6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
Not needed. While heat is required for germination, once sprouted the majority of seedlings prefer cooler growing conditions.
Your lights will produce some heat from the ballasts and if you wish to contain it to insure night temps are acceptable you can enclose the shelf area in clear plastic or do what I do - use the cheap aluminum "survival blankets" they sell in the camping section of Walmart etc. They unfold to make a tough aluminum sheet about 4x6' and cost about $2.00 each. They not only contain the humidity and the heat from the lights but also reflect it 10 fold to increase the light available to the plants.
Enjoy your seedlings. ;)
Dave
Another suggestion, if you are concerned with night temps getting too cold, is to run your lights at night and have you lights off during the day. This will keep your night temps warmer due to the heat from the lights. Your garage has to be light proof otherwise the plant's dark period will be disturbed by sunlight. Good luck
Well, I think it all depends on your situation. The needs of a commercial operation are quite different from someone who is just growing a few plants for a home garden.
For me, it's just simpler to plant in a larger pot and avoid transplanting. I use plastic drink cups which don't take up a lot of room and I plant into a potting mix that has a modest amount of fertilizer in it. Well, except for tomatoes...those I do pot up since there does seem to be a benefit from burying their stem a bit.
I use roughly the same amount of seed that I would in a flat, since you always need to plant extra in either case. And I know it's not "sterile" but I haven't had problems yet. The plants grow fast and strong and it's much simpler. Again, in a commercial operation, doing this would be much riskier.
I'd be interested in any studies that show better results as far as root development and such.
Thanks for your response. FWIW -- to check the viability,I chipped or scarified a few seeds 10 days or so ago. I rolled them in a slightly wet piece of paper towel, and put the roll in an old pill container, closed it up and set it on the top of my computer monitor where it remained slightly warm. I checked them daily and two days ago, I noticed that a root was emerging from one of the seeds so I took it out and planted it. We shall seewhat happens next. I still don't know how fast they grow into 4" pot size or if they transplant well from that size.
I start all of my seeds under shoplights, and place newly sown flats under the lights BEFORE germination. The lights warm up the soil and help the seeds to germinate. I turn the lights off at night for the dark period. It's worked for me for decades.
And at the link below is a list of plants that are reported by the UNM, (I think that is the University of New Mexico but I didn't check.), that do need light to germinate. The list says nothing about how much light or when the light is needed. It is posted on the extension service website.
Here is a link that might be useful: Seeds that need light to germinate.
You still haven't answered if you've seen little gnats flitting around all over the place.
Coleus need as much light as you can find indoors. The exception to that would be if you were germinating in a greenhouse.
You could purchase some horticultural grade diatomaceous earth and sprinkle a good layer of that on top of the soil. That will help kill off soil critters.
oh sorry, yeah, today i did see some gnats.
i made an A frame out of a sticky note w/ maple syrup on top, my makeshift gnat trap at least til i go out and get one.
thanks, i think i'll get some of the diatomaceous earth. i can use it outdoors this spring and summer too.
god, i'm sick of winter..lol
For Z7 you should be able to start them any time now. I'm 6B and started my first ones this week and will stagger start over the next 2 weeks for plant out end of April and 1st week of May. When it comes to the weather all we can do is hedge our bets and have some spares saved to replace any a late frost gets. ;)
Good luck.
Dave
I need to make a correction on the sow date. According to my notes I sowed them on Jan 21, not the 10th.
The soil is Miracle Gro potting mix. As for the strain, it was just one I happened to pick up and later learned it is on our extention agency's list of good varieties for this area. While I have some experience growing flowers and certain vegetables from seed, I've never grown broccoli before, this is my first attempt. We shall see what happens.
Easy to do - Here is a bunch of info links from Google How to make paper pots?
Just cut long strips of newspaper the width = to how tall you want the pot to be. Then wrap the strip several times around any round object - pop can, rolling pin, whatever. The diameter of what you wrap around determines the diameter of the pot.
As you wrap, leave 1 1/2" of the paper extending below the can, tape or staple the end of the wrap and fold the 1 1/2" of the bottom over into pleats. Slip it off the can and you have a paper pot. ;)
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Making Paper Pots
You can just form them around any container that is the size you want and tape the edges. Paper tapes are biodegradable.
Personally, I didn't like using them. They did not want to stand up on their own, I thought that they dried out too quickly when spaced apart and had a tendancy to mold when too close together. You still have to remove the plant from the paper pot when transplanting becuase it will take weeks and perhaps months for the paper to fully disinegrate so you risk the plant drying out or getting root bound. The only thing I did like about them is that I could just tuck the paper pot under the mulch as I planted. No clean-up is always good in my book.
