starting seeds

[ducks4you]

I"ve learned that starting vegetables that need heat TOO EARLY is gonna waste your time. This year, I'm starting my tomatoes 4 weeks before I intend to put them out in the garden. I started >100 plants in late January, 2009. About 70ish survived, and only 5/15 that I put out early made it to the fruit stage. It's different for the cool weather crops, like lettuce and onions. But, like everything else we talk about here, it was fun, anyway!

 

[desertgirl]

That is great advice! I am planning to start indoors this year, and in my overzealousness, I probably would have wasted a lot of plants. Thanks!

 

[curly_kate]

Last year, I started some tomatoes in January, even though our last frost date is the end of April. They got leggy, but I planted them pretty deep, and all of them did very well. I just can never resist. I need something growing in the winter time. I do have grow lights that I put them under, so maybe that was it.

 

[4grandbabies]

I was delayed in planting my tomatoes one year, and they got way too tall., then someone said to make a long trench, lay them down in it and gently(I emphasize gently) bend a few inches of the top up above ground and cover the part lying in the trench. That really saved the day for me that year. In fact, they had this long root system to support them, and turned out quite successfully!! I prefer to plant my usual way, but that year this tip was a life saver.

 

[boggybranch]

I always soak my seeds in a kelp solution for a short while (time depends on kind of seed) and it really seems to give me very strong, healthy plants.

Also mist the plants with the solution, after the plants get their first true leaves, about every 7-10 days for healthier, more disease resistant, greener plants.

 

[obsessed]

I started my tomato already for putting out in early march. There is a post on here in where Patandchickens talks about her method of getting the most out of short season. I can't remember what the post was actually about but it was definitely about tomatoes. Anyway I am using her logic to get early mater! Thanks Pat!

 

[Ariel301]

I like to start all of mine indoors. Part of it is habit from when I lived in Colorado and had a 2 1/2 month growing season (had to start anything indoors because we could not plant until nearly July), and partly because we have squirrels from heck who dig up every seed and small sprout planted outdoors and eat it or rebury it somewhere random...

I start mine in egg cartons or disposable paper bathroom cups, then move them up through various assorted pots and old food containers as needed. I used to have a nice shelf with artificial lights, but don't have room for it in this house, so I just have trays of plants in every place that has good light. I am actually sprouting seeds right now in my chicken incubator, since I have eggs going; at 100 degrees I can get things to sprout in a couple of days, so I just rotate egg cartons through there. I do have issues with indoor started plants getting leggy, since we don't get a lot of good sunlight in this house...it was designed to keep the sun OUT, since we live in such a hot climate.

Once plants are close to ready to go in the garden, I will sit them outside during the day, and bring them in at night, for a week or so. Then they go out all day and all night for a few days before going into the ground. I save the bottles from water/soda/juice and cut the bottoms off to make little individual 'greenhouses' to cover plants the first week or so in the garden, for extra protection from high winds and pests until they get their roots dug into the ground.