6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed

I used the Jiffy Peat Pellets with the 72-tray. If you google 'Jiffy Greenhouse', it should take you right to it. The tray, lid and pellets cost me $6.00 at Walmart. I've seen a similar 'knock-off' product at Home Depot made by Burpee for roughly the same price, although the pellets seemed smaller.

Once my tomatoes get their first 'true' set of leaves and/or I see roots coming out the side netting, I transfer to peat pots ($1.39 for ten of them) with actual soil to fill in the spaces. I only use the 3' pots since I don't plan on them living there long enough before the whole thing, pot and all will get transplanted to the garden.

Also note that you should be able to skip the whole peat pot thing and move the pellets with seedlings directly to your garden. I'm just doing it to free up the tray so I can start my 'round two' of plants.

Here is a link that might be useful: You can find these cheaper locally

I use the small 2 oz. or so bathroom mouthwash plastic cups that you find in the supermarket, placed in an aluminum food tray that is sold with a clear plastic dome which can also be bought at supermarkets, Walmart, etc.
Punch a couple of holes in the bottom of the cups and fill with a moistened seed mix. You can write on the cups so that you can mix them in the tray. The trays come in several sizes and are very inexpensive.
If you don't have a heat mat, place the tray on top of your VCR or cable box. The heat is just about right for quick germination.

Ah, now I understand! Thanks!

use caution when putting this plant in your garden, it can be VERY aggressive! I planted appleblossum and it tried to take over, whereas coranation gold behaved very well.

My lights run 16/8 every day. I put baggies with seeds I want to pre-sprout on top of the lights for heat. There's a 5-10 degree difference with them on versus off. I have five 4' lights on one powerstrip that is attached to a timer so they all turn on and off at the same time. Just keep water away from the outlets and plugs and you should have no problems.

I'm using mine now to start seeds. Over the winter, they were used to keep my tender perennials and cuttings alive.

Great set up. Thanks for the water advice. I will keep that in mind.

I am in MA near Taunton ..and I started Toms,peppers to plant out in May or so...I know I'll have to hardern them off very carefully to avoid shock.I will replant them deeper and pinch top growth ruthlessly if it means I can eat Mater sooner. I hate waiting till the end of Aug to get a few for al my hard work.

Thanks for your help. Looks like following the package advise makes sense.

buddyben- I'm sure that the pioneers were direct seeding or relying on volunteers. I doubt many of them were starting seed early indoors, or at least not as early as you can today with artificial lighting.

I can confirm that you actually dont need lights to grow plants. I have been successfully growing zinnias, petunias, impatiens and other plants by just putting them in my south facing kitchen window. It is actually like a patio door so it is quite big. sometimes they do get leggy but I see no difference in a few weeks.

Most all reputable seed suppliers will offer dwarf varieties of both. TGS (linked above) is excellent but there is also Cooks Kitchen Garden, Johnnys Seeds, Seeds of Change, and many more.

The Garden Bazaar directory here provides links to 3 pages of seed vendors. ;)

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Bazaar - Seed Vendors

I,m trying Bush, Bush Champion and Big Dwarf from Tomato Growers Supply. Good Luck,
John

What you have described indicates a nutrient deficiency. I suggest a 1/4 strength fertilizer solution watering once a week until you have six to eight true leaves then increase to 1/2 strength.

This is a definite nutrition problem , I would go with what petzold says . Another questions, where are you obtaining your seeds from?

Here is a link that might be useful: LittleRiverNursery

Last year I tried 15 of the Jiffy pellet pots. 0 had mold in them and 0 damping off. That surprised me because I used the Park's seed starting system and lost half of those.

I had to take the Jiffy plants out of the plastic tray they came in as soon as they started to grow (accidental crunching of the flimsy plastic tray...) and I put them on a regular dinner plate. They lived on the plate until they were planted out. Maybe the tray crunching was a blessing in disguise?

A spray with a VERY dilute mixture of 3% H2O2 and water gets rid of any mold. Last year was the 1st time in MANY years of using Jiffy7s that I have even seen any mold. I have NEVER(knocking on wood) had any problem with damping off with the Jiffy7s. I have been using them since their introduction and have had 0 problems. Watering from the bottom is the key. IMHO they are great.
JMO,
Tom