6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed

I start my seeds (tomato and pepper) inside folded damp paper towels inside plastic bags in trays on top of the lights above my tropical fish aquarium. They stay at a nice 80F when the lights are on, dropping to about 75F after the timer turns the lights off.

I check for sprouting every couple of days beginning about five days after starting them. I may have to add moisture to some that get a little dry.

When they sprout, I use a small screwdriver to transfer them to growing trays under lights in my very cool basement (65F or so.)

When they grow their second pair of leaves, I transplant to individual containers.

What seeds are you starting? That is the major factor at play here.

For this reason, it is better to use sterile starting mix or sterilize it yourself in overn, outdoor grill ...

ProMix, just like most all quality brand mixes, is sterile coming out of the bag or bale.

Your water is not and neither are your containers much less the air. There is no need to pre-sterilize it. The solution is with the moisture levels and the air circulation. Any kind of electric fan even remotely in the area will improve air circulation.

Dave

@ Any kind of electric fan even remotely in the area will improve air circulation.

Dave

Thanks again Dave! I've since placed a small 8" fan (on low speed) inside my germinator to move some indirect air around (sans domes on the flats) ...... This has made a huge difference! Just have to keep media moist.....

Nother 10 years & I'll have the hang of this stuff! The basics, anyway..........

Dave - where the heck are you finding seeds of Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum'???!!!

Not. Oh Rubrum seeds are offered for sale out there but are a rip off. Not so much that they are sterile but 99% are harvested too early and aren't mature enough to be viable.

I should have been more clear that I was addressing the title of the post - sowing ornamental grass seeds in general.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Rubrum viability discussion

Really? I got them in a trade and then threw them out thinking they were sterile. So how would I know they're mature?

I believe in ant bait because they drag it back to the Queen and the entire ant house gets a dose of it. I think of it as imploding the nest from the inside out. Any ant who wants to live can go to the neighbors if they're smart enough!

If your tomato plants get too leggy you can add soil around the stem and more roots will grow out of the stem.

Other than that I'm no help. I'm very jealous. Does that count? I'm trying to grow seeds in sunlight, no grow lights. I love it that you're worried what the neighbors think! Once they see the garden they'll know you're not packing up your plant leaves to sell on the corner. lol

Heidi

Update on lighting set up

These should be at the most 2-3 inches and some within half an inch of the light. I have it tilted on one side so I can have the larger plants under it as well.

I have a mix of bulbs in the fixtures, 1 Daylight 6500k and 1 Cool Neutral 2000k in each. There's also some supplemental light from outside, but very little if any direct sunlight.

Did my seedlings have to rough of a start to truely thrive? I'm thinking buying another light (oh gosh lol) since I've run out of room and start another set of plants. Its getting a little late now but its time to start squash and zukes inside I think?

I also have a few low-light plants below the seedlings, which is why I have the seedlings in the clear trays (upside down domes since they're useless now that I've learned they promote damping off) so that they can get some light on the lowest level.

Pepper and eggplant seeds take longer time to germinate at low temperature. The optimum is 85F (+/- 5F). At 85F i have germinated hot pepper seeds in about 6 days. Minimum is about 65F, at which temperature might take 3 weeks to germinate. Tomatoes require less heat and the cool crop seeds are even less demanding.

So the general rule is that the colder the germinating medium is, the longer it will take.

Here is another method for you to study about how to plan vegetable

Here is a link that might be useful: shop vouchers

Thanks for the advice so far. I have a few followup questions.

1) I can certainly fill gallon bottles of tap water for watering. The only problem I see is draining the flats after watering. I typically fill a flat with water a couple of inches then drop in those cell packs that look like they need watering. When I see the soil is moist on top (~30 min or so) I remove them, and all I would need is an easy way to dump the dirty water from the flat. Perhaps a 5 gallon bucket will do the job?

2) Regarding the fungus gnats, why do you say they will be less of a problem in the basement? What prevention methods are there if any other than overwatering? Should I just hang those yellow sticky traps from my ceiling joists in the vicinity to contain them in case I do get an outbreak?

3) Can you buy sterlized growing soil? I thought last year I purposely bought a good (expensive) starting mix (can't recall the name).

4) Regarding the insecticidal soap with water...is there a specific home-made solution that is effective and organic at the same time?

5) I need to look into portable sinks/drain tubs. Something not expensive but also something compact and lightweight that I can put away in my attic when not in use. Suggestions?

6) Regarding the fan, what size and how would you use it to create the right amount of circulation to assist in.

Hi again njitgrad,

Regarding your questions:

1) The bucket: Sounds to me like the 5 gallon bucket idea would work. Also, if you thought youâÂÂd be able to use that water again, within a reasonable time, you probably would not have to dump it.

