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rainbowgardener
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2014 Seeds Started!

Planted the first seeds today, indoors, under lights. (YAY!!) Planted spearmint, cabbage, broccoli, begonia, parsley, summer savory, anise hyssop, chives, spinach, dill.

Compare to 1/19/2013: On the heat mat I planted broccoli, cabbage, summer savory, canterbury bells, parsley, dill. Without heat I planted alyssum, celery, bunny tails grass

This year I'm not doing the canterbury bells, which didn't do well, or bunny tails, but I will have to look for the alyssum and celery. I've never started spinach indoors before, it's an experiment, because I didn't get any fall planted to overwinter; seeing if I can partially make up for that.
Last edited by rainbowgardener on Fri Jan 17, 2014 5:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

PaulF
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Good for you! I have a couple or three weeks until I can get started. Getting the itch, though and may push it up a week.

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I always thought lettuce seeds were good for 3 years not just one. Now I know why some of my old seeds did not come up! This winter has been terrible with below zero and a week long bad cold that I still have! Neglected my greenhouses for 3 weeks now! Looking over the new Burpee seeds in Wal Mart but do not really care for Burpee as much as Livingston! Will be starting cole crops next week!

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rainbowgardener
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RE: I always thought lettuce seeds were good for 3 years not just one. Now I know why some of my old seeds did not come up!

And what made you change your mind? Nothing in this thread even refers to lettuce seed. But I purchased a lot of seeds in bulk last year, with the intention of using them over the next three years. A friend just gave me a bunch of her seeds, many of which date from the 1990's. I don't know if they will sprout or not, but I will give them a chance.

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rainbowgardener
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Planted lavender and celery today and started making myself a seed starting chart, with the seeds I start and their requirements for germ time, heat, light, weeks ahead of frost, special treatment, etc. Once I get it done, I might try to find a way to post it here.

For my own reference, this is the link to last year's seed starting thread:

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... hp?t=50224

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ReptileAddiction
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I should be starting peppers and stuff now but the problem is I do not have the seeds yet. I have a lot of herb seed that is to old now and I cant get it to sprout. I am waiting on a few seeds to come in the mail but the things I do not yet have I am not picky about and they are common varieties so I will probably just buy them from a local store. I was looking at some today but they were all packaged for the 2013 season and I found it difficult to justify buying it because it will last a year less.

Anyway, so far I have planted all but one tomato variety but I am planning on buying a start for the last. I have also planted California Wonder bell peppers and some flowers.

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rainbowgardener
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"and some flowers" awww come on :) that sounds like the flowers are an unimportant afterthought. But I love growing flowers and think they are important in the garden for attracting pollinators and other beneficial insects. What flowers did you plant?

I grow the Calif Wonder bells too, and like them. They come out very thick walled like the store bought ones, which has not always been my experience with garden peppers. I also grew Anaheim chilis last year, partly because I wanted a mild hot pepper and partly I couldn't resist, since I grew up in Anaheim, CA. The peppers are named after my hometown.

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rainbowgardener
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First seedlings! When I turned the lights on this AM, there were a whole bunch of little cabbage seedlings, all bleached out (etiolated, if you like fancy words) from having sprouted in the dark. Three days to germination!

For no good reason, I had started the cabbage on the heat mat and the broccoli not. Since the broccoli, which should be on a similar time table was showing no signs of sprouting, I just moved it on to the heat.

YAY! 2014 season is officially under way!

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ReptileAddiction
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Haha well the flowers are not my priority.

Last night I bit the bullet and put my few tomatoes on a heat mat with a thermostat. I originally set it to 75 but it has moved up to 85 because I did not think the pots were getting warm enough. Now it seems like it is actually doing something. I plan to move them off once they have all sprouted and look like they are really growing. Then I will move them out to the greenhouse and put the peppers inside on the heat mat. This is a really small reptile heat mat so I can not fit much on it.

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rainbowgardener
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Yeah, I run two heat mats, each the size of a 10X20 tray. That seems like a lot, but for how much I start from seed it isn't. And I don't want to do any more, because of the power usage. So I just move things off the heat mats as soon as they have true leaves (occasionally, in a pinch, even sooner than that, but I prefer not to) and fill in the spaces as soon as they empty.

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ReptileAddiction
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Do you use a thermostat? Since I am using reptile heat pads they get hot so I have to. I watched a video on youtube by someone that starts all his seeds in a plastic bag with paper towel on a heat mat and as soon as there leaves unfold he moves them to containers. Have you tried this? It seems like a good way to save space on the heat mats. I might try some extra California Wonder bells this way. Whichever way gives me faster plants in the method I will go with.

