#starting plants

[balkanradfem]

So, I decided I could start onion seeds early. I've never started onions from seeds, and my seeds are just the ones I've collected from an onion in my garden (if they grow for 2 years, they make a flower, and then the seeds are inside).

First I had to find some good containers, and this is where I got side tracked. I've been collecting plastic cups and food containers for years now, and I've just been putting them in the basement, not realizing how much I've got. So I grabbed all of the storage boxes and decided to see what I have. This is the sight that greeted me:

I became a little concerned, in anyone else's home this many containers would be considered garbage, but when I think more about it, it's a good thing for me to have them. I never bought any of these, I've gotten them from roommates, been given some as a gift, from people trying to get rid of them, some I've just found in the forests and creeks, some I've found in the trash and saved. While they're all with me, they're not in a landfill, and I'm dreaming of one day having a big garden that can feed lots of people, and at that point, it would be so great to never be out of little seedling pots.

I spent some decent time sorting these out in categories and stacking them to make them more manageable, these are the categories:

At this point I went to research how growing onion from seed works; I found out a lot! Firstly, they need to be planted very shallow, half of an inch. They should be started 8-10 weeks before planting outside, that also works out great, I can plant them out in March. They will germinate in one week, and sometimes their tops are stuck in the soil, and will stop them from growing; in that case it's best to cut the top off, than to pull it out. The plant is so fragile, you're likely to pull it all out. Cutting the top off will not hurt them, but make them grow more straight. I also found out that onions decide to bulb once they calculate that there's more than 10 hours of sun in the day, how cool! That's also why its important to start them early, and give them a good start before the days become long enough for them to go into bulb mode.

So last year when planting, I've been mixing some forest soil, old soil and sand into my planting mix, because that made the soil very light and airy, and I thought it would be good for the little plants. I've however noticed, that the plants were not doing great in that soil, even though they did succeed, it took them longer than usual. I've decided to just go with pure forest soil this time, no mixes or additions, that way it will have the max nutrients and I think it's what my plants are looking for.

These are the containers I've chosen; I've also put them in these big transparent cake containers, because when I close them up like that, water cannot evaporate out, and they're kept in high humidity, which will help the germination. After they start growing, I'll put them in normal trays.

I've decided to experiment a bit so for the left one, I put exactly one single seed in each space, but in the second one, I've peppered a lot of seeds, just to see what happens. I can always thin them out if a lot of them grow. Once on top of the soil, I've sprayed them with water gently, and then peppered some more soil on top so they're safely surrounded with soil.

And now we wait! Hopefully I'll have some onions next year :)

[forsythiahill]

Seed starting! 

Last year I did not start any seeds and barely gardened because my wrists hurt so badly. I had 2 cortisone shots in my left hand a week ago and I feel so much better!

The best purchase I ever made was my mini heated greenhouse way back in the 1990′s. It’s so old the plastic cover has yellowed and has been taped together. bottom heat still works and that’s the main part that has to work.

Off to the races!

It’s only been 2 days and I can see some seeds emerging already, perennial Phlox and Mammoth Sunflowers.

[balkanradfem]

I'm still okay, and I've started my first seeds of the year!

My first ones are: chilli pepper, horn pepper, dwarf tomato, cherry tomato, climbing triple crop tomato, purple cabbage, cabbage savoy, kale, broccoli, basil.

For the most of them I'm using the 'paper towel method', which is when you take the seeds, write down which seed they are, put them in a paper towel, spray with water, and then pack up in a plastic bag. This is the most efficient way of getting the most seeds to generate, because they are warm and constantly damp, so the conditions feel ideal to them to grow. It also works faster than putting them in the soil.

I have to check on them every few days to see what germinated, and then I'll put those in pots. I immediately put basil and kale in pots because it felt correct.

I have a plan for chilli peppers and dwarf tomatoes to grow on my balcony; they're both small enough to grow in a pot efficiently and they look so beautiful too! It's almost like a decorative plant except it also gives you delicious food.

And for others, this is just for a very early wave, if they succeed great! If not, I'll start more of them later.

