Yesterday I planted a gazillion little seeds. Basil, cilantro, parsley, mint, some flowers, morning glory, clematis, geraniums. A lot. I have been saving hard plastic containers with hinged lids and had a few and bought starter tray kits. I did everything acc to instructions posted everywhere. I also got a super duper Green Thumb Lighting System (sits on a table, which table I bought, too, so I don't have to have lights coming down from the ceiling). Here is my Q: The trays are warm, they are covered in plastic tents or plastic covers and the humidity is definitely present. Oops 2 Qs: 2nd Q: need I worry about too much humidity and should I take the covers off for a few hours a day so the starters can breathe? Back to 1st Q: I only go to lights once the seeds have germinated, correct? Until then, they just get all womby in their warm little beds. Many years ago I planted hundreds of basil seeds and just put them in potting soil in little pots and gave them east light and voila! it worked. Now I'm getting all fancy-schmancy and I wonder. Actually more than wonder, I worry. Thanks a lot. bye. ruby
Help...maybe
HI, I start the lights as soon as I start the seeds - some seeds needing light to germinate and all plants needing it once germinated. My starts are in Dole Fruit gel bowls and doughnut hole boxes - I eat the fruit gels, DH eats the doughnut holes, no guesses as to who has the weight problem. Leave the covers on until germination is finished and some true leaves have started. baby plants love moisture. Also, when you do take the lids off, give the plants a little chamomile tea - 1 tea bag to a pint of hot water, cool to room temp and dilute to a quart, apply liberally. It will help ward off damping off.
Kathleen, thank you. If I keep the lids on until germination, which could take 4 ot 6 or 8 weeks I believe, then what is to prevent damping off during those critical weeks? That is why I was thinking a couple of breathing hours each day. So am I understanding you correctly--leave lids or plastic on for the full 4+ weeks until germination and then do the chamomile tea thing for damping off at that late date in the process? Also, the plants that don't require light to germinate (but will need light later on), is it okay for them to have light? Thanks again. bye. ruby
If you have something that needs darkness, either cover with something to withhold light or leave away from the light until germination. the damping off won't be a problem until the plants are up, and actually, you will probably keep things out of the soil by keeping it covered. I haven't ever had anything that took more than 2 weeks to germinate, so I'm not sure of the long term. You can use chamomile tea anytime, if you think there's a fungal problem. It certainly won't hurt the plants or the soil.
I love starting seeds - especially in March when it goes from, say 65 on Saturday with sunny skies to 25 today with blowing snow. lol, gives one hope!
Kathleen, thanks again. Another Q. How many hours a day do I leave the seeds under lights? bye. ruby
Ruby, I just saw this.... I've found that if I poke some little ventilation holes in my plastic domes every couple of inches (I do this with a hot metal kebab skewer heated on the stove), the humidity level stays just about perfect. A little condensation on the inside of the lid is fine... if you're seeing big drops and dribbles condensing, it may be too wet.
The most important step to prevent damping off, IMO, is to sterilize your seed starting mix. No matter how expensive a bag of special seed starting mix you buy, it is not sterile out of the bag. Check the propagation forum for suggestions on how to do this.... I put well moistened mix into the microwave for about 12 minutes on high, until I see lots of steam, and then I cover the container tightly and let the steam sterilize it for another 15 minutes. I also watered with either chamomile tea as Kathleen mentioned or added hydrogen peroxide to the water (1 Tbsp of standard drugstore 3% strength H2O2 per quart of water).
I like to leave my lights on 12 to 16 hours per day. Make sure you adjust the height of the lights as the seedlings grow... ideally, you want the florescent bulbs just 2-4 inches from the top leaves.
Good luck, and have a blast!
Critterologist, I have already planted everything. Some of the seeds are so teensy, I will never find them in the mix so I can't undo the planting in order to sterilize the potting mix. There is constant mist on the inside of the plastic but not blobs of water or water running down the sides, so that part seems ok. Is this correct: assuming that I WILL have little seedlings, will I be repotting soon after they appear--after the seeds have germinated and have little leaves--will I then repot to bigger pots? If that is the case, at that point I can sterilize.
Kathleen mentioned that damping off becomes a problem after I have seedlings and not while they are germinating, so hopefully I can take what I am learning and apply it to the larger plants.
As for H2O2, on another DG thread people are talking about hydrogen peroxide as a way of killing houseplant gnat larvae, so it has multiple uses. Thanks for your advice and suggestions. bye. ruby
I never use any kind of cover on any kind of seedlings and I bottom water. I have great germination. I do use seed starter mix so the bottom watering works.
