6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
Yes you will need some sort of tray to set the paper pots in, they get quite soft and easy to tear so need to be well supported. You can recycle something like the plastic trays that meat comes in or buy a tray - whichever you prefer. The paper pots drain very well all on their own. Water the plants from the bottom and don't let them sit in water too long - just until they absorb enough to wet the top of the soil.
I make my paper pots a bit thicker than usual (4 thicknesses) so they last longer but if they break down too soon just plop them into foam coffee cups with holes punched in the bottoms.
Light - 1 fixture may not be enough for all those plants unless you are only doing a couple pots of each. Normally 16 hours a day but you can go 24 if you wish, some do and claim it speeds growth. The important factor is keeping the light VERY close to the top of the plants.
You'll need some sort of bottom heat source to get the seeds to germinate and once the plants sprout do NOT leave any dome or plastic cover on them.
Good luck! and enjoy.
Dave
Second one is pawpaw, they take a while to send anything up, first one just came up in the last few ones. The other is some kind of vine, but the seeds of several similar vine species were mixed up, so I am yet to besure what it is. It's growing like mad though
For most seeds to germinate, the amount of light makes no difference. The amount of heat/moisture is the key to germination. When leaves appear and produce carbohydrates by photosyntheses THEN the amount of light is critical. With light meters sold at nursery suppliers everywhere for $25 reading directly in foot candles, I am surprised so many gardeners guess at the amount of light at their seedlings. Al
Even though everything I have read told me that the seeds don't need light, I put them under them anyway, as they had not sprouted in a week and it's cold in my house (I was getting impatient!). I don't have a warming mat yet, and perhaps the warmth from the light helped them(?)...it could have just been their time to sprout anyway, but I figured that it couldn't hurt much to do it.
The seedlings are now happy under the lights, so I suppose if one has no other light alternatives, the under cabinet setup could work, with the right accommodations.
With the success that has been made with the setups that many gardeners here have talked about(I'm referencing shop lights, but I am sure there are others), I probably wouldn't buy a light meter. The cost isn't prohibitive, but as a newbie, I don't know if I'd feel the need for it just yet...of course, I am a gadget gal, and as I learn more over time that may change.
LOL @ Dave. My experience growing tomatoes, or anything else for that matter, goes back 20 years. I am a lover of earht, and what God has created, not that of science. So that, my friend, is the difference between the two of us.
Don't you scientist types like to experiment? LoL
Not a scientist, just an old farmer with about 40 more years of taking care of the earth than your 20 contessa. And those years have taught me to NOT buy into far out practices like way too early seed starting and so-called "super-cropping".
Also, while many experienced tomato growers advocate pruning tomato plants, none advocate pinching plants back - which is a totally different practice - because all it does is reduce your production and stress your plants. Before advocating a very questionable practice to new growers it may help to learn how tomato plants grow, how the node length controls production, how the suckers that develop on the plant dictate production of fruit, learn what happens to the circulatory system when you pinch dicots like tomatoes and how that damage interferes with nutrient delivery to the leaves and fruit.
There are also a number posts from reputable gardeners over on the Tomato forum on how to grow tomatoes in short season areas, some of them far north of you with even shorter seasons. They discuss methods and varieties that work well and have been used by many. I strongly encourage you to read about soil pre-warming and the various methods of protection for planting younger plants much earlier. Bottom line is that you adjust the environment, not the plants.
lindalana - great info! Thanks for sharing it.
Dave
Last year was the first for me starting seeds under grow lights. I was amazed at the results I had! It was awesome!
I am getting a bit ansy to turn the lights on and start planting also. I do believe I will hold off a bit even though a house I pass on my way home from work has their grow lights on already. I struggle with when to start seeds and when to transplant into the garden safely.
I only repotted my tomotoes once last year, but believe I will do more this year, as lindalana does.