2) Bugs/Fungus gnats: Having less of a bug problem in the basement was actually an assumption on my part. IâÂÂve never grown plants in my garage. But, I would think the garage, being more open to the outside, would be more prone to bug problems.

About the fungus gnats⦠the best prevention is probably making sure the growing medium does not stay overly wet. The larvae (usually in the top inch or so of the growing medium) develop pretty quickly. The emerging adult females only live for a short while (a week or so I think) but during that time they can lay a lot of eggs :-) So, hopefully the yellow sticky traps will get them before they have a chance to lay their eggs. Some folks have reported having success treating the growing medium with a Hydrogen Peroxide solution. IâÂÂve never had enough of a fungus gnat problem to try that however.

Anyway, if you use the yellow traps, they need to be very close to the plants (and under the lights), the closer the better. Hanging them from your ceiling joists will probably not work.

3) Sterilized growing soil: Soilless growing mediums are considered sterile. Just make sure the bag appears to be well sealed when you buy it :-) I germinate my seeds in Miracle Gro Seed Starting Mix and then pot-up the seedlings later into MG regular Potting Mix (which feeds the seedling for up to 3 months).

4) Insecticidal soap: IâÂÂve used âÂÂSaferâ brand Insect Killing Soap for years with great success. I get the concentrated stuff, much cheaper in the long run. ItâÂÂs OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) listed and compliant for use in organic gardening. However, IâÂÂm sure you could fine some recipes on the web if you prefer to make your own.

5) Portable sinks: IâÂÂm sure there are plenty available but they may not be cheap. I know Coleman makes a small one (available at Walmart or Amazon) that sells for about 45 bucks. Also, you might want to look around on eBay.

6) The fan: You donâÂÂt want a large powerful fan of course. Any small cheap oscillating fan should work fine. I have mine on a timer that runs the fan (for about an hour) several times a day.

Hope this helps,

Art

I always like when you can find unique varieties in the stores. For example I found a dwarf version of cilantro from Ferry Morse in the Lowes seed display. I'm interested in having short, bushy plants. I seeded some last night, so wil see how they turn out.

All three major seed companies that I know ( Ferry Morse, Ed Hume, Burpee) are basically similar in quality, quantity and somehow limited in variety. Putting all 3 of them together you can find most of what you need, unless you are after hard to fond varieties. I buy their seeds off the rack at the big box stores and rarely order seeds by mail.

Thanks Dave!

Susanne27, how did the fuseables turn out for you? I am about to start some in 3" pots, planning to combine the contents of 3 pots into a hanging basket later. I would like to know your experience last year.

There is another very popular gardening site that has extensive resources for finding suppliers for seeds and plants. If you google 'plant scout' or 'garden watchdog' you'll find the site. GardenWeb is apparently worried about the competition and so won't let us post a link to that site here. I like GardenWeb for discussions, but the other site has this one beat hands-down, IMO, in the reference and referral departments. Both sites have their advantages and are best used together.

As was alluded to earlier, there are probably well over 100 very good retail seed suppliers/sources out there. If you narrow it down to at least a category (vegetable seeds, seeds of perennials, seeds of annuals, native seeds, woody plant seeds, etc, etc), you might get some specific recommendations.

When you do find a potential source, review that source's ratings on Garden Watchdog before entrusting them with your order/money.

I order from Stokes seeds, Vesey's seeds, T+T seeds in Canada and they all ship to the States. With the exchange in the dollar now you might get a good deal.

I also order from Park seeds in the States because they have good prices and our dollar has been at par for a couple of years. It's dropping now so it depends on what the Canadian dollar does in the next year whether cross border shopping will be worthwhile next year.

Put my glasses back on and, yep, they look like Echinops. Echinops are hairy kimonos with a stick like seed inside. I have never dissected Sea Holly - those are hairy triangles with hairs/spikes on top.

Grow both - they are both great plants. I have several of each and really love them. I don't clean the echinops because I am very allergic to them and their little prickly hairs. Sea holly isn't so hairy, so it's a little better.

It's my understanding that echinops doesn't germinate all that well and many of the kimonos don't germinate. I haven't tried to grow them from seed as they re-seed nicely for me, but others on the winter sowing forum report success, but not that great germination.

If you were to start some seedling now what soil would you use and would you start them in direct sunlight. I am new to this but bought 50 sea holley seeds and would like to try to grow some now. I will put the others away to spring sow

Today, I checked the temperature in that south room. The thermometer read just above 40 degrees. Might be able to make this work with extra light in there.

I'm happy to report the problem rested with the type of wood we were burning. Won't do that again!