2/13/07---new here today-and starting seeds

[hoodoobluesman]

hello hello,
I just finished putting water on a couple of peat pellets..
tomorrow I will put a green pepper and a cherry tomatoe seed in 0ne each..

I will do this every week till april !st

next week or so I will start some cilatro seeds...

I live in very small apt..
and these will end up in 5 gallon buckets outside...

I am hoping to learn here---
thank you

[opabinia51]

I'm a big fan of providing the plants with a full compliment of nutrients and soil organisms from the start and therefore, don't use peat pellets to start my seeds.

Peat contains few if any nutrients for the plants therefore, once germinated the plant roots will not be supplied with any nutrients by the peat and you will need to supply the nutrients to the plants with synthetic (salt based) fertilizers.

If you use screened compost to start your seeds in (in little containers) they will be supplied with all the nutrients that the plants need and the plants can just secrete small amounts of acid or base to sequester the nutrients from the soil. Furthermore, with the use of salt based fertilizers the plants get a sudden wash of fertilizer and then are starved of nurtrients that they need.
Furthermore, the high concentration of salts in the soil will kill beneficial organisms in the soil that keep pathogen populations in check therefere increasing the chance of disease.

Anyway, my recomondation is to instead use unsterilized, screened compost to start you seeds.

Also, if you use this; your seedling will build a healthy immune response system (in which they secrete secondary metabolites to ward off pathogens). Yes, plants have immune systems to!

Good luck with you plants, gardening is a great hobby and growing your own food is a very rewarding endeavour.

PS
If you use organic fertilizers and soil (organic here meaning the industry term and not the scientific term) you tomatoes (and other fruit) will taste better.

[hoodoobluesman]

hello hello,
thank you for the info!

"""I'm a big fan of providing the plants with a full compliment of nutrients and soil organisms from the start and therefore, don't use peat pellets to start my seeds.

Peat contains few if any nutrients for the plants therefore, once germinated the plant roots will not be supplied with any nutrients by the peat and you will need to supply the nutrients to the plants with synthetic (salt based) fertilizers.

If you use screened compost to start your seeds in (in little containers) they will be supplied with all the nutrients that the plants need and the plants can just secrete small amounts of acid or base to sequester the nutrients from the soil. """"

I will keep this in mind for next year...
I'm kind of set for my little containers this year.

do they sell bags of compost????

[Newt]

Hi Hoodoobluesman,

Welcome to The Helpful Gardener. Just in case this is your first time using peat pots, be sure when you plant them in the larger containers that there isn't any of the rim of the peat pots above the soil. If that happens, the parts above the soil can wick away moisture from the roots of the plant. I've seen people tear away a bit of the top part of the peat pots when planting them. Of course you can plant your tomatoes deeper then the height of the pot. It's one of the few plants you can do that with. The tomatoes will grow roots along the buried stems and give you better results.

You can buy bags of compost at garden centers and big box stores like Home Depot and Lowe's. I agree with Opabinia about peat pots and peat in general. It has very little nutirents. If you already have potting soil (which is usually peat moss based unless you purchase organic potting soil), then mix your potting soil with compost for your 5 gallon pots. A mix of 60% potting soil to 40% compost would be great.

Do be careful when purchasing potting soil. Many today come with synthetic fertilizers in them and most people don't realize it. They then add more fertilizer and the roots of the plants get burned.

Newt

[hoodoobluesman]

hello hello,
what do you think of the stuff they call humis??

I mixed a 50/50 mix of humis and cheap potting soil last year.
this was in 5 gallon buckets..
broken bricks in botton by drainage holes....

it was my first time using humus.
the results were terrible.
only a few tomatoes ---and they were small.
some had turned black on bottom..
[these were regular tomatoes]

I didnt know what to blame it on...
maybe not enough water....
the plants them selves
or old plant food---

I plan to read thru the container gardening section in the next few weeks..
the cilantro plants [coriander] did well in same conditions.

thank you for the info

[Newt]

Humus (note the spelling) is supposed to be broken down organic matter. Sort of a finished compost. It should be wonderful stuff for your plants.

I mixed a 50/50 mix of humis and cheap potting soil last year.
this was in 5 gallon buckets..

Sounds good to me.

broken bricks in botton by drainage holes....

Not a good idea. Take a look here.
https://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Chalker-Scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/Myths/Container%20drainage.pdf

it was my first time using humus.
the results were terrible.
only a few tomatoes ---and they were small.

Sometimes the Big Boy and the Big Girl will be undersized. Over fertilizing, especially if you use a synthetic fertilizer with lots of nitrogen, can also cause undersized tomatoes. I prefer organic fertilizers like fish emulsion or fish emulsion mixed with seaweed. It's gentler and feeds the soil that feeds the plants. Synthetic fertilizers feed the plants.

some had turned black on bottom..
[these were regular tomatoes]

The black at the end of the tomatoes would be blossom end rot. It comes from inconsistent watering and a lack of calcium. It's often more a matter of the type of tomato that this happens to as some tomatoes are more resistant to this disorder then others. Take a look at the first disorder here.
https://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/NewsArticles/Tom_ComDis.htm

Glad to know the cilantro did well.
Newt