6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
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 some seeds at the Home Depot and I sowed Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susan) on January 14th, and it did not germinate. So I have the tray in the fridge since February 4th. I plan to take it off the fridge on February 25th and hopefully see these seeds germinate.
So, I think you're still in time for Rudbeckia.
I bought one of these fans at Walmart for $13. The brand name is Massey, and they just have to plugged in to the wall like any other fans.
Here is a link that might be useful: Here is a link to the fan I bought (this is a grey one though)
Thanks. It was probably a couple hundred $$ to build. 3/4 plywood is expensive.. I used a nice grade of plywood though. Any cheap stuff will work. You can get OSB for like $7 a sheet. I also overbuilt the strength of the cabinet for seed starting..I wanted it to be strong so I can store heavy things inside if I ever get sick of gardening. Basically just a few pieces of plywood and around 15 2X4s.
The doors are made from tongue and groove wainscoating. They were a pain to put together..
It was a learning experience. Not sure Id build something like this again (for the garage).
A wire rack is really all it takes lol..I have a tendency to go overboard when I start building something..I just hate buying premade garbage dumped on our shores.
Ive started my onion seeds. I cut holes in my dixie cups and placed them in an inch of water..It doesnt seem to be wicking up at all.. This may rot the dixie cups anyways, if they continually sit in a pool of water for several weeks. I think bottom watering works better with very small seed starting cells.
For heat concerns you could throw up some foam insulation pieces on the walls of your cabinet and throw a couple regular incandescent light bulbs in there to warm things up.
Then for air circulation - Since you probably don't want to ruin the finish that's visible - you could do intake top - exhaust bottom. With 120mm computer fans?
I still have to receive mine from Park Seed! "sprouts honor," the user before me, must have bought my seeds first eheh! I bought them on January 27th and the Park Seed customer service told me they run out of stock until February 13th and I think I will receive them really late.
However, I have the luck to live in Texas. That means Lisianthus here can stay outside until mid December, and I will enjoy their bloom this Fall. Then I will definitely collect the seeds and sow them immediately, because I don't want to have another GardenWeb user buy my seeds from Park Seeds before me and empty their stock and make me wait again! ahah!
Sorry rinomanfroni! That's so weird. Park's charge cleared my account on the 28th. I must have their last two packs. Every year, I swear I'm going to collect Lisianthus seed. But most of what I grow ends up in a vase.
Petunias do need light for germination, but your little window should be plenty. What is critical is that you don't cover the seed, only press it gently into the soil.
The frustrating thing about petunias is that they seem to take FOREVER to get past the 2 leaf stage. It's like they go into a weird limbo and just don't grow. But once they do get that second set of leaves, they really take off.
Another important thing to keep in mind, since they do stay so small for so long, they are prone to damping off. You can prevent this by making sure they get plenty of air circulation. I just run a ceiling fan in the room, but any fan will do. Just don't blow directly onto the small plants. No more than a quiver of the leaves.
Good luck!! Kay.
Nothing. Just different labels for the same thing. Some are thermostatically controlled, others are auto/factory set to specific temp. And they come in all sizes and with all prices - Burpee's prices are high compared to many other sources I've seen so shop around.
In this case one comes with a metal spacer to prevent direct contact with the plastic trays which can be a good thing as some of the others will melt the plastic trays. Or you can buy one without and make your own spacers.
Dave
How tall do I want them to be before I turn a fan on them?
How far back should it be? Won't this chill them too?
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.