6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
If you are going to keep seeding mix in a shed or even in a basement you have to keep it dry. Get yourself a garbage can with a tight fitting lid and use it exclusively for potting mix. Mine has soil in big red letters so it won't get used for anything else by mistake. I buy a 3.8 cu foot bag of it every spring when I open my greenhouse and it does me all summer and I still have some left in the spring. It never gets musty as long as I keep it well sealed.
I keep that one in our garden shed. I have a 5 gallon pail with a tight lid that I fill from the big one for the greenhouse and I bring it into the basement when I close the greenhouse. I use this for fall planting and fill again for the spring. It never gets musty either. Pro mix will last a long time as long as you keep the moisture away.
Steve, 2 things. First, I bought a *very* inexpensive light fixture at Walmart. The short one (holds 2 flourescent bulbs which comes with it) was $14. The long light was $11 plus $6 for two regular bulbs. I did quite a bit of research on the lighting requirements, and for most plants regular bulbs (or one warm one cool) will be plenty to help seedlings get off to a good start.
Second, I am very heavy handed and I think the smaller seedlings transplant easier than the bigger ones. I found out the bottom of the cell trays have a hole in which a pen fits nicely, popping out the whole chunk of seed starting medium in one piece (as long as it's wet). Too bad I didn't figure this out until halfway through my transplanting :)
Ok, well, it's done. =) I now have 4 Amish paste, 5 Sungold Select II & 6 Black Cherry seedlings in my normal 16 oz plastic cups. Yay! They were soooo frickin delicate though...lol. Only 1 tragedy, maybe, as I broke a good root piece off of one, but I still potted it to see what happens. I did look under the tray for those holes, but it is filled almost fully, so it looked hard to do. Anyways, we'll see how it worked very soon. If not well, then i'll need a close light setup or something.
- Steve
Here is a list of perennials that bloom the first year that wife and I have put together over the years. But keep in mind it is also going to depend on your zone. Further north may not be until second year:
Balloon Flower, Black-Eyed Susan, Coneflowers, Blanket Flower (some), most Columbine mixes, Coreopsis 'Early Sunrise', Dianthus, Shasta Daisy, Blue Sage, Mallow 'Disco Belle', and Yarrows.
Most perennials will be second year bloom.
Dave
I've done it both ways - snip thinned with the scissors and just let the clump grow. Either way works, it all just depends on the "look" you are after. We like it in hanging baskets so individual plants don't work all that well.
For future reference if the small clumps of lob appeal to you you can just buy the plain seed (cheaper) and plant it that way.
Dave
Dave,
I defer to your experience in that you're likely correct, scientifically, about what is actually best for plants... but it doesn't bear out in my personal experience. I find my plants "stop and start" and struggle along more if/after they are potted up to different containers than they do while still in the APS units... perhaps because of the human factor there! I am a rather scatterbrained mom with three small children underfoot... I am hopeless about remembering to water even a few houseplants, so you can bet my success rate with more finicky seed starting systems was about zero! Then again, maybe the "scatterbrained" thing has worked out to my benefit, in that my reservoirs do dry out once in awhile before I notice it... haha! But that is different from keeping the reservoir empty except for specific watering times...
There are an awful lot of people who are enthusiastic proponents of Earthtainers and other self-watering container systems who would argue your point...
There are an awful lot of people who are enthusiastic proponents of Earthtainers and other self-watering container systems who would argue your point...
Ahhhh but there we are talking about established plants, not young seedlings. ;) Been awhile for me as my kids are all grown but you'll understand, it is just like "kid's needs aren't the same as those for adults".
I find my plants "stop and start" and struggle along more if/after they are potted up to different containers than they do while still in the APS units... perhaps because of the human factor there!
Nope its not the human factor it's the plant factor and good for them in the long run. Those stops and starts are the triggers the plants need for switching to root development vs. top growth just as kids have growth spurts and plateaus while their bones catch up with them.
Just some thought to consider. :)
Dave
Am I reading this right that your mix is one eighth ferilizer? If so you probably killed your seeds and seedlings from fertilizer burn. Don't add any fertilizer until your seeds are sprouted and have their first set of true leaves, and then only sparingly. The worm castings didn't kill your plants because it is a very weak fertilizer.
californian you are missing the point of the experiment.. which is to germinate (or not) seeds from the get-go in a pre-mixed soil medium. The experiment shows strong fertilizers in the soil are not conducive to germination. It's a multi-tiered experiment that also is looking at the growth patterns for what does germinate. We're not trying to show the effect of fertilizer AFTER the seeds are germinated, but the effect BEFORE the seeds germinate and then closely watch the results. The fish fertilizer is 5-1-1 and nothing has germinated to date. Instead we got all that mold growth. The other aspect of this experiment is for observation notation in the project. I know what you are saying, but that's not the premise for this particular experiment. We could try reducing the amount of fish fertilizer and 10-10-10 used to see what amount allows germination and then note what kind of growth we see.
Sleepy33 - don't worry about me moving to the winter sowing side - I basically answered my own original question by getting a great light set-up today, so I'm committed to starting seeds inside. Plus, the whole appeal for me of starting seeds indoors is that I can pretend, for even the slightest of moments, that it's warm and winter *will* eventually end. One would have to do some MAJOR convincing to get me to run outside in the bitter cold to check on, water, or in any way care for my plants. That's what my cozy laundry room now with my fabulous light set-up is for. Always a nice 70 degrees! And I can check on them in my jammies if I want, without putting 17 layers on.
However, if you're trying to get me out to ski, then that's a different story!
So Molly and Me and pitimpinai, thank you so much for your kind suggestions, but I will gently decline for now.
To be fair, you don't really "check on" WSing containers at all once they're set out... I do both WSing and indoor seed starting, generally flowers (especially perennials) and some greens outside, and most vegetables inside. Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages. I enjoy being able to dedicate my few lights to the plants which I want to baby most (I want early peppers and tomatoes!) and still be able to start annual flowers and such as well...
I placed an order with Johnnies and they give you a bunch of seeds per pack. Plus their shipping is lower than most. Everything related to fuel has risen 50% over the past three years. When I bought my corn burner in 2003 shelled corn was $1.60 a bushel, Now its $3.65 bushel.
Well, you could start some more seeds as a backup; if this is what they look like after a month, you know they will be big enough by then! Do you have a bright, sunny window? Maybe you could start transitioning these guys to sunlight and start hardening them off to go outside (you can always bring them in if you're expecting a cold snap), and that way free up some room under your lights for the new seeds? Just kind of use these guys as a 'practice run' and experiment with light, water, etc. Or buy more lights... haha. :) Just some ideas.
Ok, first let me say thank you for all the words of encouragement. I think I was scared into not watering the tomatoes for fear of killing them via water. Well I went ahead and gave each one a complete soaking. I checked to see if they were root bound, which although they did not appear to be to my untrained eye, the roots *are* at the bottom and sides of the cups, so I am guessing the water wasn't reaching them.
It's a learning process right? I thoroughly watered all of them, and while some of them still have bottom leaves that look like they are going to fall off, the tops have perked up considerably and are giving me hope they may just survive.
That being said, I am going to start one more round of tomatoes (one of each variety) just in case. A little bit of insurance if you will :)
I am glad you don't mind my question though. I am sure I will have many more as the season progresses.
What about direct-sowing a bit early under some kind of cloche, like a milk gallon top, so the soil and air is a bit warmer for them? I'm planning to try it this year...
"Don't use peat pots. Give them to someone you hate."
Hilarious! Glad I took mine back and got plastic. This is my first year growing from seed, and I didn't want to risk it.
Kim