Besides, as I get older, I find my time becomes more and more valuable. It's a whole lot faster to pick up cups in a large variety of sizes than to make them at a dollar store.
My grandmother always had Portulaca as well, and I love it, especially mixed with Celosia. The bright colors and different textures just seem to complement each other.
I grew it from seed last year, and this year am going to try the "sheet cake" method. Thanks for the tip!
parad0x,
portulaca is a good choice for a hearty flower! They pretty much thrive on neglect. lol.
Anyway, I've had really good luck wintersowing both. You might want to give it a try.
:)
Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Sowing
I know that flowers don't like their stems buried. I meant the bell pepper. I know that when you plant tomatoes transplants deeper, more roots grow out the stem giving them a better root system, I was just wondering if bell peppers did the same thing.
Thanks,
Gemfire
You could germinate them in flats in the indoor greenhouse, then transplant them to the greenhouse when it's time. Transplants love a cooler environment.
If you do a Search in this forum about peat pots, I think you'll find that a great many people have lots of trouble with them. At least, it's a subject that seems to come up endlessly every spring when folks begin to have problems. Perhaps if holes were drilled in the bottom for proper (meaning rapid) drainage they wouldn't cause so many problems.
I use and love the portable greenhouses with four shelves. I have three of them in my basement. They are efficient at retaining heat and humidity. This makes them a good place to germinate seeds IMO. I use artificial lighting inside my portable greenhouses. I have one greenhouse with a 150 watt fluorescent, bat-wing grow light; one greenhouse with three clamp-type, work lights with 42 watt CFLs; and one greenhouse has a compact mini-HID metal halide 150 watts. They all seem to work great from start to finish. I highly recommend the portable greenhouses. The shelves are grated so excess water runs through to the lower shelves/floor if you don't use plastic trays under your pots to catch it. This can be problematic if you want to hang lights on the lower shelves so be careful. Also,the smaller 3 shelf model (about ten bucks cheaper than the four shelf) is nice. not necessary to use humidity dome in these. Bottom heat would be more beneficial IMO because the grated shelves don't retain heat.
Tobacco mosaic virus is very rare (but possible) but I'd first suspect the more likely villains. Do the spots rub off? If so the problem is a mold from too much moisture. Have you been misting the plants? If so, stop and see if the spots disappear. Is there adequate air circulation? A small fan on low will help greatly. Under lights? Need to be close but not close enough to scorch. Room temps? Lettuce prefers cool temps and thrives in the 50 degree range.
Lastly any chance they are a pest? Aphids come to mind as a common problem with lettuce seedlings. If they can be flicked off the leaves think aphids.
With the Jiffy mix you won't have any N burn going (another possibility sometimes) but you will need to feed them as it has no nutrients. A 25% solution of a water soluable fertilizer works well - nothing stronger.
Hope some of this helps.
Dave
Thanks for the response Dave.
I have not been misting the plants. The spots do not rub off, so not mold.
The plants are in my spare room and I have a ceiling fan running on low so there is a light breeze.
They are under 4ft shop lights with cool white bulbs set about an inch above the tops of the plants.
The room temp stays about 60 to 65
As to Aphids.. I don't think so. I am so ready to get out in the yard this year that I am spending a lot of time looking at those wonderful green growing things and I think I would have seen any bugs by now.. :)
Should I be giving them the 25% fetilizer solution every time that I water the plants? I have not done any fertilizer yet, can you suggest a brand name?
Thanks again.
Mat
I only have the tomatoes on the like pinching list..
No, please. Put tomatoes on the do not pinch list. ;) Pinching of tomatoes is not generally recommended as there is little if any benefit and it can sharply reduce production. One first has to know the type (indeterminate or determinate) and exactly where to pinch. Pruning (vs. pinching) a well grown plant is a different matter completely.
Lots of discussions on this in the past over on the growing tomatoes forum. ;).
Dave
I agree with calistoga - the covers are for germinating purposes only, not for growing on. This is assuming you are growing them inside rather than outside. If outside, then yes, the Wintersowing Forum can explain what all to do next. It has an excellent FAQ section on all the basics.
And you might wish to check out all the FAQ's posted here as well - linked below and at the top of the forum's front page - they cover all the basics of Growing from Seed - including your questions. ;)
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: Growing from Seed FAQ's
After they germinate and break the soil they need light. Either sunlight or artificial light.