6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed

Um well can you show me a picture of what you're describing because I'm a little confused. I don't understand what you mean just by you telling me. I'd need to see it to understand. Are you talking about just the tray itself?

I mean with the picture does it already come divided into segments on the flat? Or is it the flat and then the thing divided into segments.

I've also heard if you leave the lid on, the plants will be more susceptible to mold and damping off cause of the constant moisture and heat?

Would it hurt the seedlings if I were to grow it with the cover off?

A mini greenhouse usually consists of a tray, cell packs, and a cover/dome. The tray does not have drainage holes, but may have grooves to keep excess moisture away from the cells. The cell pack, which sits inside of the tray can be separated into sections of 4 or 6 cells, the kind you would see at a garden center in the spring containing flowers or veggie seedlings. The cover keeps moisture in and is only used until the seeds germinate, then you take it off or your seedlings will mold or cook. Different companies will have different designs, but they all do basically the same thing. The one you linked to has a heater which can speed germination.
Seed starting mix, such as Jiffy Mix is a loose, light peat-based mix that you would fill the cells with to plant your seeds in.
Peat pellets are compressed plugs of seed starting mix, encased in netting, so they will stand alone once they are moistened. You don't need to use cell packs with them, but some mini greenhouse "kits" include them and have special cells that they will fit in. You can place pellets in any type of container or tray that has drain holes, then place that container on a tray to collect excess water.
I've included a link to a site that shows how to use them.
I hope I'm not confusing you more.

Here is a link that might be useful: peat pellets

"2nd I don't believe gardening is fun if you go thru all the work to plant and grow the stuff, and get no results. If everything dies, or things don't turn out the way you'd like, I don't consider it fun."

We've all had this happen. It's the way we learn what works and what doesn't.
No one can give you an exact date to start your plants. No one knows what the weather is going to do. I'm in a zone a bit colder than yours and I start my toms and peppers in mid-March. I pot them up to 8oz cups, then to 16oz cups before hardening them off about mid-May. As soon as the night temps stay around 50 degrees, I plant them out into their final containers or raised bed. The timing is going to be a little different each year.
Maybe you should use the money you would spend on a "mini greenhouse" and purchase seedlings(at least some of them) from a nursery or garden center your first time around and slowly get into starting from seed. It may take some stress off.
You can also Winter Sow some of your seeds if you don't have a lot of room for potting up. Check out the Winter Sowing forum for more info. We're all trying to help you succeed.

In one of your previous 8 or 9 posts you were admit on telling me that a 48" light was not feasible and that you were getting a 22" light, that is why I wrote about a 22" light�.

I am done helping and giving advice on deaf ears�. Sorry so blunt but you have asked the same questions 10 times looking for an answer you want to hear� I don�t get it and I don�t think I can help anymore.

Have fun and best of luck with your veggies� it will be very rewarding to pick a fresh pepper off a plant you have grown from seed yourself! : )

Keriann~

Use heat cable in seed flat.Last 2 years placed seeded peppers on 4" spacer over floor heat duct in family room.Cover with plastic tray cover. Very good results & cost-0

I'm using 72 cell trays with clear covers and 2-1/4" square peat pots (36 per tray) instead of the plastic flats. With a 2 lamp 4 ft. shop light just above the cover, the inside temp is 80-82 degrees. Cabbage and broccoli germinated in 2 days, tomatoes in 3, peppers in 4-5. Right now I think I may not use heat again. Also haven't had to water again since planting. Today is 6 days and I took the cover off of the cabbage & broccoli. Room temp is about 65-68.

I move my seedlings outside everyday that the temperature is above 50 and bring them in at night and put them under my fluorescent lights. It is a lot of work but results in stocky, sturdy transplants that are fully hardened off.

I am growing purple coneflower, milkweed, annual phlox, zinnias and monarda thanks guys : )

I am growing milkweed this year, as one of my "test plants." I had 3 of the seeds germinate after just a few days (4-5). The others never came up. I only wanted one or two plants though.

