6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed

Think I've made an error!! I didn't get them under the lights soon enough - so the early sprouters are fragile little stems 2 (3?!?) inches above the sponge before the sprout leaves - forget about true leaves! Shoot!

I think not being covered by soil or anything else meant they were effected by distant lights as soon as they cracked open the shell! the later developing ones seems more reasonable.

This means I'll have to transplant them earlier than expected, and into larger containers than expected so I can bury some of that long stem......harumph....so far, non triumphant, bill and ted!!!

My other user error - I thought - I have lights. BUT - what I have is lights for my warm season seed starting...to give them the light they need, is putting them into warmer tempt than I want them to get used to....

I can't believe it hadn't dawned on me that I need to set a completely separate light set up in a different temperature setting in the house - duh! i says to myself....

Thanks for the awesome link Rexanne! I've been looking for something like this!

optimal temp for tomatoes is 70-75 degrees, with 65-85 being the good range (from jeavons "how to grow more veg")

I wouldn't want to put young plants at 50 degrees, although at the end of the season, old timers can take it, and the soil is probably still warmer than that.

In zone 4, you'll be waiting a long time to put them out. Here in zone 5 april is a no no for tomatoes without protections.

If you can provide a little heat to them in the garage till whatever your plant out date is, that might work if they have enough light. I'd try to keep them at a minimum of 60, but I'd aim for about 65-68, unless you want them to grow a little more, then 70 would likely have them growing at the expected rate, a bit cooler would slow them down.

I made room in the basement so I can have 6-9 flats under lights should be able to keep it at 60 in that room and put a fan on them 2 times a day. then in mid april I can put them under a coldframe or the greenhouse.

Thanks digdirt for that link which should answer any questions about heat mats. I did an experiment recently with my pots on a heat mat. With overnight air temperatures dropping into the mid 40 degree range, I took the soil temperature of four inch and one gallon pots to see the soil temperature with the heat mat at 70 degrees. In every test the soil temperature was within 2 or 3 degrees of 70 degrees. Al

Thanks Al. Yeah even in the GH we have to use heat mats for germination.

Dave

I have been using these Burpee kits since they came out with them with very good success.Some of the pellets fail to completely dissolve on occasion. They need a bit of persuasion with a sharp instrument. I use a lobster pick to lift out seedlings. It has a narrow little fork on one end and an elongated narrow spoon of the other. Work slick as a whistle. Find them with the kitchen supplies. The starter cells are very cheaply made and care must be taken in their handling if you wish to use them for more than one year.

I have a different system, but with the super tiny little cells. I use a very small teaspoon to get them out. Also - I've found it better to transplant earlier before too many roots are up. If it's 1/2"x1/2" cells they're not meant to stay long....

Hi t-bird,

"...where do you get the clear pots?"

They are available from many Internet sources. I ordered my square clear plastic orchid pots from Amazon, because I purchase from Amazon fairly frequently.

I prefer the 3.25-inch size of orchid pots. I first started to order several of the 10-packs, but each 10-pack had a separate shipping charge which would have run the total shipping cost up well over the cost of the pots themselves. At that time the shipping cost of a 10-pack was the same as the shipping cost of an 80-pack, so shipping-wise, the 80-pack was a better deal, so I ordered an 80-pack of 3.25 Inch Square Clear Plastic Orchid Pots. At that time the 80-pack, the 30-pack, and the 10-pack were all being shipped in the same US Postal shipping box, so the shipping was the same for each. That may still be true. This is a picture of some of the seedless tomatoes I started in my clear pots last year. (Burpee's Seedless tomatoes are my favorites -- I'll be growing more of them this year.)

You can just barely see the roots appearing at the bottom of the pots. As they become more rootbound you can clearly see the roots growing down the sides of the pots. When that happens, I repot to 5-inch black plastic square pots.

If you needed lots more than 80 of the orchid pots, they are available from some Internet sources in case quantities of 500 pots per case, as I recall. On a per pot basis, that is the cheapest way to buy them.

I wash the pots up and reuse them each year. If you forget and leave them outdoors in the Sun for several months (I accidentally did that with a few of mine), the ultraviolet light in the sunlight will make them brittle, even though they are UV-resistant. For use indoors under fluorescent lights, you can get many years of service out of them.

"In watering from the bottom, is there a size plant/container which won't work?"

Any size will work as long as you start your seedlings in smaller pots and re-pot them as they outgrow the pot. That way the plants always have at least some roots in the lower part of your pots. In your case, with the basil seedlings in a 6.5-inch deep pot, you did the right thing in watering from overhead. Overhead watering can be OK in a lot of situations. Greenhouses and nurseries do it all the time.

"Should I always use the seaweed for watering? dilute more to do so? I'm thinking without the dome, and heated indoors, they will need water every day or every other day - use the emulsion 1xweek - more or less? "

I don't use seaweed or Happy Frog potting soil, but the principles are the same. It is much better to feed your plants a very weak solution of fertilizer daily than to use a stronger dose weekly. And if you want to foliar feed your weak solution, that is fine, too. Just make sure that your fertilizer is very diluted. A plant doesn't use very much fertilizer in any given day, so it will be happy if the solution is much weaker than the label says.

"Can you give some guidelines on what is needed size-wise for bottom watering to work?"

As long as the pot and the plant aren't extremely mis-matched, bottom watering can work with any pot. For indoor gardening, it is much more convenient to flood the trays that the pots are in than it is to water the pots individually. I get 18 of the 3.25" square pots in each of my 11" x 22" PermaNest trays. It would be really tedious to water each pot individually.

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

yes - it is tedious! LOL! Late for work this morning tending my flock!!!

Thank you so much for your thoughtful answers! I appreciate the time you took to do so!

48-63 outside temps in your location? I just saw you are in Egypt in looking for your gardening zone.

They would be fine outside if your days are that warm - how are your night time temperatures this time of year?

But if you have had them inside, even under lights, be sure to acclimate them to hours of natural light gradually, do not put them into 'real' sun and wind all at once. Gradually increase their exposure, no more than an hour the first day.

Night time temp around 44F...and actually people around here are talking how it is really cold these days...

I think it is close to california's weather over there in the states?...i always check this zone for gardening info..

it is kind of windy these days..i will wait for the end of the month and then i will start to introduce them gradually to the big sun...

thank you morz...i will send you pictures of my babies when they bloom :)

For those seeds requiring light for germination, and they are usually like the size of dust, I start with a moist mix. Sprinkle the seed as evenly as possible, then with a smooth clear rigid plastic tamp the seeds down into the mix. Here you must be careful the seeds do not cling to the tamper. Next I set the container into a water bath about half the depth of the seed container. When the surface looks shiny I remove it from the water and cover the container with a clear plastic cling wrap. The surface will not readily dry and usually no further water will be required until the seeds can be seen to sprout and the plastic cover is removed. If the container has been on a heat mat to maintain the temperature it is removed from the mat and good air circulation is now required to help prevent damping off. Al

I usually prepare the soil and water well, and sprinkle seeds on top, and water again gently. cover container with dome or plastic wrap, about 1/2-1" above the seeds.

I use the old standard 100 watt lightbulbs on a desk light with no shade for my heat source. The room is 68-70 but the trays on the shelf are 80-85 degrees. I also use 2 light 48 inch shop lights using one reg bulb & one daylight. In Lowes look for the Utilitech "utility lights.

Have you concidered doing some winter sowing? It might save you a lot of space and it works !
It may not work for everything, but lots of flowers and veggies do great with this method.