Seedlings started! with picture!

[erins327]

OK! So I planted my tomato and jalapeno seeds today.

-- I have two heating mats under them, just regular ones set on low.

--I have good quality organic potting soil.

--I have two florescent lights, however I don't think they will be enough power? and I cant get them close enough to the plants? But at least they are in a corner of room where they will get about 8 hours of sunlight.

--I have a 100 mL syringe that I water each pod with. (I keep refilling the syringe of course, it takes about a 600mLs of water to cover the whole tray.


So, does anyone have any other suggestions? How do you guys adequately water your trays? And how much is not too little and not too much?

Here we go!

[rainbowgardener]

The light is critical. Window light is typically not enough. When you say you have two fluorescent lights, you mean tubes? bulbs? How close are they?

Light diffuses by the distance squared. So if you move your light from two inches away to six inches away, you have one-ninth as much light. If you are talking about lights on a ceiling, it's pretty worthless.

Are the pods in trays? Bottom watering is most effective and least likely to cause problems. Just put a little water in the bottom of the tray, just enough to just touch the bottom of the pots/ pods, so that the soil can wick up the water it needs.

Then you can tell how much is enough. By the end of the day it should have soaked up all the water in the tray.

Your title said with picture. Instructions for posting pictures here are in New to Helpful Gardener under Helpful Tips and Suggestions for New Members.

[PHONETOOL]

Here is my setup I have a 72 cell seed starting tray. I purchased it for five dollars. It's well worth it they can be reused. For a light I used what I had on hand which was a full spectrum fluorescent floor lamp I turn it on when I wake up and turn it off when I go to sleep so it's getting about 16 hours on, 8 hours off. I positioned it about 5 inches above the top of the tray. You can see a a spray bottle in front of the tray that is filled with calamine tea to prevent damping off. As soon as they all sprout I will take the top off and get some air circulation. Once they are large enough I will move them to the greenhouse outside and then start more. In the meantime I'm going to order a better light but it seems to work pretty good for now these are the pictures above the seeds were planted seven days ago and some have already sprouted.


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[rainbowgardener]

Looks pretty good! More light will be better, but that may be enough for now. Since the seeds are already sprouted, be sure you take the humidity dome off. It is off in the picture of the seedlings, but I wasn't sure if that was just for the picture.

Incidentally, very cool how you did the split picture!

[Marlingardener]

Erin, it looks as if you are doing extremely well!
As for getting the light closer to the plants, get the plants closer to the light by elevating the tray. Old telephone books, a sturdy cardboard box cut to the proper height, use anything that will lift the tray so the seedlings are within 2"-3" of the light.
If your seedlings start to lean toward the window, simply turn the tray around. The exercise will make their little stems sturdier!
Your tray is definitely reusable. I just got rid of my seven year old trays because they were beginning to crack, and the dome started to yellow.
When my seedlings get their first set of true leaves, I start to give them added air circulation by placing a fan on low nearby. Not enough breeze to shake them and make them bend over, but enough that they move a bit. It strengthens stems and also helps prevent damping off and fungal diseases.
Keep us posted on your progress, please.

[erins327]

Rainbowgardener...hahah well you cant see the picture because I completely forgot to attach it! But mine looks like Phonetool's above, except I don't have sprouts yet!

But hello?! Great advice! I didnt know you could water from the bottom tray. That seems alot more convenient, and to move the lights UP to the light, not trying to get the lights DOWN to the plant.

My lights are two flourescent lamps as you can see to the left of the picture. Do you really think that will be enough? Im starting to get skeptical. Are there seedling light fixtures out there that are cheap? I think thats what Im concerned with. I saw a set up at our nursery, but it was like $75. augh.






http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag1 ... 4f3bda.jpg

[Marlingardener]

Erin, you don't need "seedling light fixtures" that are expensive. We have two 24" shop lights with two flourescent tubes each. We did get the "daylight" tubes but I don't think that's absolutely necessary. If there is a Harbor Freight near you, or a hardware store, you can get what you need for much less than $75!

[rainbowgardener]

I have four foot long shop light fixtures for two tubes and you can get them for about $25 (and then you still have to buy the fluorescent tubes).

[Bobberman]

Get some white perlite and sprinkle and cover the suface below the plants which will reflect the light and help with damping off!

[mywebinfo]

I do the same as above. My lights are on chains as the plants get taller up they go on the chains. Just plain 'ole florescent lights nothing special. I keep lights about 1 inch from plants, since florescent's are cool no chance of getting to hot.

[erins327]

Here is an update of week two of growing tomato and pepper seedlings.

I need to thin them right about now, just got to the 2" height mark.

I read pepper's roots get stunted if they don't have enough room?

Any advice on when I should transplant to bigger pot, if at all?
We probably wont be able to plant outside until mid-March here at the earliest.

Thanks!

http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag1 ... 7e967d.jpg

[Marlingardener]

Erin, that is a lovely start for your seeds! Yes, they do need to be thinned. I find a pair of tweezers helps to get in among the stems and nip out the extras.
After you thin them, your seedlings ought to be fine for a couple of weeks. Like children, seedlings grow in fits and starts. If you are in doubt about re-potting, you can always gently lift the seedling's root ball out of the cell and check. I usually re-pot in mid-February (if all goes well) and plant out at the end of March. We are about 60 miles north of you, so are just a tad chillier.
You are doing awfully well.

[erins327]

Hey guys!

3 weeks down now with my seedlings, and it looks like the Tomatillos are starting to get weedy. I realize this could be from not warm enough temps under the heating mat, or they want more light than their fellow cherry tomato friends?

Is there a way to save them from being so tall and falling over? Can I bury the stem more so they will eventually root out from there?

It would be nice to save them!



Thanks,
Erin

[applestar]

This is a good start. They are needing more light -- but you can compensate by planting them deep up to their seed leaves when you Uppot after first true leaves grow out a little bit more.

When they are tall like this, plastic drinking cups make good Uppot containers -- make sure to punch about 6 drainage holes in the bottom. Sprinkle a thin layer of soil mix then carefully guide the rootball to the bottom, then fill in one side of the stem, then the other.

You may want to fashion a reflector -- here's mine using a heavy weight disposable aluminum lasagna pan:

I used to have an aluminum pie pan here for a single bulb.

I extended this one's reflector with a chip bag when I added the 2nd bulb with the Y adaptor:


Also, turn the trays and if you can, shuffle the cells around every so often so everybody gets even light -- not so much leaning. Another idea is to set up a foil/Mylar covered reflector on the side away from the windows. I always use the heavy aluminum foil lid that comes with the lasagna pans, but another favorite source is inside of chip bags. I line walls, shelf and table surfaces, cardboard, etc. with them.

Taking the tomatillos off the heating mat might be a good idea too. They will grow more slowly and be stockier if it's colder. About 50-55°F ambient temp is good for tomato seedlings too. Oscillating fan helps to strengthen the stems as well.

[rainbowgardener]

What applestar said!

Yes, they are save-able.

Need more light... have your fluorescents about as close as you can get them to the plants and on 16 hrs a day.

Yes, you can bury them deeper. A good time to do that is when you transplant them. Once they have true leaves, you will want to get them out of the little cells and in to something like the cups applestar mentioned or 3 inch pots.