Starting gardening plants from seed

[Riverrick]

Ok, so its a nice day out

and I'm about 2 months away from being able to plant vegetables and flowers. Now, I usually wait until the last minute to think about this stuff and end up paying way too much for full grown plants to place in my yard and garden.

This year I'd like to save some money

and start them indoors ahead of time. The problem is I've never done this before. I've read a few articles but I'm not sure whether to sow the seeds in big flats or in individual pots. And then what about watering and sunlight? And temperature? I turn the heat down in my house quite a bit when I'm gone for the day.

I want to plant tomatoes, green peppers, squash, marigolds, petunias among other things.

Advice?

 

[lyconthrope]

Ok, so its a nice day out

and I'm about 2 months away from being able to plant vegetables and flowers. Now, I usually wait until the last minute to think about this stuff and end up paying way too much for full grown plants to place in my yard and garden.

This year I'd like to save some money

and start them indoors ahead of time. The problem is I've never done this before. I've read a few articles but I'm not sure whether to sow the seeds in big flats or in individual pots. And then what about watering and sunlight? And temperature? I turn the heat down in my house quite a bit when I'm gone for the day.

I want to plant tomatoes, green peppers, squash, marigolds, petunias among other things.

Advice?

i have tomatos and peppers in my garden, they do very well in grow bags, put them someplace a little shadey, water every other day they should be fine....sorry i dont do flowers

 

[Riverrick]

i have tomatos and peppers in my garden, they do very well in grow bags, put them someplace a little shadey, water every other day they should be fine....sorry i dont do flowers

The flowers are expensive if you buy them as plants and it takes a whole lot of them to dress up the house. But they look fantastic and are quite a lot of fun to grow.

Thanks for the info.

 

[lyconthrope]

The flowers are expensive if you buy them as plants and it takes a whole lot of them to dress up the house. But they look fantastic and are quite a lot of fun to grow.

Thanks for the info.

hehe i like the flower icon! the only flowers i grow are peace lilies because it almost impossible to kill them hehe which is handy for me.

could you not try buying one or two plants and taking cuttings? wont take so long to grow more

 

[jft245]

Start them in flats and place them in a sunny window. As far as watering, when the soil feels dry to the touch its time to water. You can also buy flats with a bottom tray that you fill with water and the pots absorb what they need. You can also buy flats with a plastic cover that acts as a mini green house. Try starting from seed for your self and if you screw it up the first time you can always buy the plants to put in this year and try again next year. Also there should be plenty of sites on line where you can read up on how to do it. If I can, anyone can.

 

[Riverrick]

If I can, anyone can.

That's reassuring!

I've seen the sites and I'm ready to try it. But its always nice to hear experience talking.

 

[LaloGS]

When I lived in JN, I was given this very good advice by the county agent.

Start seeds in flats with individual sections for each plant. (Because this is less of a disturbance to the individual plant's root system when they are ready to put into the prepared beds.) Place 3 seeds in each individual section and then set the whole thing in a flat without sections. Water by putting the water in the lower flat and let it seep up to moisten the seeds from below via osmosis action. Watering seeds from above often does more harm than good.

Keep the planted flats in a warm area, but not in direct sunlight. As the seeds sprout, let them grow to about 3 inches. If all three seeds have sprouted in each section, select the tallest, strongest seedling and discard the weaker two, by pinching them off at the soil line. Continue to water from below.

When the seedlings have reached 6 to 7 inches, it should be warm enough to toughen them off out of doors. Leave them in their flats, and take them to a shady spot outdoors, but bring them in at night. After a few days (7 to 10) of this hardening off process, you should notice the stems of the seedlings have grown more sturdy and a little less tender looking.

When they reach this stage, it should be warm enough (Check frost warnings for your area at night) to leave tham out over night. Barring frost, they should be OK after 5 to 6 days, ready to transplant into the beds you have been preparing for them.

