6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed

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.

For quality seeds at lower prices I always start with these companies.

Morgan County Seeds.

Fedco Seeds.

Sample Seed Shop.

For common seeds I buy from Willhite in Poolville, TX. For the really fun stuff I buy from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

Here is a link that might be useful: Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

Al, I keep thinking I'm too old to keep anymore cats too, but they keep showing up needing rescuing, lol. If I wasn't married, I'd be one of those old ladies with a zillion cats that you hear about on the news! We're trying to keep it at four, but another half-feral started crying at the door recently(runs into the woods when I open the door), so I started putting out a little food in the evening next to the door(sigh).
Sorry about going off topic, Ginny. Do post photos of your set-up and let us know how it's working.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. It sounds like a big job to me at this time.

It would be much easier to have the seeds in the garage as I've done before.

Ginny

Hard to say but i will say that in general 80 degrees day and 55 at night is OK. maybe a little low, but OK. Peppers grow slow. I have know people to throw them out when they were just doing there natural thing. they would like more heat but they should be OK. Good luck.

I was in zone 3 until recently. I did a lot of gardening there. I had a HUGE greenhouse, but I started my seed indoors in a very sunny window in about late Jan or Feb depending on the seed. What is your elevation? Elevation makes a major difference in how fast your little plants grow. I doubt the temps are hurting the growth. Your daylight hours are also shorter in your zone. Of course, they are nice and long during the summer!