HelpfulGardener.com

I have started seeds in all kinds of conditions and seem to learn alot about it from expeience! The number one biggest mistake is not covering your seed planters with a plastic or glass cover till the seeds sprout! The reason is most soils contain peat and when it dries out the seeds cannot break through the surface. I woul say the second problem is wetting the seeds too much before they sprout which can cause them to rot or damp off! Temp is ver important for seeds like tomatoes and peppers! The soil should be above 55 or even 60 to have them emerge successfully!.
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If you lack room after the seeds sprout the cole crops can be put in a cooler area without any problems I don't like peat pots I stick with plastic or styrofoam containers! I started putting leaves or paper at the bottom o all myseed planting boxes and it seems to hold the moisture nicely after the seeds sprout!. If you want to sell your plants get the flats with 48 up to 72 cubes per flat Agway has the 72 flats for only 69 cents!
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After seeds sprout get them into good light or they will be very thin and leggy with poor health! When planting small seeds cover the seeds with potting soil that you finely strain as you top apply it to take out the big pieces! Never put your new seedlings in direct sunlight but start off in a partly shadded area for a few days! Cold frames are also a nice place to put some early seedlings where the temp does not freeze them!
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Try digging out a raised bed about a foot deep and use it for your new seedlings like a covered cold frame and replace the dirt later in the spring back to the raised bed again! This way you can referbish you raised bed dirt with a few added soils while using it for a early season seedling starter!!

Do you know how to fertilize new seeds? I heard somewhere that 2-3 weeks after they germinate you need to fertilize them because they have used up all the nutrients. I started my seeds in pellets in a self watering greenhouse. I was wondering if I could mix up some miracle grow with water to pour into the greenhouse watering tray.

Thanks for sharing those tips Bobber.

Thanks, I have some year old horse manure. Do I just mix a certain amount of that with water to make manure tea? I have never used it before.

I don't think I would use any manure mixes inside but outside in the garden is fine. I would use any water mix fertilizer in about 1/10 the regular strenth or get some liquid sea weed or fish liquid and mix about 1/5 regular dossage. The problem with manure mixes is the chance of mold or disease. Ouside there is more oxygen to kill bad odors and mold or disease !

dtlove129 wrote:Thanks, I have some year old horse manure. Do I just mix a certain amount of that with water to make manure tea? I have never used it before.

Yes, aged (composted) horse manure will make good manure tea. Just put about a cup of it in a gallon of water, stir it up good, let it sit overnight, stir again, and filter it out (I use cheesecloth but even window screen will work). You can dump the filterings back in the bucket and add a bit less water and not waste your good manure.

I also use manure tea. Place a couple of shovel loads of manure into a burlap bag. Suspend the bag in a garbage can full of water. I also use aquarium pump and air stones, but they are not really needed.
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Double%20Dog%20Farm%20%20Propagation%20Greenhouse/March6th2012003.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Double%20Dog%20Farm%20%20Propagation%20Greenhouse/March6th2012005.jpg[/img]

Eric

damn I need to build one of those

soil wrote:damn I need to build one of those

Soil,

I'm slowly removing the soil and raised boxes out of my greenhouse. I'm turning it into strictly a propagation greenhouse. When I have a little extra money this single watering shelf Will be three tier.

Eric

I am not sold on manure tea for seedlings but it looks like you feed the tea from the bottom right? I think the sea weed or seaweed fish liquid mix has everything the plants need in trace minerals also!
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I grow all my seedlings in 4 inch deep boxes with a miox of garden soils and a toping of several inches of potting soild that have peat n them.I also like the agway composted manure mixed with peat moss. 40 pounds of the manure compost mix is $3.50 at agway and its some of the nicest mixes I have seen anywhere!
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When all my seedlings are up I can decide how I want to up pot them. If I don't have the time I can leave them in the boxes for weeks without harming them!

I agree with Bobberman I use seaweed on my starts. maybe when I move them to a bigger pot I Will throw in some rock dust azomite or volcanic cinder sand.

Bobberman wrote:I am not sold on manure tea for seedlings but it looks like you feed the tea from the bottom right? I think the sea weed or seaweed fish liquid mix has everything the plants need in trace minerals also!
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I grow all my seedlings in 4 inch deep boxes with a mix of garden soils and a toping of several inches of potting soil that have peat n them.I also like the agway composted manure mixed with peat moss. 40 pounds of the manure compost mix is $3.50 at agway and its some of the nicest mixes I have seen anywhere!
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When all my seedlings are up I can decide how I want to up pot them. If I don't have the time I can leave them in the boxes for weeks without harming them!

Yes, Bottom watering. No algae build up like from top watering. I also use Hydrolyze Liquid Fish fertilizer, but after the plants have a few true leaves, it's better than the cooked fish fertilizer.

I no longer use Peat Moss. I use Coconut Coir. Coir is a renewable by-product. I still use Perlite but will be trying sand as a substitute.

Eric

Ya you do have to watch peat moss that is why I mentioned the plastic cover till the seeds come up. Leave one flat dry out with peat at the top and its like a hard cover over the seeds. I really liked the peat mos mixed with the composted manure sold at agway so check it out in the 40 ound bags. While you are there check out the 72 chamber flats they sell for $69 a flast great price but on the 72 are that price! Its acxtually 12 pacs of 6 in the flat. Other plaes want over a $1!

DoubleDogFarm wrote:

Bobberman wrote:I am not sold on manure tea for seedlings but it looks like you feed the tea from the bottom right? I think the sea weed or seaweed fish liquid mix has everything the plants need in trace minerals also!
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I grow all my seedlings in 4 inch deep boxes with a mix of garden soils and a toping of several inches of potting soil that have peat n them.I also like the agway composted manure mixed with peat moss. 40 pounds of the manure compost mix is $3.50 at agway and its some of the nicest mixes I have seen anywhere!
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When all my seedlings are up I can decide how I want to up pot them. If I don't have the time I can leave them in the boxes for weeks without harming them!

Yes, Bottom watering. No algae build up like from top watering. I also use Hydrolyze Liquid Fish fertilizer, but after the plants have a few true leaves, it's better than the cooked fish fertilizer.

I no longer use Peat Moss. I use Coconut Coir. Coir is a renewable by-product. I still use Perlite but will be trying sand as a substitute.

Eric

+1 For ferts I'm using diluted Neptune Harvest fish/seaweed=the cooked stuff is nasty


I'm trying 50/50 of : regular peat type(EB Stone) starter mix w/ fine coir mix with added perlite. This stuff dries really quick



T

Peatdrying is a advantage after the plants come up because the crust stops damping off! Till the seedlings break the soil make sure there is no air blowing across the soil so cover it with clear plastic! My soil in the greenhouse even in my sweat chamber goes down below fifty sometimes so my seeds take a week to 10 days to come up and I must keep it moiste! When I have a box uncovered with no plastic to hold moisture the top of the peat soil feels like the outside of a cigar hard and thick skinned!

My seed starting mix last year was 50/50 Coir and Perlite. This year I'm trying 1-Coir, 1-Perlite, 1/2-Sand, 1/2-compost. The sand - compost is a 50/50 mixture I purchased from the landscape yard. I sifted the sand-compost through a 1/8 hardware cloth. The seedlings seem to be a deeper green from this mix.

Eric

I think adding compost in the seed starting mix promotes good healthy seedlings too.