6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
Whats the npk on the fertilizer? Im thinking to much fertilizer. starters dont need a whole lot and earthgrow potting soil should have enough nutrients to last for a month. If i remember right seedlings dont use any fertalizer till there true leaves start coming out. They come prepackaged with there own food.
It will take at least 6 weeks to have transplants ready to set out.. I am starting mine tomorrow but then we can't set them out until the first week of June and we typically have tomatoes ready to eat in August.
I don't know how hot it gets where you live but if tomatoes have done all right in the past in your climate then I'd say go ahead and plant but buy a couple of ones already started for earlier tomatoes. Then you'd have the best of both worlds
Agree with all mandolls said. Fertilizing seedlings is strictly optional. First you have to make sure there is none in your potting mix. if there is, adding more stuff only stresses the seedlings.
If done it MUST be done with a well diluted (1/4 strength) fertilizer. That means a liquid. Only recommended organic liquid usually recommended is fish emulsion since it is already in an emulsion or some of the worm tea products. Most organics don't work in sterile soil.
Which is yet another example of all the mis-leading "organic" marketing hoopla out there. But that is another issue all together.
Dave
For the first time I lost some seedlings due to fertilizer. I have a large sink in the greenhouse that I use for watering seedlings from the bottom. I keep a few inches of water in it and drop the containers of seedlings in it when needed. While using the same sink for my new divisions of last years perennials, I added the normal amount of soluble fertilizer. The next time I put a pot of seedlings in the same water, the effect on the seedlings was seen the next day. The lesson is, if you must fertilize seedlings, be sure it is a VERY weak solution. Years ago I did use a compost leach-ate with mixed results. Al
Let me tell you about an experiment we did with cukes years ago. I had only had my greenhouse for a couple of years and every year I started my cukes in the greenhouse. The year we did the experiment I started them as usual. My husband set them out in the garden and 2 feet away started some seeds. 3 weeks after the seeds sprouted the plants in both plots were the same size and they started producing at the same time. Since that time we have always planted them from seed. The only veggies we set out as plants are Tomatoes and Peppers and sometimes things that take longer to grow or that we are experimenting with. Almost everything we grow is direct planted
You will be learning this shortly any way as your tomato transplants are planted too shallowly and as the plants grow those cups will start falling over since they will be very top heavy.
But if you have more tomato plants to transplant
1) the cups do not need to be full to the brim and it is better if they aren't. Use the sides of the cup/pot to support the seedling.
2) nothing requires any plant to sit right at the top of the cup or container.
3) it is better for the tomato plants if all that exposed stem is buried.
Fill the cup about 1/3 to no more than 1/2 full and put in the seedling burying most of the bare stem. Then as it grows add more mix to the cup so the bare stem remains mostly buried. That is where all the new roots will develop, all along that stem.
Dave
Most bell peppers available are hybrids. Doubt you will ever buy an open pollinated pepper in a grocery store.
Saving pepper seeds, even if you plant open pollinated varieties is chancy, as peppers, unlike tomatoes, are mostly insect pollinated, not self pollinated. If you grow more than one variety of pepper, you will likely get cross pollination, or poor results from planting seeds of hybrids.
I already checked the middle of the plugs, and they are moist.
That's your answer. If the middle of the plugs are moist then they don't need water. In pots of soil you stick your finger down into the soil. With sponge plugs you have to check the plug at the root level.
Dave
One tool that has been helping me with this problem lately is a pump sprayer. It just mists the tops where seeds are needing moisture to sprout, but doesn't provide enough water to saturate on down. I've been misting daily and only watering when the container gets lighter. It seems to be helping altho I don't have it down to a science yet.
Sara,
Thought a lot about that also.
Always felt that seeds that need dark, germinate under the fully leafed out mother plant before the mother plant dies. I concluded that was it. But then I read that there are other seeds that drop in dark places like swamps, etc. They need dark.
Maybe others naturally grow under tree or plant leaves that have fallen.
But as you say, "For seeds planted under the soil, it's dark anyway. " Certainly think that makes sense.
Don't think that dark means dark, rather shade. But then I am still experimenting. May change my mind tomorrow. :-)
So far,my experience with chilling involved only the seeds. I put them in the back of the refrigeator for a few weeks, then plant them as soon as i take them out. I've only had a few varieties that need this, and I was successful. I keep a simple notebook/journal each year telling me when I sowed, where I intended to plant, what the germination time is, size of plant, etc. When sowing the flats, I do my best to keep the germination times together. As I watch the germination progress, i note in the journal when the true leaves form, when I transplant into pots, and anything else I think might help the next year. I try to time the transplanting so i can get them into the greenhouse when the night temps don't drop below 50*. Being New England it doesn't always work out that way, and the pots stay in the basement under the lights for a while. My greenhouse isn't heated right now, so it's more of a really big cold frame.
Well, I could not help myself. Just received another order of seeds. Gotta get busy sowing. I'm building a new hoophouse in the back yard. Not enough room in the existing greenhouse lol. I'll use my benches in the greenhouse as a transplant station, then move everything into the hoophouse. If I can ever get to that point.
Let the kids plant the seeds in the garden themselves so they have that experience. It's too cold in NY yet to plant cukes. Wait till May. I would put the seedlings you have on a sunny windowsill at school for now. Planting them in your garden will not be good for transplanting later.
I used to be a teacher with a class garden. Good luck. You're doing a nice thing. You might want to plant peas which mature before school is out for the summer.
Agree that direct seeding is by far the best. if you must have cuke transplants start some new ones and pitch these. There is plenty of time still.
Cukes like many other vegetables prefer to avoid transplanting, much less transplanting them twice. Once they develop more than a couple of true leaves, much less begin to bloom, they often tend to stunt if transplanted.
Like Susan said let the kids learn about seeds to plant rather than the artificial method of gardening that uses only transplants.
Dave