Debbie
Thanks Everybody--I cannot believe this--about 1/4 of the seeds are sprouting already! Only 5 days since planting. I thought it would take weeks and weeks and weeks. How big should they be before I move them to larger pots? Right now they are in tiny little green plastic pots. I want them to be as sturdy as possible before I move them. I suppose in another week or so, I can do the tea thing to prevent damping off. Gardening is continuous discovery as others have said to me. I'm totally blown away by how fast this is all happening. (p.s. duuuuh, I made little yellow post-it pieces to name the pots as I planted seeds but then I moved them into another cardboard box because the first box was getting very damp -- and now I have to move them back so the yellow post-its match up again. Not complaining--still fun fun fun fun fun. bye. ruby
don't move them to pots until they have at least 4 true leaves (not counting the sprouting leaves). I'm not surprised they sprouted already in a light, warm, humid environment. You can probably go without the cover even for the ones that haven't sprouted yet...they will do so soon under the lights and in the warmth. I don't put plastic lids on my starting boxes...rather I surround my grow area with clear plastic...sometimes a shower curtain, sometimes a plastic bag....just something to keep a slightly more humid environment.
Take the covers off if any of the seedlings start to touch it. I have one overachieveing osteopermum that shot up so fast, it was pushing the plastic cover up. You can use the chamomile tea anytime now, and probalby using it once a week or so would be good.
lol, about the lables - I can't tell you how many times I've carefully labled everything, just to move something, or remove a cover (a great big DUHHHH). It makes gardening with myself an adventure!
Sorry I worried you about the sterilization issue! To be honest, I've only sterilized my soil the past 2 years... before that, I used potting mix right out of the bag & never had trouble with damping off... but I kept hearing about it, and I got cautious!
I transplant most seedlings into individual pots or cells when they have their first pair of "true" leaves... The first leaves you see are nurse leaves, aka cotyledons.
I've been planting basil and some other things (alyssum, lobelia, dill, parsley) in clumps for several years now, following the directions Tom DeBaggio sets out in his "little book" (_Growing Herbs from Seed, Cutting & Root: An adventure in small miracles_), and I've had great success. He's a fan of clump transplanting for several reasons. A larger clump of roots in the pot means it's harder to drown the little seedlings (root & stem rot are less likely when the roots take up more water and accelerate the drying of the growing medium), and you get a nice branched appearance before you even start pinching back. He recommends 3 or more plants in a clump (my clumps max out around 7, and some of those basil varieties just got clumped by twos this year). In his words, "I don't count them, but take what comes apart most easily with the least root damage. It would defeat the beneficial effects.... to prick out individual seedlings and gather them in clumps.... the larger the leaves, the fewer seedlings in the clump." The other big thing is to set the seedlings into the pot lower than they were growing in the seedling flat, preferably (depth of pot permitting) with the true leaves level with the growing medium and the nurse leaves (cotyledons) covered.
Critterologist--thanks a lot. You give me wonderful advice, as do others here at DG. I've had to take my morning glories away from the other starter pots because they are really tall now and bumping up against the plastic cover while other seeds have teensy bits of green showing and some not at all, yet.
Space is an issue and I am thinking about buying another portable cheap table (4' x 2') with lights so I can start more seeds and put it in bedroom. Your name is perfect for one of my plant plans: it can be a fund-raising thing for a feral cat org. here. So if I have 50 or 100 cute little plants, that could be several hundred dollars to an org. that needs money all the time for low cost spay and neutering.
Aside: I am having a problem with rex begonias--spots on the leaves which I think I caused by spritzing with water some weeks back to add some humidity. No one has answered my query over on that thread so I'm trying diff things to see if I can fix the problem, or at least not continue to damage. I've been putting begonias in the bathtub at night after I shower and during the day they take their chances in the low humidity in the house in general. I've moved some into the kitchen as well because I am always running water for this or that.
Indy, about the begonias... I have some other plants that like higher humidity, so may have a suggestion for you... If you can put your begonia pots on a tray (seed flat, pot saucer, etc) containing at least half an inch of gravel and then add water to the tray, you'll get extra humidity all around the plants, and the gravel will keep the bottoms of the pots from actually sitting in the water.
I just posted several basil varieties for SASBE... LMK if you have space to start more, and I'll send some to you for your fundraising effort!
edited to add -- please post on the "basils for SASBE" thread if you're interested in the seeds... easiest way for me to keep track of how many packs have been spoken for. thanks!
This message was edited Mar 22, 2006 7:22 PM