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rainbowgardener
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No thermostat [my 15 yr old pharmacy heating pads don't get that hot] and I don't do the baggie method. You have to watch your seedlings very carefully that way, because once sprouted, they will die very quickly, if not immediately moved in to soil. Having them in soil in the first place seems like a lot less fuss.

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ReptileAddiction
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I do not think I would do well with the baggie method then. The amount of plants I have killed by under watering is ridiculous. I have noticed though that with a heat pad they dry out really fast. I have watered them 3 times today though none of them were good deep soakings like they should have been.

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rainbowgardener
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Yes, the soil sitting on heat mats dries out much faster. I do all bottom watering with my seeds/ seedlings. All the cell inserts (and later pots) are in trays. Then I just pour water in the bottom of the tray, just enough to reach the soil, so it can wick it up. If the moisture reaches the surface, then you know all the soil is moist. Sometimes I do need to do that twice a day for the ones on the mats, but usually once is enough. For the seeds that need light to germinate, so are not buried, I do also lightly sprinkle a little water on top, to keep the seed from drying out, until it is sprouted and has a bit of root in to the soil.

Just about 6 hrs after I moved the broccoli on to the heat mat, it had sprouted. Makes me wish I had left it alone to see what would have happened. Today the first sprouts are showing of spinach and summer savory. 4 days to germination on all those!

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:-() I need to get started too! :-()

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Cola82
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Hooray! Your garden always sounds cooler than mine. ;p

ETA: as for old seeds, I tried to start some left over california wonder peppers and they didn't sprout after nearly two weeks, so I dug them up and they didn't look any different than when I planted them, so I replaced them with fresh seeds. I've also noticed reduced germination in my yellow cherry tomatoes and thai basil which were also planted from 2013 leftovers. You win some, you lose some, but it's worth the effort.

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rainbowgardener
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Last year's seeds should have been fine. How did you store them?

Older seeds can be more dried out, so it often gives them a boost to soak them over night before planting.

I bought most things in bulk last year, so much of what I am planting is at least sold for 2013, if not older. I have some seeds a friend gave me that are from the 1990's, which I am giving a try.

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ReptileAddiction
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How do you store seeds? I have always just stored them in a box at room temperature but I have found that a lot of seed is not doing to well. I have purchased a lot of seed now so I need to find a way to keep it longer.

Anyway, this morning I can see the first sign of sprouting in one of the tomatoes :D . I will not put it under light though yet because it is just the bend stem sticking out at the moment. Today I will move it to either the greenhouse or a south facing window. I might set up a fluorescent light, I will have to decide later.

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rainbowgardener
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I store seeds in paper envelopes inside bigger paper envelopes or cardboard boxes in the freezer. No plastic, which holds moisture. You want cold and dark and dry. I have kept seeds in the refrigerator which also worked, but now that I have a lot of seeds, it takes up too much space.

Applestar taught me that the first little stem loop that appears, while the baby is getting together enough energy to lift the cotyledons from the soil is called hypocotyl loop. It's just a geek thing, I like the fancy words.

But yes, once your tomato baby has leaves, it will need light.

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Ozark Lady
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Inspiring!

Okay, today is sort seeds, moisten soil in preparation of seed starting, decided since reading this subject.

If in doubt of whether a seed is still good, I do sometimes test germinate in baggies, and I watch them and move them into dirt quickly. Untangling a lot of too long roots usually costs me a lot of seedlings.
Once I have tested a few seeds of the date and species, then the rest get planted directly in soil. I use the top of my refrigerator to start mine. It is dark, since they are stacked up, so I have to watch them daily to move them to the light.

I am already running out of time for cole crops, onions etc if I want to use plantlets to plant these!

Starting plants is a for sure way to find out if mice have sneaked in to your house. They will bite the tiny leaves right off... been there, done that. So, my suggestion, keep an eye out for mice signs. It amazes how they find ways in, and we fix all entries (?!) But, they find or create more entries. Even low profile, sneaky mice can't seem to resist seedlings.

Does anyone know their zone, so that they can help newbies in starting their seeds?
I think my zone is 7, but my seedlings always take longer to reach a stage large enough to plant out, so I start a bit too early.

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I did like ReptileAddiction and just kept them in a shoebox in my office inside their original envelopes with the tops folded over. That could very well be it. Temperature does fluctuate in here.

Most of the seeds were fine. I'd say out of 16 thai basil seeds, 10 came up, and out of 8 yellow cherry tomato, 7 came up. But it was 100% last year. I'll see about putting the seeds from this year in the freezer this time. I have so many left over and no idea what to do with them all.