There's also a new thing I'm trying out; I'll try to sprout a sweet potato. I got one from the plant lady, and I found out you can have them grow new seedlings, if you put them half-buried in the soil, or if you put it half-submerged in the water. But, they need to be in a very warm and humid place!

So I put it in a milk carton, because that size felt appropriate, and then on top of a radiator, which is the warmest place in here, and then I also added this 'cushion' pad to make sure it doesn't get too hot, and a bag to keep the humidity. But I take bag off continuously so it doesn't grow mold. I hope it works! Slips should be starting to grow in about two weeks.

[northernhomegarden]

Growing tomatoes from Cuttings

[lifeandhome-blog]

Part of the difficulty of planning a garden is starting your garden, from that point it's all uphill! I've linked the blog Growing Up Creative above, who did a wonderful demonstration on Egg Carton Plant Starters. Follow the link and directions with pictures provided. Here are some tips that I'd like to include for egg carton planters.

Ensure that your egg cartons have a drain hole at the bottom, a parent might like to use scissors or a sharp pencil but the scissors work best.

Remove the lid of the egg carton, use scissors and cut along the side.

When you have selected the soil that you would like to use, empty the soil into a large bucket (large honey bucket bought from the hardware store) it usually has the hardware store logo on it. - Empty your soil into the bucket - Fill the bucket with water to MOISTEN only, do not add too much. Work in a cup or two of water at a time. - When you have made your potting soil (moist, not wet) it's more easily workable to insert the right amount of soil into the containers. - When filling your egg starters, put in only enough soil to bring it almost to the top but not entirely, leave enough room on the level mark of the egg carton, so that water can pool in it's own little egg cup.

Try not to use too much of a lumpy soil that has bits of wood chips etc. Using Miracle Grow has always been the best bet.

  Miracle Grow Seed Starting Potting Mix.

When to add fertilizer: it's always a rule of thumb to start adding fertilizer when your plants have leaves. Sometimes a Seed Starting soil will already have included fertilizer, making it more expensive however it isn't always necessary.

When your plant is ready to have fertilizer (when it has leaves) I would gear more towards Organic Fertilizer. The less chemicals the better! (Not just for the health of the plant but also the health of any water runoff from your property reaching water nearby).

When is your plant ready to move out of the Egg Starter? I always use my pinky as a good height indicator to signal that the plant is ready for a larger container.

What to use as a larger container? A great use of the crappy plastic liners the garden stores sell their plants in would be usefull! However, you can purchase the same type of plastic liners from the garden store, which is better....considering the ones from garden stores most likely will still be carrying dormant bugs that could make your plants sick. SOoo.....it may seem like an added cost now, but if you are careful with how you handle your liners, you can rinse them out when the plant is ready to be planted into a large container, re-use them next year and keep the costs down.

When your seedling is ready for a larger container, the size you need to think about is about the size of a large coffee cup. Anything too much larger than that will not encourage the plant to fill it's space.

When your plant is ready for the large coffee cup size container. This is also a good indication on the time frame for you to "Harden" your plant to outdoor weather conditions. Follow the link below on information regarding Hardening Off your indoor seedlings for outdoor planting.

After you have planted your seedlings into a larger container, wait a week before attempting to harden off your seedlings, the less trama the better.

LAST TIP: I use a rubber maid lid to transport my starter plants that have been moved to coffee cup size containers, inside and outside. Take a look around your garage and figure out if you have any lids that you can use. I used my glue gun and glued craft sticks to the corners and used garden string to make a little fence around the edges to ensure no plants fell out while transfering inside and outside. Will post pics when I unearth them from the shed!!

I'm thinking this post constitutes as three or four but I wanted to give as much information as possible and yeah, I hate wasting time!! Enjoy!

Follow this link regarding Seed Starting - Hardening Off your indoor seedlings for outdoor planting.

http://gardening.about.com/od/gettingstarted/qt/Hardening_Off.htm Follow this link regarding Seed Starting and when to add fertilizers etc, to optimize the plants growth and health.

http://gardening.about.com/od/seedstarting/f/Seedling-Food.htm

Follow this link regarding Seed Starting and how to set up your seed starting kit at home using little to no money. http://gardening.about.com/od/gardenprimer/ss/SeedStarting.htm