Seed starting indoors

ducks4you

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I had the parsley seeds sprout and 2 other herbs (forgot what I planted but they came up and I will identify later) out of the porch, THEN the weather report was calling for down to 8 degrees F last night, so they had to come in, back to the kitchen. I took a swiffer wet mop sheets container, filled it 1/2 full of starter soil, planted 24 sugar snap peas in it, covered with the clear lid and put it on the south facing ledge of the (enclosed) porch. I will check on it in a few weeks to see if I have anything. I plugged in the extension cord to my planting area in the basement yesterday. I will be moving in any warm weather starts there as soon as they sprout and are big enough to be transplanted to small pots. I planted cherry tomato (generic) seeds in 12 cells of an 18 count egg carton. The other 12 cells are planted with dill. Put it on top of my fridge covered with glad wrap. Also planted Walla Walla onions, leeks, basil and spinach. I will not waste the lights and the heat maps on the cool weather vegetables. I figure that the up and down temperatures on the porch should help them survive outside, just like the above advice of watering with very cold water.
I think I killed my tuberous begonias. It is just too cold upstairs for them and the cats would have dug them up if they had been downstairs. This was my 3rd try. I'm done with them. Don't want them as just annuals. On the other hand, my 5 mums, 3 geraniums, the aloe and the rosemary don't mind the south facing and north facing windows upstairs at all. Need to water them all. The mums just wilt a little then revive and look great, the geraniums say, "bring on the desert!"
 

catjac1975

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I have this revenge thing happening this year because of some impatiens seeds I tried for the first time last year. None came up. I found some mats on the A word for 11 bucks and got 4. I intend to change my luck somehow.

Also it is not lost on me that my LED grow lights and need for a heat mat mirror your less efficient lights and a heater. I do not believe it is possible to cheat Mother Nature of the required energy not matter how you science it up.
I struggled with impatient seeds for years. When I asked a grower about it she said they were the easiest seeds to grow. Grow on top of the soil. Once you get plants to grow watch for the seed pods in the fall. They explode in your hands as you pick them-fun and cool. I used to collect thousands of seeds to grow tons of impatient for my garden. Somewhere I lost interest in them.
 

Dirtmechanic

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I struggled with impatient seeds for years. When I asked a grower about it she said they were the easiest seeds to grow. Grow on top of the soil. Once you get plants to grow watch for the seed pods in the fall. They explode in your hands as you pick them-fun and cool. I used to collect thousands of seeds to grow tons of impatient for my garden. Somewhere I lost interest in them.
I bought some from Burpee on a lark. They looked coated in a purplish clay. It was pretty weird.
 

Crealcritter

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ducks4you

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This week I started a mix of mescaline and romaine lettuce seeds mixed with marigold seeds. They are in clear plastic clams from cookies (turned upside down), well watered and put in the south facing window on the unheated porch. I have been checking them and the container with sugar snap peas to make sure that they don't leak humidity and dry out.
Started basil seeds 3 weeks ago. Nothing on top of the fridge, so I replanted and moved them to the kitchen windowsill. They are in a container that housed Crisco shortening--the stick form. I researched on line and heard that the seeds are very picky and can rot. I may cover them with more soil, remove the ziploc bag and keep watered every day and see what happens. We will see.
Certainly a learning curve. Cherry tomatoes on a heat mat and under grow lights are sprouting.
 

catjac1975

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This week I started a mix of mescaline and romaine lettuce seeds mixed with marigold seeds. They are in clear plastic clams from cookies (turned upside down), well watered and put in the south facing window on the unheated porch. I have been checking them and the container with sugar snap peas to make sure that they don't leak humidity and dry out.
Started basil seeds 3 weeks ago. Nothing on top of the fridge, so I replanted and moved them to the kitchen windowsill. They are in a container that housed Crisco shortening--the stick form. I researched on line and heard that the seeds are very picky and can rot. I may cover them with more soil, remove the ziploc bag and keep watered every day and see what happens. We will see.
Certainly a learning curve. Cherry tomatoes on a heat mat and under grow lights are sprouting.
My basil is always easy. I do not put them in an inclosed container as you do.
 

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