2015 seed starting thread!

[imafan26]

When I have to cover my trays to keep the birds from eating the seeds. I put the knives under the pot. When the seedlings come out, then I put the knife/label in the pot and hope, I got the right one. Actually, I try not to put two different varieties of the same plant next to each other like different kinds of peppers. I would do instead one each of papaya, tomato, pepper, eggplant. They look different enough that I can usually tell what they are when they sprout. When they come out, then I can do other varieties.

[applestar]

I found the same thing about those knives. One thing -- cheaper plastic knives are shorter. Brand name, sturdier knives -- especially ones intended for "Dinner" are longer with better grip and balance that are completely unnecessary for using as labels. I prefer spoons anyway and they are usually shorter than knives -- cheaper ones of those are shorter as well.

I'm also using cut up Rice Milk carton panel covered with clear shipping tape. If you feel like spending a little time, aluminum foil ducting tape (not duct tape) folded twice makes a nice silver/reflective label. You can write with marker or write with pencil or pen for an embossed effect. I'm not feeling up to doing little fiddly work with the labels since I'm doing enough of that sort of thing with the seed bag germinating experiment, but I did like the effect last time I made labels with the tape.

I divided the Golden Self Blanching celery into individual K-cups. Last year, I started the celery seedlings in 3/4" micro cubes. That was actually easier to uppot into the K-cups -- It was difficult to handle the tiny seedlings a pinch at a time.... 1/2 of an ice cream sample "spoon" works well for K-cups, but I usually just write on the side of the container.

I got tired of it after 10 K-cups and divided the rest of the seedlings between two pudding cups:

-- I also divided the Peacock Purple Gene Pool Broccoli (I've no idea what this means but that's how they were calling these seeds at Fedco) that started out in one pudding cup community.

You can also see an onion bottom from yesterday's lunch being rooted in a K-cup. Once the roots start growing, I'll uppot it and put it out in the garage V-8 Nursery.

[applestar]

Waaah! With the rush of seedlings sprouting everywhere, I lost track of the lavender that I'd brought inside from cold stratification, and, unbeknownst to me, they had sprouted a few days ago while under humidity cover and lower down from the lights!

Hopefully they can still recover and I can put some more sandy mix around the hypocotyl to bury them after they get a little stronger and hopefully straighten up a little bit.....

...the lavender used to be back there where the black Echinacea seedling container is now...

[rainbowgardener]

I did the first potting up today - half of the broccoli seedlings are now in pots. I will get a pic for the broccoli seedling thread. The other half need to be and all the cabbage. I have to make up more potting mix to do all that, and I'm almost out of mushroom compost.....

I keep wondering when spring will be this year. We are within two weeks of when I have been planting in the ground other years and my garden is still deep in snow and ice. It went down to about zero last night, but looking at the forecast we have a big warm up coming and no more single digit temps. Weds will be 15 degrees and snowing though ...

[applestar]

Last night I was scrambling to get some sprouted seedlings in soilblocks, and posted this after midnight:
Subject: Starting pepper seeds >> spoon in zip bag germination

Tomato seeds love this. They demonstrated one objection I have with this kind of pre-germination method. I was busy yesterday and today -- this evening, came home to a mess of sprouted, cotyledons fully extended... MUST BE POTTED seedlings


This meant starting my first tray of 2" mini soil blocks

...I also already have three 8 miniblocks @ 2 1/2 gal rice milk containers of peppers and eggplants, another 4 and 6 miniblocks of tomatoes, plus one more block... 30 tomatoes in miniblocks and 17 peppers and eggplants.

I promised them I would find them a place under the lights in the morning, but I didn't wake until nearly 8AM and was too tired to play musical lights wih the seedlings, so here they are in temporary holding. They will be OK like this until I have to add mor soilblocks to this tray, since the desk light only covers these 20 blocks.

