I've been sowing seeds since January, but they are finally getting big enough to be interesting, so I took some pictures. Here's an end view of one of my double light racks. Two 4-tiered racks are back to back, giving me space for 32-11x22" flats of seeds or seedlings. I have three of these rack set-ups in my basement, so eventually they will hold 96 flats of seedlings.
Here is another angle on the other side of the rack. These are all transplanted seedlings. They've been pricked out of the trays and transplanted to 6-cell packs. Twelve of these cell-packs fit in a flat, so each flat holds 72 plants.
Weezin' you don't fool around do you? that's a lot of starts.
How many will be violas this year? Love violas, so many little faces, such pretty colors. Heat here kills them all off by the end of May so there's not much point in my getting them. Blooms
Here is a flat of seedlings in the trays before transplanting. Since I transplant them quite small, I can sow them a bit thicker than I would recommend to others. One small tray of seedlings could turn into two flats of 6-cell packs (144 plants).
Hi, Blooms! I will have many, many flats of violas and pansies again this year. They do so well here and bloom all summer. They are also such fun to grow from seed. The little plants are sweet, and they are easy to transplant, as well. I hope to have at least 20 flats of them. Here's some of the violas still in their trays... they're on my hit list to transplant today!
Whoa! I thought I was busy! I need to get my digital out and share too! Where do you put all those little plants until there are ready to go out? That's alot! I would run out of room once they really started taking off! BTW, did you start ant of the pink waves you sent me by chance? I can't get mine to germinate. Looks good though, nice setup! Hope you don't attract another officer out there!
J
Here I am transplanting lobelia back in February. As you can see, they are pretty small. I prick them out with a pair of tweezers I've come to depend upon as my transplanting tool. I use the handle end to lift them out of the sterile mix, then the pincher end to lower them into the potting mix in the cell packs. I never touch the stems or squeeze the pinchers.
Hey, J! Yes, I run out of room every spring. By late April, I'll be moving some out to my little greenhouse, then later to the cold frames. By the time I open my little nursery business, I'll have four 4'x24' tables full of plants. At least two of those tables will be cell packs and 3.5" pots of these little fellows I've grown from seed this spring. The other two tables will probably be perennials I've wintered over or summer bulbs I've repotted this spring.
Here I am lifting a lobelia seedling by it's little bably leaves.
Oops, I guess I was still using tweezers! LOL! Here I'm using the handle end of the tweezers to make a hole to drop the lobelia seedling into.
And here I am, dirty fingernails and all, dropping the little feller into the hole. Trailing lobelia is usually planted in bunches. I like to only plant a few to a plug because they seem to do better and get that nice spiraled affect I like.
Here they are, about three weeks later, in their cell packs under lights in the basement.
Here are some leeks I started back in February. I'll transplant them in rows to some deep 3/5" pots so they have plenty of root space. Later, they can be transplanted as leek starts to the garden.
These are impatiens. They need an early start, too. They don't do well in our cool wet season, but they surely cheer up my greenhouse all summer.
These are hardy geraniums. I got lots of my hardy geranium seeds from Psilo. I started some last year, as well, so I'm eager to see what wintered over this year.
Edited to add: Hardy geranium are often erratic germinators, so I prick out the seedlings as they come up, then return the tray back under the lights. I often get more seedlings later on.
This message was edited Mar 5, 2005 7:51 AM
I'm mesmorized!!!!
It's a great compliment to be able to mesmerize you, Kim! You're such go-getter, yourself, that I figured you had two basements full of plants! Here are some salpiglossus (painted tongue). They could be transplanted anytime, too, so you can see how small some transplants are.
All I can say is Holy Smokes!!! You even got Kim beat....lol!!
:) Donna
By the way, J, I forgot to answer your question about the pink wave offspring. I've found the seeds from the waves seem to take longer to germinate, so give them a little more time. I can send you some other types, if you'd like, just in case.
Here are some Lapeirousia seedlings. I got the seeds from Emmy in the Netherlands, and I planted them early since they were members of the Iris or lily family (can't recall). I left these two families under lights for a week or two, then moved them outdoors in domed flats to stratify. These fellows popped up before that time, so they are staying indoors. I've got to look them up to get more info.