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I have always heard about storing them in the freezer but have been kinda lazy about it so I will move them there tonight. I actually decided to set up some fluorescent bulbs right above the tomatoes until they get their first true leaves. Once that happens they will be fertilized and moved out to the greenhouse!

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rainbowgardener
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Last night when I was looking at all my cute little seedlings and turning the lights off, I said, "gee it seems like tie for something else to sprout!" This morning parsley, dill and chives have shown themselves, 9 days after planting.

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ReptileAddiction
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So far all of my tomatoes are up but one. The first ones are starting on their 1st true leaves. I started more because I didnt think that some of them were going to sprout but if I had waited a day longer. I moved all the ones that have sprouted off the heat mat because I need it for other things. Once the jalapeños are up I will move them off the heat mat and out to the greenhouse then take the california wonder bells in because I think that the greenhouse is to cold for them to sprout but it should be warm enough after they are up. I am also planning on moving the tomatoes out as their true leaves develop. I have a bunch of other things that need to be started but I do not really know where to go with them. My Texas Blue Bonnet that are out in the greenhouse still have not come up yet and I do not really know why. They should be able to sprout and grow in the cooler temperatures and it was fresh seed. I definitely do not have the means to put the entire flat of them inside on a heat mat though. Have any of you guys ever grown them?

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rainbowgardener
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On the tenth day, cilantro popped up!

This evening I will move all the broccoli and cabbage plants into individual cells off the heat mat. That will be most of one tray worth. That will free up spaces on the heat mat (so far I am only running one) and I will plant purple basil, Anaheim peppers and California Wonder bells.

I failed to mention back there that the anise hyssop sprouted in 4 days. The broccoli, cabbage, spinach, and anise hyssop are all showing the first signs of true leaves, but tiny, not opened up yet.

(Later) I did move the broccoli and cabbage, 27 of each (the cells are in blocks of 9). That meant I trashed about a dozen of each, perfectly good seedlings. But I know I won't have room if I keep them all, so I hardened my heart. After all these years, I still hate to do it. :)
Last edited by rainbowgardener on Mon Jan 27, 2014 11:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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So jealous! Sounds like you're all off to a great start! :clap:

I might start the cold season stuff in the house -- 60's/no heat pad or 70's/top of the shop light. But nothing can go out in the garage until this deep freeze (tonight's forecast is now 7°F :shock: ) is over. Should be back to bearable (hovering at freezing (low 30's) temps in the garage this weekend.

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rainbowgardener
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Oh it is super cold here too, going in to negative numbers tonight. I've only started cold weather stuff and the slowest of the warm weather stuff. Actually, I think it is jumping the gun on the green peppers. Hot peppers are slower. And it is all in the heated basement, which is a bit cooler than the rest of the house, especially in weather like this.

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rainbowgardener
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The first begonias sprouted today after 14 days. Spearmint never showed. It is 14 days for it too. It is not beyond the pale that it could still sprout, but it is some of my friend's seed, dated 1996. So I gave up on it and planted impatiens in the same soil. If something comes up I will have to figure out if it is spearmint or impatiens, but that shouldn't be too hard. Today I will get the parsley moved off the heat mat into individual cells. I'm doing that quicker this year, not even waiting for them to have much in the way of true leaves. I just frees up space on the heat mat sooner, for starting the next stuff. Means I can go a few more days before I plug in the second mat.

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ReptileAddiction
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You could also try the baggie method to help free up space on the heat mat. As long as you check on them every 1-2 days it works great. What I did was put the bags underneath the trays on the heat mat then as soon as they developed 1/4 inch roots I planted them and 3 days later had little plants poking through. I am not surprised your spearmint did not sprout. I have heard it is very hard to start from seed and probably even harder with that old of seed.

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Do any of you keep records on what you started and what grew well and what did not? I am not that great at keeping records but I would like to know if you have a system that is easy to keep up with. I am trying to better determine the best times and dates to plant seeds, make cuttings and time how long it takes from seed to harvest so I can plan the rotation of the seedling plantings and maximize the use of the space in my garden and plan my gardening year.

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ReptileAddiction
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What I do is just enter the date and then what happened on a document on my computer. I am horrible about keeping up with it though. Most things do not make it on it...

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rainbowgardener
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I have usually not had any trouble starting spearmint from seed. Since the seed is very fine, it is hard not to end up with hundreds of them. But I'm thinking this 18 yr old seed that was not refrigerated, just isn't viable any more.