Once they are transplanted into the beds, they should be kept moist, but not too wet. Too wet, and they will develope stem rot where the soil and stem come together at the surface. If they get past this stage, they should flurish and produce both veges and flowers for you.

I know it sounds complicated, but it only takes one great success, and you can call yorself a real farmer. My tomatoes were always available before the store bought starts everybody else was using, and produced better more tasty fruit. So much from five or six plants, I had to give a lot away.

Good luck.

 

[PhoenixRising]

Just a suggestion, if you want some flowers that are easu to take care of, make great bedding and potted plants, and reward you with a endless supply of bloom, thnw you can't go wrong with geraniums. While they are a bit more expensive than say, petunia seeds, they are still cheaper than the plants, and are extremely easy to grow, and are very consistent germinators(I'd say 99% of the seeds you plant will come up).

 

[Riverrick]

When I lived in JN, I was given this very good advice by the county agent.

Start seeds in flats with individual sections for each plant. (Because this is less of a disturbance to the individual plant's root system when they are ready to put into the prepared beds.) Place 3 seeds in each individual section and then set the whole thing in a flat without sections. Water by putting the water in the lower flat and let it seep up to moisten the seeds from below via osmosis action. Watering seeds from above often does more harm than good.

Keep the planted flats in a warm area, but not in direct sunlight. As the seeds sprout, let them grow to about 3 inches. If all three seeds have sprouted in each section, select the tallest, strongest seedling and discard the weaker two, by pinching them off at the soil line. Continue to water from below.

When the seedlings have reached 6 to 7 inches, it should be warm enough to toughen them off out of doors. Leave them in their flats, and take them to a shady spot outdoors, but bring them in at night. After a few days (7 to 10) of this hardening off process, you should notice the stems of the seedlings have grown more sturdy and a little less tender looking.

When they reach this stage, it should be warm enough (Check frost warnings for your area at night) to leave tham out over night. Barring frost, they should be OK after 5 to 6 days, ready to transplant into the beds you have been preparing for them.

Once they are transplanted into the beds, they should be kept moist, but not too wet. Too wet, and they will develope stem rot where the soil and stem come together at the surface. If they get past this stage, they should flurish and produce both veges and flowers for you.

I know it sounds complicated, but it only takes one great success, and you can call yorself a real farmer. My tomatoes were always available before the store bought starts everybody else was using, and produced better more tasty fruit. So much from five or six plants, I had to give a lot away.

Good luck.

Now THAT'S Advice!

Thanks LaloGS.

Just a suggestion, if you want some flowers that are easu to take care of, make great bedding and potted plants, and reward you with a endless supply of bloom, thnw you can't go wrong with geraniums. While they are a bit more expensive than say, petunia seeds, they are still cheaper than the plants, and are extremely easy to grow, and are very consistent germinators(I'd say 99% of the seeds you plant will come up).

Do you start them indoors or just plant them in the garden as seeds?

 

[PhoenixRising]

Star them indoors. Now would be te time to do it. PLan them in flats, and then trnasfer the seedlings to indivifual pots when they're about 3" tall.

 

[Riverrick]

Star them indoors. Now would be te time to do it. PLan them in flats, and then trnasfer the seedlings to indivifual pots when they're about 3" tall.

Cool. I'll look for them this weekend. You're definitely right about the plants being expensive so this is a great idea. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Scrub]

Best of luck to you on this endeavor.

I have never been successful with starting plants from seeds.

Let us know how it works out.

