6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
weird for some reason I didn't get notification this had been replied to.
I guess I needed to make myself more clear in the 1st post. I was looking for an on/off type timer not a rheostat simply because that was the method I was using at the time. on for a while then off to keep the temp under control. It was working but was not as well as I liked so in the interim here is what I did:
I took the rheostat idea and ran with it. I went to Lowes and got a plug in lamp dimmer. Then I just dialed back the intensity of the lights to 75% (this had my trays all running in the mid-high 80s) so I backed it down to about 50% and now we're sitting in the 75-80 degree range pretty uniformly and I have seedlings galore.
so I'm at about $24 ($32 if you count my shop light) but I have 3 seed trays well heated/lit.
thanks for the input
Shawn
There are several Ageratum that are available as seed. Blue and other colors as well.
Here is a link that might be useful: Johnny's Selected Seeds
sakura, just going near, brushing up against, or even napping in the middle of poppies wouldn't make your cats ill, they would have to actually eat them to become sick and it's highly unlikely your cats would have any interest in eating them.
The list of things in our gardens that could make a pet ill if eaten is long (includes rhododendrons - both leaves and flowers, daffodils, yews, delphinium, iris just to name a very few) but outside the occasional bored chewing puppy, most of our pets have no interest at all in eating large amounts of foliage. I don't think you need to be concerned about poppies in the landscape and your cats.
Thank you everybody for taking your time to answer my question!
It is funny thing, I have daffodils,narcissus, california private, hydrangea, iris, etc in my garden and these plants are supposedly poisonous but my cats never got sick in these over 30 years with these plants in my back yard.
Yes, if my cats eat these plant, they get sick but they never eat these plants.
Every year my yard is full of morning glories and my daughter said seeds of morning glory is poisonous to cat but my cats never got sick.
I don't think I should worry about my cats getting sick of these plants.
Now I can sow poppy seeds without worrying about safety of my cats.
Yes, you can plant peppers deeper just like tomatoes. Same with eggplant. Actually any vegetable that branches from the main stem rather than from the root ball (like lettuce does) can be transplanted deeper.
But if you can't provide them with more light they will just get leggy all over again.
Dave
Once the seeds have germinated, sprouted, they need to be removed from the heat and placed under the lights. Heat is only needed for germination, not growing on, and can cause problems for the young plants.
They won't all germinate at the same time of course but once the majority have germinated, remove from heat and the rest will either follow or likely wouldn't have sprouted anyway.
This is the main reason why it is best to not start different types of seeds in the same tray - different germination times. ;)
Dave
Monsanto, Garst, Pioneer--it's been going on for years. When I was a kid we always saved our soybeans and oats to sow for the next year but as time went on this was no longer allowed. I am guessing there was heavy lobbying and legislation--though I can't tell you specific references. I know now though that if you save your beans or oats for planting next year you get sued by the big seed companies (ie Monsanto and others) and end up with big fines and all kinds of trouble. I second your opinion ditka--let them keep their genetically modified plastic food type products--I'll stick with my heirloom seeds from Seed Savers Exchange and my Great Grandma's hollyhocks thank you very much!
are they marigolds?
Could it be thrips? I found a rather interesting article here:
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/aseb/v28n2/v28n2a16.pdf
Apparenty Thrips can cause purple patches on marigolds, not sure about other plants.
is it OK to have water always in the bottom until the seeds germinate?
No, never leave water standing in the tray because yes, you can rot the seeds and you can rot the roots once seeds are germinated. Fill the tray, let the cells absorb what they want and then dump out the rest. Soil that is too moist compacts and the water forces the oxygen out of the soil - that air is just as important as water is, perhaps even more important.
Your soil only needs to be "moist" (like a wrung out sponge is a common example given) not WET. ;)
Dave
Sorry, I'm using rope light to set them on for bottom heat. Yes they get at least 12 hours of sun light, I think, it's noon here and the sun is still on the greenhouse, the greenhouse is to the east of our house so the sun will hit it for another hour or two (we have no trees around):(
I was worried about the air temp at night mostly. it still get down in 40's.