They'll get a little setting sun from the window too, when it's sunny -- it's NOT today...it is SNOWING

[NJ Bob]

March 1

Started today, 6-packs of:

3 banana pepper
1 bell pepper
1 eggplant

plus another round of:

1 mint
1 common chives
1 italian oregano

plus some up-potting of oregano and parsley

outside it's cold and icy, inside it's beautiful

[rainbowgardener]

March 1

Started today, 6-packs of:

3 banana pepper
1 bell pepper
1 eggplant

plus another round of:

1 mint
1 common chives
1 italian oregano

plus some up-potting of oregano and parsley

outside it's cold and icy, inside it's beautiful

Very nice!!

Don't you love it.... we have had piles of snow on the ground through most of February and now continuing in Mar and bitter cold some of that time. All my little seedlings under the lights keep me sane!

[River]

I just don't have enough room. The dining room table has served its purpose during the winter
Now I hope to transition my Tomatoe plants in the garage or outside depending on temps after this week. It's been cloudy and warm enough to start the hardening process except the rain today hammered them pretty good just bending them a bit.

I will be ready to repot the sweet banana and bell peppers pretty soon. This week I will plant 4 varieties of basil plus a few eggplants. After that I will start some marigolds and maybe nasturtiums for the beneficials. Who knows what after that

[rainbowgardener]

Yup, coming to spring and everything is going faster and getting crowded. I currently have 12 trays of seedlings and lots more stuff that needs to be spread out/ potted up. But I have no room for more until I replace the light fixture that exploded. I made up at least 10 gallons of my home made potting mix yesterday and used almost all of it up. Can't make more until I get more rice hulls. So far this season I have used about 4 lbs of rice hulls (a lot, they are very light), maybe 60 lbs of mushroom compost and 3 compressed bricks of coconut coir.

Planted nicotiana and borage yesterday. Potted up calendula and the rest of the cabbage and broccoli.

I think all the peppers and a lot of the tomato plants have been taken off the heat and spread out to one per cell.

I'll get a new pic of the broccoli which is growing fast since being potted up. After it went in pots it just sucked up water for the first week, to the point that I checked to be sure the tray wasn't leaking. I always make sure the potting mix is moistened before I plant things, so it wasn't that.

But there will be more room soon - a big warm up is coming, just ahead of spring. TOMORROW (!) four trays of cabbage and broccoli go out for the first time to start hardening. A little hard to believe since it is currently 15 degrees with snow all over everything. But the weather report says tomorrow it is going up to 41 degrees!!! (yay!!). So out they go. They will be coming in for the nights for awhile until they get more toughened up. But they will not go back under the lights.
And the kale will join them as soon as I can get it potted up. Then maybe celery, parsley .... Once all that cold weather stuff goes out, frees up a bunch of room under the lights.

[applestar]

Sounds good! I'm planning to start moving things out as of next week too. The plan is for the cold weather stuff to move out of the garage and tomato and potato seedlings to move out to the garage as soon as the garage temp stays above mid- to uppper-40's °F during the night. It will also be easier to take them out to harden from the garage doors. (I envy folks with patio door walk out basement grow rooms!)

I posted latest pictures in this new thread for my garden progress
viewtopic.php?f=79&t=61064

[rainbowgardener]

So it is 42 degrees and sunny out. I brought out the four trays of cabbage and broccoli about 2 PM. I have somewhere to be at 6 PM and will bring them back in before I leave, so just a few hours taste of sunshine and fresh air. See how they do with that.

Yay!! Plants outdoors!

[rainbowgardener]

The four trays of cabbage and broccoli went back outside this afternoon, along with a tray of kale that just got potted up. With the time change, it is currently 7:30 PM and still light and 45 wonderful degrees. All the trays of plants can stay out until I am going to bed and then I will bring them back in.

Yay!! spring!

2015-03-08 14.18.29.jpg (53.54 KiB) Viewed 394 times

you can just see in the background that even with two warm days, all the snow is not gone yet.

[rainbowgardener]

It's on! Four trays went out the first time, five trays went out yesterday, six trays will be going out today, including a tray of cilantro I just potted up. More to come as quick as I can keep making potting mix and potting things up. They are going out longer hours each day.

[applestar]

You are inspiring me to take mine outside, too, even though at first glance, it's still all white out in my back yard... Forecast high is 53°F!

[applestar]