 

[thom31]

Hi,
Was sat in my garden earlier wondering if anyone else on JUB was interested in gardening and here comes a thread!!
I'm no expert by any means but love try my hand, the little I know may help!
If you're planning on tomatoes and marigolds then plant some of them together as the marigolds have something that keeps the bugs off your tomatoes. Bugs but not the slugs unfortunately! It works as I had a great crop last year and no nasty blackfly/greenfly anywhere near them. I've never grown tomatoes from seed but apparently the germinating seeds like a constant warmth so a windowsill near a radiator should work well.
Marigolds work well in seed trays as I did some last year, again on a windowsill above a radiator.
My other half bought an aubergine plant and that worked really well in a sheltered sunny spot in the garden. Don't know about the seeds tho.
I grew peppers from seed last year with some seeds I bought in Tenerife and again they germinated well on the windowsill and I had quite a lot of peppers from them when I put them outside after a few weeks in the greenhouse.
I don't know if you can get them but we used these funny little 'peat plugs' that had a sort of netting around them that breaks down in soil, they expand when you water them. You put one or two seeds into a plug after adding water and letting it expand, then they fit into the seed tray provided with the plugs and you can then just lift the seedling, plug and all and plant it straight into a pot, growbag etc and not disturb the roots!!
Hope this is of some help!!
Have fun in your gardening!

 

[eddielee]

I've had tremendous success using Park's starts. It's almost foolproof. You can purchase them at the Park's website. The only thing you have to buy is the parkstarts and watering trays. No need to buy soil or other pots. You get healthy seedlings that are easy to transplant in the garden. Every seed I planted grew and thrived in the garden.

Here's a link to the website http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/... Starting AS&SearchText=p10.v34&OfferCode=T1H

 

[Riverrick]

Wow! Thanks so much for all of the information, guys! I'm really excited to try it out. I'm going to check out the websites you mentioned and also see what's at the local store. I kind of like the no brain approach for this year so I may try the mini greenhouses or the Park's starts or the peat plugs.

thom31, thanks for the info on germinating. I'm going to have to think about where its the warmest in my house. Again, I do turn down the thermostat so save money while I'm at work during the day. I like the idea of planting marigolds next to my tomatoes.

 

[spreadeagle]

Ditto as above - but two green tips:

Use the sort of plastic flip-top lidded containers that eggs or bean sprouts come in. Prick holes in the bottom - seed-raising mix - then seeds and water them - the plastic lid act as a minature glas shouse and keeps temperature up and even. As seedlings mature scoop the whole plant out with a spoon and transplant to individual pots. Use cut-off plastic soda bottles to act as mini-glasshouses over the pots.

 

[mike_n_herrin]

/\ that is a excellent tip. i don't keep mine though, so i guess i will from now through next year! that way i can try it next year.

riverrick, if you don't go with the egg thing this year (if you are like me you don't have any now) and you get the flats, i most definitely recommend the ones with the clear plastic tops. but if you don't get those, you can instead cover them with cling wrap so that will also keep the moisture and heat in. if you turn the heat way down during the day, then you might actually want to set the flats in a sunny window area to keep them warmed up.

 

[4oaks]

Oh, yeah...gardening time is here. Spent most of yesterday working on a new raised bed. Also, set out cabbage and onion plants, planted radish and several types of lettuce. Will be planting a short row of potatoes on St. Patrick's Day.

As far as starting from seeds inside...I've found that I have better success when I use a bottom heat source. They sell a heating pad made to go under your tray (flat), but I just use an old regular heating pad set on low. This works especially well for pepper seeds. They just won't germinate in my cold house without it.

 

[Riverrick]

Thanks guys. I don't keep my plastic cartons either but I'll start doing that. As for heat, I see some of the websites sell heating pads to go under the trays. I have a regular heating pad, you know for sore muscles, etc. I may try that. To get the best sunlight in my house the trays would have to be in the middle of the living room floor.

Ok now, for tomatoes, what variety of a seed do you recommend? Oh, and I've got some marigold seeds from last year's plants that I saved. Will they germinate or do I have to buy new ones?

 

[Riverrick]

As far as starting from seeds inside...I've found that I have better success when I use a bottom heat source. They sell a heating pad made to go under your tray (flat), but I just use an old regular heating pad set on low. This works especially well for pepper seeds. They just won't germinate in my cold house without it.

HaHa! I just asked that question about the heating pad while you were answering it 4oaks! Thanks!