My caladiums seem to diminish each year also. Amaryllises I can plump up, but not caladiums LOL.
Bill's site has wonderful information.
I do pot them up and get them started right away when I get them... Bill won't ship them if he thinks the weather is too cold, but he pretty much tries to get the bulbs out asap in early spring.
My strawberry seeds arrived today. Wow, that's fast! I'd better get cracking this weekend, pot up the amaryllises (I'm really late with this) and get them on the heat mat for a quick start. It's almost time to start things like Torenia on the heat mat... the strawberry seeds will do better at 65-75 according to Mike, so I'll put them one shelf up from the heat mat.
Seed starting spring 2013
Here is a picture of my setup I got for Christmas. I don't know how much it cost and can't remember the name of the kit but the light is stamped hydrofarm. It is small but has adjustable rope hanging in two different spots to make it easy to adjust up and down. I have also attached an outdoor timer which we use for Xmas lights.
I would certainly buy the next one with a timer or piece one together myself. Its an experiment.
As you can see the only things I have under there are brug cuttings, but it is just the beginning.
Oh Terp, I was looking at that exact product on Amazon. I need to purchase a light very soon, and maybe a heatmat.
Critter, thank you for letting me know about Bill's collections! You're right, I don't remember seeing them last year.
Maybe I'll place an order after all...
There are a couple photos of my setup in this article on seed starting & lights: http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/464/
I used "gorilla shelves" and put dowels through the uprights so I can adjust lights (two double-tube cool fluorescent shop lights) over the lower shelves in 1 inch increments. :-)
How do you start seeds in milk jugs I like to try it . Can someone tell me about it so I can try.
.
You can find everything you want to know, with pictures and explanations, if you go to
http://web.archive.org/web/20110716201728/http://www.wintersown.org/.
Let us know whether you are able to get into this site.
Good site--Roses! I bookmarked it and printed out the Vegetable seed longevity chart.
Will keep it with my seed box.
Wish they also had a flower longevity chart. Couldn't find one. Gita
Terp, you can find timers at the Home Depot. I bought 2 several years ago mainly for turning lights on and off when I was away from home for a long period of time. I now use one of them for my indoor plants. You plug the power cable of the light into the timer and plug the timer in the wall socket. I find them quite flexible to use, better than the ones that are built into lighting systems.
Donner,
Thanks for your help. I actually did buy my first one from there but I wasn't paying attention to what I bought. My light system requires a ground or three prongs.
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/catalog/servlet/THDProductCompare?errorURL=ProductAttributeErrorView&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&prodComp_0=100685881&prodComp_1=100685869&keyword=timer
I just assumed I needed a regular timer. Minor oversight.
It's been a while since they were first posted, but I wrote a series of DG articles on Winter Sowing as well as a series on starting seeds inside.
This article on Light Shelves has links at the bottom to most of the other "Seed Starting 101" articles. http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/464/
Winter sowing: http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/585/
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1135/
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/959/
Terp, the 3 prong "heavy duty" timers are a good idea for a seed starting setup, IMO. Play it safe with electricity! :-)
Thanks for the links Jill. I'll be approaching all of those issues soon enough!
A little reading on Charles Dalziel the inventor of the Ground Fault Current Interrupter.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/05/24/735021/-How-Regulation-came-to-be-160-Ground-Fault-Interrupted#
Must not have hit the Send button I know I already said this.
Gita, I plant my caladium bulbs shallow not deep. Just about and inch under.
Critter, Those pretty Cream Marigolds are plugs that we get from the HGHA and I should have plenty of them at the swap. If you want to look for seeds they are called Sweet Cream we also grew an Orange variety that looked really nice they are Discovery.
Paul--
You can buy a simple plug that allows you to convert a grounded plug to a plain, 2-prong one....
It is called a "grounding outlet adapter" and HD carries it. it costs 69 cents. Wow! Can you swing that???
I called work to make sure....
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100356839/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=grounding+outlet+adapter&storeId=10051#.UPRicPJtxMg
Holly--
Thanks for the heads up in planting Caladiums the regular way.
I really do not know where I learned to plant them all the way to the bottom????
BUT--if you uproot a potted Caladium--the bulb will be at the bottom...So--maybe either works??/
Gita
I will be setting down and putting in my caladium order in the next week. I am in the process of putting together my HGHA plant order. I dug out my seeds last week but haven't started any yet. Have to find my OSP. They should be in the upstairs plant room someplace. I was working last week so I didn't get much done but I have a few weeks until the next Temp job starts.
Holly--
I also want to order some Caladiums--but not a huge amount.
Jill offered that i could "piggy back" on her order. Have to go to the website again and see.
At the most--I would get a mix--as I really do not want 10 of one color.
How are you ordering???? Separate colors--or a mix?
I wonder if we could all swap out different colors at he seed Swap???
Like--if anyone gets 10 of, say, 3 different colors--and someone gets 10 of some other colors--
we could swap out and take 3 of each and trade back. Does this make sense?
Of course--this would require a coordination of who gets what colors.
What do you all think? Or--would this get too complicated????? Gita
I need a little help with the acronyms...
Do you mean--HD? That is Home Depot....
What other ones??? G.
Home Greenhouse Assoc ( think)
Ornamental Sweet Potatos (I think)
LOL- could not stand your wait...
Yes Sally, You got them almost right. It's Hobby GreenHouse Assoc. Things aren't looking so good for the OSP (Ornamental Sweet Potatoes) can't seem to find them I did dig them up and one of them was just huge.
