a foliar feed, but apparently not through their roots. Their roots can take in nitrate ions or ammonium cations. There are several sources of urea-free soluble plant nutrients. I use Better-Gro Orchid Plus and Better-Gro Bloom Booster. I usually purchase my Better-Gro nutrients at a local Lowe's Home Store to avoid paying shipping. There are other good urea-free nutrient formulas in the marketplace. But I am in a Lowe's store from time to time anyway, so it is handy for me to pick them up there.

ZM
(not associated with any product or vendor mentioned or linked)

In addition to all the great info shared here, it's been our experience that when it comes to tomatoes, the best seed starting date is 6-8 weeks before you set them out in the garden. Plan to put them in the garden 10-14 days after the last frost date (tomatoes don't like to be cold.) As an example, if your last frost date is April 15, then start tomatoes around March 1. Set them in the garden in late April or early May.

Here is a link that might be useful: When to start tomato seeds

Commercially lettuce gets the highest price when it is first on the local market. Lettuce farmers along the California coast use chicken manure for the first planting to get the soil temperature up. Big piles of manure are stacked next to the fields over the winter covered with a layer of gypsum to keep the flies and odor down before spreading on the soil and scratching in. Al

"You're kidding me, right?"

yep, thats about how it goes. lol. i have said that about 1000 times...hahaha

the next phrase youll use, usually right after saying that, is "well, off to the composter you go!"

lettuce doesnt mind cold much. it should be ok outside. mine went through 2 small freezes and i dont know how many frosts.

50/50 verm/peat moss mix

Why are you using that for growing on? It is just a germination mix at best.

I assume these are off the heat mats and the domes have been removed?

Dave

Any potting mix will dry out quickly when under warm lamps and in a constant breeze. Never let it dry out completely. A home made mix doesn't have a wetting agent in it so it will be more difficult to get it wet again once it dries out completely. Bottom water and give it time to absorb. Adding a water retention product would help.