Here are some dianthus deltoides. They are tiny seedlings, but a hardy perennial here. When mature in th garden, they tend to form a mat of foliage. Their blooms are on stems that sway in the wind above the foliage, looking like bright little butterflies hovering. I just love them. I grow pink, white, red, and white with a red eye.
Here are the most recently planted seeds. I plant them in sterilized starter mix in sterilized trays, then place them in flats with domed lids. All containers are washed in hot soapy bleach water before I use them for seed planting. I keep the surface of the trays misted with water, as well as the inside of the domes, so that they can benefit from a bit of 'rain'. Once they seedlings start coming up and get some size to them, I move them to flats without lids and begin watering them from the bottom.
Thanks to my dearest Weez. She send me some very wanted seeds. I planted 5 to be safe. All five have sprouted and I'm sooo grateful. Thanks Weez!
OK, Kim... what are they?
Commelina Dianthifolia - Whooo hooo!!!
Whooooooa! Look at those last set of trays! I'm coming to camp out with Weez! he he he
Ah, yes! This seed was given to me by a friend who bought it at the Seattle Flower show. It just isn't suited for my neck of the woods, but it's a beauty. Good job on the germination, Kim!
Weezie, those are just gorgeous!
Please put a picture of each seedling in the Plant Files for us.
I have planted several of the "Wildflower mixes" and everything is shooting up like crazy. If I could identify some of the seedlings I would start pruning out some.
They are so thick, I cant see all of them surviving.
Here's what I'm looking at.
Thanks for sharing so much with us all.
I'll send all my Alaska kin to you, if they get to Sewerd.
Sidney
I see many experts posting here so I wanted to ask a question about lighting and starting seeds. I cannot afford a grow light at this time and was wondering if the seedlings could get by with natural lighting. The house has a lot of windows, so light-filled rooms, and I can put them at a southern exposure for a good chunk of the day. Is it okay to move the trays, pots, containers around with the sun throughout the house? Sorry for all the questions, I'm very new at this. Any ideas what might happen to my seedlings?
Loba,
I don't use the expensive "Grow" lights or fixtures that some use, way to much $$$$$ for me too! I don't even think Weezy uses them either (could be wrong though). Go to Home Depot, buy one of their $7, 4' flourescent (sp?) fixtures and one 4' cool white bulb and one 4' soft white bulb. I total of maybe $12, pretty cheap. That is what I use and they work wonders and this is my FIRST year doing this! I will be sowing a couple hundred plants for family, friends and myself so I have 16 fixtures, but if you would just be doing a few varieties for yourself, I think you could get by with one or two of the fixtures I mentioned. I think just using sun right now may cause the plants to stretch indoors. I don't know about that, one of our awesome experts will let you know. But just wanted to toss the idea out to you about the Home Depot fixtures and bulbs. Good luck with that too......
Weezy,
Ya, if you would be willing to trade for some more of your waves varieties, I would be up for that, just email me. I have a ton of new seeds and summer bulbs. I must have sowed 50 of those pink waves and had maybe 5 come up. What soil temp do you sow yours at? I was at about 77F. Also, in your setup you have going, do you have different temp zones for your different seeds? I'm trying to make some in my basement with my lights and mats. A 65-70F zone, a 70-75F zone and a 75-80F zone. Am I just making this more difficult than it really is? I've read if you hit that seeds recommended germination temp, you'll get a better percentage of germination in a faster time. I don't think I can sow my FoxGloves at the same temp as my Petunias! Thanks!!!
And Kim,
AWESOME little blue flowers there, way cool! Never seen em before!
J
Thanks, Stv, I will check those out. Someone in a chat mentioned the same and it is good to know they are not too expensive. I was told to use a "blue bulb". Do you know what that is?
I'm speechless
its soooo professional!
you da woman weez!
Weezie,
Thanks for all the info and pictures. This is my first year trying to start seeds with lights and I have learned alot just reading your and everyone else's posts. It appears I will need to make a better "journal" for next year to figure out just when is the best time to start each seed to have them ready to go outdoors towards the end of may when we are past frost in Montana.
Do you have a particular "order" in which you start your seeds so they are not to early/or late?