I have heard it said that there is as many ways to do something as there are gardeners... seems that is pretty close to the truth. I enjoy hearing about others' ideas, successes and failures. I take what I can use and leave the rest. I have learned volumes from lurking here. Thanks to all those that share.
Thank you for all the help, you guys. Very informative. I've never bothered with seeds that say "needs vernalization" before...but these Blue Hobbit eryngiums look so darn cute! The seed package says "Needs vernalization for flowering the following summer." Anyway, I seeded them today, in case they don't germinate when they are supposed to. What do you think of putting them on top of the fridge? They don't need light to germinate. Is that too warm? Not warm enough? Just until they germinate of course...
Thanks again.
Light and gentle bottom heat usually very helpful in germination of most seeds/ few need dark and few germinate best at cool temps/. If you have old fridge it will produce some heat, new ones do not do that, you might get it heated only by the height of the fridge and heat collecting at higher level of the room. Anyway, I use usually old electric blanket or heated floor in my bathroom. Most plants will germinate without heat it will just take longer as conditions will not be optimal.
If you put a plastic tent over them it give you a higher huminty which will collect condesition and drip on the seeds.
I use one of thouse seed trays with the clear plastic cover. On my tom. seed I didn't water at all .Works GREAT and they stayed damp. (sorry for the spelling)
I run a fan 24/7 when germinating seedlings. It helps to control the moisture that gives me so many problems indoors. They get the breeze from the day they poke their heads out of the soil. It does affect the air temperature, but I haven't noticed an problems with germination rates. The fan is about a foot away from the rack.
Long ago I started many seed in a 55 gallon show tank that had a crack in the bottom. I just used plain, cheap fluorescent tubes. It was my understanding back then that "grow lights" had a short half life at the extreme ends of the spectrum and had to be replaced frequently and this was expensive then.
Grow lights may be better now or they may be cheaper.
If you fixture is made for screw in bulbs you may want to try 6500K compact fluorescent bulbs.
If a seed is "viable", meaning it grows into a plant, as long as the plant matures to the point that it produces a flower (ie sexual reproduction) it CAN produce fruit.
Tomatoes are relatively easy. If you are growing outside, the bees and bugs will do the job. I grow using hydroponics and "supplement" this process using a battery-operated electric tooth brush that vibrates from side to side.
Between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. (when it's a little warmer), I "tickle" the flower trusses with the tooth brush. This causes pollen to fall from the "stamen" to the "pistol". That's pollination high-tech style.
Be aware that the first two "real" leaves from tomatoes yellow and fall off. Also, sometimes (depending on temperature) so does the first flower truss. That aside, with reasonable care, any viable seed should turn into a harvest.
Hope that helps.
Ohsillyme, I checked lasagna bed on search engine.
Yes, it is good idea.
Thank you your good suggedtion.
Anewgarden, I like idea of poppies in a container sitting on top of the tree stump.
Last year, I planted multiple colored petunia plants in large planting continer and put on tree stump.
Thank you for taking your time to reply.
Andrey, I am from Japan and I live in city of Philadelphia, PA.
Do you know most Japanese people who are raised and educated in Japan have difficulty of pronouncing letter L?
Yes, still cannot pronounce L sound.
Good luck with your teaching!
Yes, I sure DO know that Japanese people have a hard time with the "L" sound!
They usually don't like the "R" sound either.
I was born in Philadelphia! I grew up at 23rd and Pine Streets. Near Fitler Square Park. Now I live in New York.
Are you downtown? There are many lovely gardens near the Art Museum. Have you been there in the Spring?
Stan, annual poppies are among the few things I direct sow, I haven't found any advantage to starting them indoors or in pots if you plan to grow them in the ground.
Most years I sow a sequence of them in my milder climate...Fall, Winter, earliest Spring, for a longer succession of blooms.
I bought at walmart.
Just bought some more. Near me, walmart was $6 for 72 and home depot was $4.99 for 72. (Jiffy-7 pellets). The home depot ones came with three little flats instead of one big flat.