Oh okay guys i might just get those rogue seedlings then put then cover up the flat and put it outside and hope for sprouts in spring

I don't think it's practical to start them on the top of the fridge in all honesty. The fact that I can actually start them indoors as transplants is a miracle in and of itself.

I never said I was actually going to buy the hydroponic flat, it's just something I was considering.

If a 2 foot grow light will hold a greenhouse seed kit (such as a biodome) of 30 seedlings (that are ready to be transplanted outdoors and hardened off, will a 4 foot light
be able to hold a hobby greenhouse of 72 seedlings or not?

My goal is to start them early enough indoors that they're old enough to be hardened off, but still small enough
that I don't have to repot them to larger containers. I realize repotting to bigger containers strengthens root systems, however this is my way of trying to save space, which is at a premium for me, and something I have a very limited amount of.

I really need help figuring out the timing as to when to start them so they're not so large they have to be repotted to larger containers. Supposedly according to the weather channel, spring is supposed to come earlier, as is warmer spring weather (basically March as opposed to April).

However is this actually going to happen or is this 'warm weather spell' only temporary?

I live in Northern Michigan in the upper part of the lower peninsula. Normally planting dates are early to mid may, depending on if the weather is cooperating. Cool weather crops can be planted a Month earlier, at the start of April.

I'm just trying to figure out when to actually start my seedling transplants. Is it too early? I'm especially concerned about the timing issue with stuff like tomatoes and bell peppers and eggplants. Again I'd like them to be strong enough and sturdy enough to be hardened off, but not so big that I have to repot them to bigger containers while they're still being grown indoors.

Typically what is a guesstimate of how many weeks indoors bell peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes need to be started as transplants. I've heard eggplant transplants and bell pepper transplants take longer, but how many weeks do they need (8, 12, etc.)

I use a twin sized mattress pad instead of a heating mat to speed up the seed germination. Wal-Mart had them on clearance for $25.
I can get 9 10" x 20" flats on one mat laying flat on my kitchen floor. You can also cut it in half (leaving the heating cord intact) and cover two different shelves.

Thank you both for suggestion.
I will try keriann's method.

one more thing... I put a hole in the side of the 'giant' flat so it could only fill up with 1/4 inch water at any given time. I kept about 1/8-1/4 of water in the tray at all times, otherwise not all the plants had access to water. My 'giant' flat had grooves in it like a 10/20 tray so the water was not over the grooves, just filled the grooves.

keriann~

I would like to weigh in on this one. I have used peat pellets for several years. I have had great sucess with them, despite many others not having much luck at all. You absolutely must do a few things for them to work. You must keep them moist at all times, and you must remove the netting when potting them up. Other than that, they have worked quite well. I decided, for other reasons, to try a different method this year. I bought some trays/flats & their corresponding 3 inch square plastic pots. I have had even more success with this method than with the peat pellet trays, so I will continue to use it. I think this argument comes down to more of a personal choice, as long as the items I mentioned above are taken care of, if you pick the pellets. I linked my blog below so you can see a comparison of the two methods (in the most recent post, at the top)

- Steve

Here is a link that might be useful: Steve's Garden

Just wanted to throw out that technically, you don't "need" either. I start my seeds in yogurt cups that I save up through the year, and I use plain old SuperSoil Potting Mix. I get 100% germination, no damping off, no problems at all with my plants, and for some plants, they can go straight from the cups to my beds without the need to pot up.

It may not be practical if you're trying to start 100's of plants from seed. I only get 18 cups to a flat, but for my small home garden, a couple flats is all I need for the seeds I'm starting at any one time. And I really like the idea that I'm getting an extra use out of my plastics before sending them to the recycler.

No need to store them in the fridge, however. Marigolds don't need a chilling period. A pantry cupboard would be a good location, for example.

Thanks. I appreciate the helpful information.
Bob