Here's picture from last year are
they leggy?
They look a little leggy to me. It is not only the length of the day but the intensity/quality of light. 12 hours of day light in the winter is not equivalent to 12 hours of light in the late spring or summer. I doubt that you get 12 hours of day light now. The days simply aren't that long yet. That won't happen until the equinox. When growing seedlings indoors or during the winter, it is generally recommended that they get from 14 to 16 hours of light. You'll need to use supplemental lighting to achieve this a prevent legginess. If you don't mind leggy plants and have been happy with your results, don't change what you are doing.
Air and soil temperature is critical to the development of plants and in particular young seedlings. You don't want them to even get close to freezing at this point. Cool (40 to 50ºF) air temperature is often used as a natural growth regulator.
In general, young seedlings will do best if kept at around 60ºF or slightly higher. This is an optimum and doesn't mean that plants won't survive if the optimum can't be met. Usually, once a plant has reached transplant size the temperature can then be reduced to finish growing the plant on. Yours have barely sprouted and if the bottom heat is all you have to warm the plants then keep them there. If you have heaters then you can remove the bottom heat if you want it won't hurt. Depending on what you are growing, I personally wouldn't want my seedlings or young plants for that matter to be growing in 40º temps, even temporarily. Especially, warm loving veggies or herbs like peppers, eggplant, and basil.
what clumsy means by weaker seedlings is if you planted multiple seeds in one pot/compartment for you to leave the seedling that gets the first true set of leaves FIRST and remove the others (in that same pot/compartment) by way of cutting them off, low to the soil surface, with scissors so that the one you leave will grow to its fullest.
thanks for info al.. i will move them to a warmer location. i'm glad to hear they are dependable, first time i've grown them from seed. here in illinois hoping will be more economical, i can treat as an annual. aha - tired of buying plants that ussually don't survive winter. tx again
I bought a box of "drink" straws (the short one used for bar drinks) - and I cut them in half for tagging seedling trays. I use the green painters tape and a permanent marker to write a little "flag" and then just put the tape (folded in half) over the straw.
It doesn't get moldy (like popsicle sticks have for me...) and the tape doesn't wear out (like paper would).
Once they are transplanted into larger pots - I just use a whole straw instead of cutting.
You get about 200 straws for a buck - cheap and effective.
:-)
i have been starting seed for about 5 years, year over year I get a little better. The biggest challenge I have had is not having a proper light set up (at least this year that is partly resolved) and I had a tendancy to get hit hard by winter blues and neglect the plants after a few weeks, resulting in high casualties!!
But, I can share with you some of my experiances using recycled containers.
I really don't like egg cartons for seed starting. I have done it in a past, with poor results compared to small jiffy pots or pellets. They just are not that deep, tend to get soggy if over watered at all, fall apart easily, and can start to mold / mildew much more easily then other growing mediums. Also, dealing with the soil to fill them is very messy, and the carton seems to not hold it in very well. I was always moving them and spilling dirt everywhere.
If you do use egg cartons, I suggest using an antifungal agent. I can only speak from experiance with a product called No Damp, however I have heard that cinamon or Camomile tea work wonders too.
I really recommend using peat pellets though. They are not that expensive, you could try just buying just the refill packs, (no trays, just pellets). It adds about 6- 8 cents per plant but saves you a world of grief! Honestly, I think you would be hard pressed to buy a good seed starting soil for much less...
As for recycling containers. I think it is fine. The only downfall would be it is best to grow on all plants about 1-2 inches away from a fluorescent light. If the containers are not a uniform height this will be difficult to provide.
That said, if you do wish to use them, make sure they have good drainage holes in the bottom, and that you clean them out well. I am a fan of a mild bleach (even 1 part bleach to 9 parts water, or a cap full or two into a sink of water, but let them soak for a bit, the thing with bleach is about contact time compared to how strong it is. A straight bleach does its job in seconds, a very weak bleach solution may be good enough, but it needs time to do its job). But, particularly if you are using a fungicide, I think soap and water is good enough.