UMD_Terp, My HGHA has a group Plug Order each spring. They are very small plants just their true leaves up some not even a true leaf yet. You get hundreds of them for just a few $$. Plants like Mixed Coleus 350 Plugs for just $32. Of course you must buy in bulk so our group divides them I can buy a whole tray for just 1/4 of a tray and other members will pick up the rest.
When you grow OSP in the fall dig them up and if you are lucky you will find potatoes. I save them from year to year and start new plants from the Potatoes. The last few years I haven't done very well with them but in years past I would be able to get tons of starts more than a hundred little plants from just 6 or 7 potatoes.
Holly, I was so excited to dig up the potatoes at the end of the season, but there was nothing but roots in the containers! Did I do something wrong? Is it because I didn't fertilize them enough? The year before, I had huge tubers, although they were a different variety of OSPs.
Gita, I don't think we can divide the caladium bulbs at the seed swap. I don't think Bill ships them unless the local weather has warmed up a bit.
You can't beat that. Thx.
SSG, No you didn't do anything wrong, I don't know why I seem to get some nice potatoes some years and not others. Usually you don't get many of them and they aren't usually large. You can check out this old thread of mine. It is a pretty long thread but you might like to browse thru and look at the pics. It will tell you just how to Propagate them and you can see what the potatoes I started with looked like.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/809595/
Twice now I have planted a few in the Veggie Garden thinking that the good soil and room to grow would give me a bumper crop but that didn't happen. The OSP are designed to have pretty leaves not to put out potatoes like the regular SP would.
Those big, red potatoes the green OSP makes are delicious to eat. I scrub them clean and
nuke them like I would a reg Sweet Potato and eat them with some butter.
They are amazingly tasty--the color of the flesh is like a Yukon Gold--and the taste is sweet
and buttery.
If I could be where they are talking apart these HUGE planters at some shopping Center--
I would ask for all the potatoes they dig up to take home.
Holly--I think they are more likely to make potatoes if there is ample room in the pot.
If it is too tight--you just get these red roots.
G.
That was why I thought I would get a lot of nice size potatoes when I planted them in the Veggie Garden but I didn't get anything at all. I was surprised at the size of the ones that grew in my deck boxes they are pretty shallow and not that wide. I do grow them in some good sized pots and still didn't get much but this year I did get one really huge potato from the big terra cotta container in the front yard.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2801/
Couldn't resist showing this potato harvest ...lol
Hollyanns,
Is there anything, that you know of, similar to your hgha in central Maryland??
I am sure there is I'll find out for you. There is the National Chapter and then there are area chapters. They are really great, you don't need a GH to join many of our members don't have a GH yet and may not be planing on getting one. Some of the Chapters are changing their names to Indoor Gardening, Houseplants and GH Assoc or something like that to encourage new members that have an interest but don't have a GH. Our group has about 6 meetings a year, one is a summer picnic where we do a garden related craft project. Living wreaths, Dish gardens, pottery, garden art. We have a group bus trip to some Public Garden, There are 2 group buys each year one for plants one for GH supplies. We have a Raffle Table at each meeting where members bring in plants that they have propagated, or just need to pass along. You should see some of the plants I get for just a few $$. Oh almost forgot at the regular meetings we have a speaker, topics can be anything from how to propagate begonias, grow tomatoes, heat your GH. Just about any garden related topic. One of our Members did a slide show on the Garden Trip Tour of England.
This message was edited Jan 15, 2013 2:04 PM
Thanks! Great eyes on your potatoes.
Ooooh, love new baby potatoes. So creamy!
Has anybody tried growing potatoes in straw bales? I heard that it is a good method and the harvest is good.
What's everyone starting to sow under lights indoors and in jugs outside for winter sow. I keep changing my mind about where and when I want to start certain seeds. Maybe I can settle down and follow someone who can make good decisions.
Donner--
There was a whole Thread a while ago on growing things in straw bales.
If you know how to search for a particular Thread--you may find it.
Holly--
That HGHA group thing sounds fabulous! If there is one--and if it is not too far to drive--
I would enjoy joining something like that...
Will be looking to see if you find one.
Paul---Great "eyes" on the potatoes---what a great play on words----as potatoes DO have "eyes'......
G.
I'm with you Roses..
Holly, I sent you a Dmail. You forgot to mention the HGA annual club trip!
UMD_Terp & Gita, Sorry to say that I checked it out and there is no Official HGHA in Md. Which just means that they aren't listed with the National Chapter. You might find something similar in your area but I couldn't get a contact for it. Check out local Garden Clubs, newspapers and Garden Shows for information.
Thanks, Holly...
Thanks for looking. I just browsed briefly and don't know what would be similar. I guess we could start our own!!!
You go, Terp!
It does seem to work out pretty well to do "group buy" things along with our scheduled swaps, too.
Speaking of which, anybody who wants more polymer moisture crystals should Dmail me... I did a lot of planting & potting last fall and need to put in another order! Guess I should have gone for the 50 pounder. Maybe this time. LOL
I have more of those Sharpies, too! (industrial extra-permanent black for 75 cents, silver or gold for $1.50)
I'll have to see if there are any good deals on lily bulbs, bare root phlox, whatever to look over during the seed swap...
And I hope people will post on the seed swap thread before placing orders, in case anybody wants just one or two packs of seed from one of the online places... Let's get more bang for our collective shipping buck!
UMD_Terp, If you are interested in starting your own chapter. I can put you in touch with someone with all kinds of info and ideas for starting a new club. Just send me a D-mail if you are seriously interested.