Your Thoughts And Recommendations, Please!

[TerryLP]

Hi Majorcatfish, good ideas. I’ll probably be doing more than one experiment this year.

 

[TerryLP]

Hi Catjac, great information. I never heard of that. I will absolutely use that information.
Thanks

 

[Smart Red]

Sorry. I shouldn't be tossing words around without defining them. Bad thing for a teacher to do.

In general, when folks start seeds, the main problems tend to be:
1. over watering. It's easy to drown new seedlings.
2. damping off. The seedlings look great until they start turning black near the ground and bend over to die.
3. burning the older seedlings by taking them from the house to the garden for planting without letting them "harden off" first. Hardening off is done for a week or so before setting into the garden by gradually allowing them a bit more sun time each day. Rather like getting sunburned those first gardening days cuz you spend way too much time outside too soon. Plants need a gradual introduction to the sun. They also need a gradual introduction to the wind. Plants started outside actually grow stems that can handle wind. Plants started inside lack the strengthing stems formed in wind. I usually have a fan blowing over the seedlings or lightly brush the plants with my hand from time to time to encourage that strong stem growth.
4. mis-handling the seedlings when moving them into bigger pots. Never hold a seedling by the tiny stem. It's almost always gonna bruise the stem however light fingered you try to be. I always hold by a leaf, lift with a fork or small stick, make a hole for the roots with the stick or a pencil, and gently use the stick to move soil back over the root hole after planting.
This re-planting is often needed for seedlings like tomatoes and peppers that need a longer growing period before planting outside.
5. growing spindly plants. Not enough light or light too far above the plants will have the fast growing seedlings shooting up for the ceiling rather than filling out like the store plants. For tomatoes this isn't too much of a problem as spindly stems can be buried when planting out side. Other plants, however, may tip over from the weight of new growth at the top. Giving the seedlings plenty of light once they've germinated is important. Some of us have growing tables, big window spaces, or heated sun rooms to keep the seedlings with balanced growth.

Despite all the warnings above, starting your own seedlings is fun and easy. It also allows you to grow varieties the stores don't sell. Since all my veggies are open-pollinated or heritage varieties, starting seeds is almost the only way to be sure I'll have the varieties I want. . . and seed saving is a whole 'nother page.

 

[Smart Red]

Open-pollinated plants are those who will grow true to the original plant when its seeds are collected and saved from year to year.
Heirloom varieties are always open-pollinated and some non-heirloom varieties also grow 'true'.

Most of the plants offered for sale are hybrids. Nothing wrong with hybrids. They are often ideal for disease immunity and abundant production. I prefer saving seeds and developing varieties that do well in my very own soil and climate conditions. Open-pollinated plants make that possible over time.

 

[ducks4you]

Lots of good advice, so far. Let me add a few more.
1) Start way more seeds than you will think that you need. We all buy seed packages and then don't use all of the seeds, only to find them next year or years down the road when the germination rate is much lower.
2) Use cardboard.
https://www.chowhound.com/post/paper-cardboard-raised-bed-838447
It is free, it is non toxic and it works. I KNOW that I have been writing about using cardboard this year a LOT, like it is an end all, fix everything tool. Where I live there are tons of weed seeds lucking under the soil, waiting to pop up and take away my summertime to weeding my vegetable beds. I can guarantee that cardboard will work for tamping down weeds bc last year I piled ONLY soiled bedding from my horses stalls, up to 3 ft deep and that alone kept most of the weeds down, and we talking about burdock weeds, mostly, which are my current bain. I have collected much more cardboard than you imagine from boxes that held office tables and chairs, and from pizza boxes AND Christmas...and other places. This winter I have been cutting and placing the cardboard under my fence lines. I rip/cut open the cardboard, put bricks on it to keep the winds from blowing it away and then dump from my stalls, removing the bricks, of course. If any burdock makes it through my "berlin walls of cardboard" they will have weed killer waiting for them this Spring. There are a great many weeds that survive decades buried. This is why many people don't till anymore, but I still do for a variety of reasons. Newspaper works, too, but you have to layer it.
3) Kill weeds with mulch. If you can cut ANY vegetation that hasn't gone to seed yet (with a mulching bag mower) you can put that down into between your plants. I did that (again) with a patch of burdock. I put it 3-4 inches deep. NOTHING grew up from underneath, and in less than 3 months it had literally turned itself into dirt. You KNOW that it is really good to grow in this year, too, bc mulch is full of microscopic bugs that create a lush environment for plant growth.
4) PREEN
PREEN PREEN PREEN PREEN PREEN PREEN PREEN PREEN PREEN PREEN PREEN PREEN PREEN
This is a granular pre-emergent that kills anything under 3 inches tall. I sprinkle it right around the stem of my transplants. You re apply 3 months later and nothing will grow next to your vegetables. FURTHER, old PREEN still works. I don't throw things away and my package of PREEN was easily 4yo Last year.
You need:
(1) gloves, gloves, gloves
You will lose them, so have extras. We won't judge if you take them Off sometimes, but some gardening jobs will rip up your hands.
(2) hand rake
(3) hori hori gardening knife
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/91/74/39/9174393c50bf8df97f7ae067e2a6e467--garden-sheds-garden-tools.jpg
You can measure, dig and plant bulbs with it and it is an instant small saw.
(4) spade or shovel
(5) wheelbarrow, buy cheap
I have 3 of these, and they double for me in the barn for my horses and chickens. I would suggest a small one for gardening, if you can only afford one, and then purchase a larger one later to unload stuff from your car. SAVE YOUR BACK AND USE A TOOL!!!
If you find an old one at a yard sale, you can use spray paint on all of the metal surfaces. I did that with my MIL's now 50yo small wheelbarrow. I LOVE that it has a solid, rubber wheel that never needs to be inflated.
(6) large rake
This helps especially during Fall cleanup.
(7) small folding knife.
I prefer the one that has a razor blade for the knife bc they are dirt cheap. I keep several in my barn and you can cut open bags with them and cut any material that you use to tie up plants.

Everybody here will rave over their favorite tool(s). Just start and you will have your own favorites.

 

[TerryLP]

Big Red, thank you for all of the good information. I have started taking notes so I can absorb all of the information you have given me.

Ducks4you, (great name) So much great information. I have never heard of Preen, but you can rest assured that I will find it. I’m sure that it will be at one of the local garden shops. Anyway, thank you for all the good information.

 

[Smart Red]

Ducks gave great advice for stopping weeds before they start. Mulching with cardboard is a good idea. . . if you've saved enough cardboard for the garden.

We all have techniques that we like. For me, it's grocery bags. Instead of cardboard, I cover the garden bed (all my veggies are grown in 5' x 10' raised beds) with full, brown grocery bags, overlapping about 2 inches to keep weeds from growing between them. Then I cut holes for planting my started seedlings and cover the whole bed with straw.

I find rain soaks through the paper bags and into the soil well, the mulch keeps the soil moist so watering is seldom needed here in south Wisconsin, and there are no weeds. I've found this mulch also keeps the growing fruit clean and less likely for tomatoes to get black spot from soil borne spores.

Preen is a pretty good product and will keep the bed weed free as long as the soil is not disturbed. It won't work for planting seed directly into the garden as it works by stopping seed germination and can not tell the weed seeds from your veggie seeds. It works great on transplants and on direct planted seeds once they break ground and are growing. Don't even need their first real leaves before you can sprinkle the Preen over the soil with no danger to your plants. Cat, chicken, ground squirrel, or your hoe scratch the soil and you will need another light application over that spot to insure weeds don't get a start.