I've always been terrible at record keeping too. Mainly here is my record keeping. That's why I put a link to last year's thread like this at the beginning of this thread. But I'm trying harder this year. I made myself a spreadsheet of seeds I plan to start with days to germination, need heat, need light, need any special treatment, how many weeks ahead to plant them, cold tolerance. To ease the transition back to the computer, I printed it out and it is staying in my plant starting area, so I can easily make notes on it about when the seeds were planted and how long they actually took to germinate. Then I can add that stuff back to the document any time.

So today the basil is sprouted, on the 4th day, the first begonia sprouted on the 14th day. I planted lobelia (1996 seed). I planted impatiens on top of the lavender which was more of that 1996 seed batch. It is at 15 days without sprouting.

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rainbowgardener
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California wonder bells sprouted at 7 days. Anaheim chilis are visibly getting ready to sprout, so probably tomorrow. Everything else is moving right along. Next to be planted will be coleus and marigold.

chriswimmer
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I'm on round two... I attempted to grow some basil in a 2 liter soda bottle but it died after it germinated. I realized later that the 'really sunny' place in my condo was also oddly drafty and cold.

I've found a new spot (in my extra bathroom with a DIY grow light.)

I'm doing basil, chives, rosemary, cilantro, and chard.

Planted them 2 days ago so I hope to see them pop up very soon

wolfwalker
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I'm weeks away from starting my outdoor plants in doors,My indoor lettuce is now a inch high... have the lettuce under my spare shop lights.

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rainbowgardener
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I did plant the coleus, but not the marigold. Instead I planted salvia, tarragon, caraway, ageratum.

The anise hyssop, while still pretty small, has true leaves and it is about time to move it off the heat mat, into individual cells.

I plugged in the second heat mat. To have space for the anise hyssop, I will need to turn on the second set of lights. This is the season where the seed starting operation just keeps getting bigger.

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applestar
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Yay! Can you post pictures yet? :D
My accidental premature sowing of Cherokee Tiger Striped Plum f7 tomato seeds are starting to show germinating loops so I put them under good light. 8)

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Well I have to admit to being an intense record keeper. :) Maybe it has to to with being a former accountant but I have developed a spreadsheet on excel to plan and track my plantings. It is probably too much for most gardeners but can possibly be adjusted down if you wanted. :shock:

It uses the projected harvest date and works backwards towards seed planting time. The first section (brown headers) of the worksheet is the "Plan". Since we know the "Plan" doesn't always work, the second section (Yellow headers) is where I adjust based on actual germination, etc. and get an adjusted transplant date, harvest date, etc.

Then because I'm an uber geek :lol: the next green section is where I log in home many plants germinate each day after planting (P) and calculate my % of germination. I usually print out the current date range from this section and keep it down in the basement so I can log (in pencil) the information to later transfer into the spreadsheet.

Here is the Planning section:
This is the first half of the Planning section
This is the first half of the Planning section
Annual planting schedule #1a.png (124.54 KiB) Viewed 3410 times
This is the second half of the Planning section
This is the second half of the Planning section
Here is the Actual Section:
Annual Planting Schedule #2.png
AND Finally :roll: the germination section:
Annual Planting Schedule Example #3.png
Whew! until I created this post I don't know if I knew how geeky this/I am :eek: Unfortunately I could not attach the XLSX file so I had to do pictures. If someone wants the actual Excel file...lol....just message me with your email and I can send it to you. :)

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Wow, that is really detailed, I like some of the columns you had. I tried to do that on computer, but I would forget, so I got a notebook and write it in when I plant. Problem is that I plant multiple seeds or transplant multiple plants on the same day so I am missing some.

I am thinking maybe I should do what I do with the orchids and keep the record on the back of the tags. Of course that means I will have to get different labels or start sanding plastic knives.

I wish I could start peppers now, but it is too cold and wet. I have to wait until March.
I have planted kale, cilantro, green onions, Joy Choy, tatsoi, spinach, beets and romaine.
I finally harvested my ginger. I planted some back in the pot and put the rest in a bucket with some damp soil in the lanai. That will be what I will use to cook with and backup in case the rain rots the ones that I replanted. I have taken rosemary, bay leaf, Mexican oregano, Meyer lemon, lemon verbena and marjoram cuttings. I had to retake the rosemary cuttings because it was very windy and the new cuttings dried out too much.

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ReptileAddiction
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Wow! Awesome system.

I am at that stage where you realize that you planted something early and it is sprouting and now I have no where to go with it. My tomatoes are not doing to hot though. One of them looks phenomenal. It is growing super fast and doing great. The other ones planted on the exact same day are smaller and looking kinda yellow. I think once they get their first true leaves though I think they will be looking much better.

I also still have most of my ornamentals to plant but they are not my priority.



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