Lotton, yes I have a list of when I plant each type of seed. I generally start them two to three weeks later than suggested on packages. My target date for setting out is the same as yours.. end of May. Actually June 1 is considered the end of 'danger of frost'. Since I start mine to sell beginning Memorial Day weekend, I try to get them up to size so that the cell packs look good. Petunias and violas are blooming or ready to pop. If you email me with a list of what you are going to start, I can tell you when I start them, if I grow them too.
J, email me and I'll let you know what other petunia seeds might work for you. I'm not as precise as you with my germination temps. I surface sow the petunia seeds with some sand mixed in, then place them in plastic domed flats under lights. Petunia needs light to germinate. I would guess the temp is generally around 70 degrees down in the basement with the heater running and all the lights going. Of course, in the 6-8 hours the lights aren't on, the temp may drop a bit. I don't use heat pads.
Loba, J spoke the truth. Even one fluorescent light fixture can be invaluable when starting seeds indoors. Keep the light close to the seedlings and keep a domed lid or plastic wrap cover over the seeds. I mist the surface with water to keep it moist. Once they germinate, keep the light fairly close to the plants so they don't get leggy. Keep the light on for about 18 hours a day. As the days grow longer, you can transplant and move some of your plants to the windows until you can begin setting them out until they are hardened off.
Sugarweed, I can't indentify anything from your pic... I think you're wildflower mix is much different than mine considering our climate differences! I'd post on the Identification forum so some of the warmer climate folks can look at them.
Loba, but once you see the first seed germinate, it's time to take that plastic cover off, or at least poke some holes in it! I like to water from the bottom once my seedlings are up, too. WZ did mention this earlier in the thread, but I wanted to be sure you'd seen it. I mostly use plastic flats with 6-pack inserts, so I just pour the water into the flat and let it get wicked up. You do want to check to be sure than the seedlings aren't sitting in a flat half full of water; pour off any water that remains after 20 mintues. After the seedlings get a little bigger & grow more roots, they can deal with over or under watering better, but at first you have to be careful & try to keep the growing medium moist but not soggy. That said, this is not nearly as complicated as we may all be making it sound, and with a fluorescent shoplight and a little attention, you'll have lots of lovely little seedlings for your garden! (You can fit 2 standard flate under a 48" double-bulb fixture.) Good luck!
WZ, I too am awestruck by your setup! WOW! That's a lot of little seedlings to transplant!! I'm glad you mentioned selling some of them come spring.... I was envisioning you being busier than a one-armed paper hanger, trying to plant out 96 flats!! LOL!
Yes, uncover the containers as soon as the seeds germinate. If they are germinating erratically or are very tiny, I sometimes leave the dome lids on for awhile longer, but I don't bottom water while they are covered. I mist my covered containers every day, lightly spraying the surface and liberally spraying the inside of the lid so as to allow them to get some 'rain'.
I'm trying to limit myself to an hour of DG in the early morning, then keeping myself focused on my seeds and seedlings. I keep my seeds in bags, according to the week in which I want to plant them. Some go in the fridge or freezer for awhile, some don't, but I've got to pay attention, or something gets forgotten! Yesterday, I planted two flats of marigold seed and transplanted violas to 10 flats. I have about 16 spaces left downstairs until I must turn on the big haloid... $$$$!
Weeze, I wasn't looking for any identification, just identified pictures of seedlings. They should also be added to the plant files. I started a thread to post them in. I tried to see if this had been done in the past, but came up with a blank on the search.
Thanks, Sidney
Forgot to add this http://aoeu.davesgarden.com/forums/t/489218/ .
Thanks again.
This message was edited Mar 6, 2005 2:39 PM
I think I remember the thread... it was about a seedling & seed database of its own, wasn't it? Yes, I've added several photos of my seedlings, but I plan to do more. I'm going to have millions of little fellows coming up before I quit planting! Of course, these little fellows look a bit different when grown under lights than they do when they are seeded outdoors or in the greenhouse.
wow- I'm amazed. I'm starting a few things under lights this year for the first time. I'm going to sit back, watch and learn!
Starting plants under lights is great for us Northern gardeners. It gives us a jump start and saves a lot when you consider all the bedding plants you can spend money on in the spring.
I have sprouting!!! I'm so very excited! Four little Cosmos coming out...
As many times as I've done this, I get excited everytime something comes up. I think some folks like to propagate from seed and some don't. I'd grow everything from seed, if I could. Good luck, loba!
