starter plants for the new year

[reinhard1]

i made a garden last year [got it ready anyway]. dont know exactly what i'm going to plant yet except i know cucumbers will be one and i plan to do herbs in hanging baskets. when is the best time to start the starter plants? thanks and good luck.

[Nainoa]

If you don't have peppers already started you're a little behind the game. I planted my exotic tropical peppers (Bhut Jolokia, Aji Dulce) On January 26th... I planted poblano, carolina wonder (Bell) and Serrano on Feb 15th... (Along with my rosa bianca egg plants) And followed up Jalapeno a week later.

You could probably start jalapeno's and bell peppers and still get a good harvest if you got a heat mat and started them NOW.

Do you have a window box? (Or some cheap flourescent growlights?) If so you can really get stuff going.

My Tomatoes were planted in the heat trays on Friday and the first dozen or so just came up.

They'll go in the ground 7-10 days after Walleye Opener at 17-20 inches tall.

Herbs...

Rosemary is a pain in the butt by seed

Italian Parsley, you should start now (Takes up to three weeks to germinate and then grows really slow early on)

Basil... I start in early april

Oregano (Greek if you can find it) you should start now

Gourds and melons and such I start in early April and plant the week after Memorial.

[Jim Almquist]

Thanks for the reminder Nainoa !

Need to get my tomato plants started tomorrow.

[reinhard1]

guess i better get going. i do have a room that faces the south and will be perfect for this. thank you very much for the information. i am thankfull that there are people with the knowledge and experience like yourself on HSO. thanks again and good luck.

[croixflats]

Arrrrg! I spaced out on my peppers again well luckily I have a couple of nice heating pads to use. Thanks Nainoa nice to see you back.

[Nainoa]

guess i better get going. i do have a room that faces the south and will be perfect for this. thank you very much for the information. i am thankfull that there are people with the knowledge and experience like yourself on HSO. thanks again and good luck.

I sell Heirloom Vegetable seedlings every year for some side money...

What I would do if I was you... Is invest in one of those seedling heat mats... OR take a shallow tote, fill with some Miracle grow soil Put some oak 1X2's under it, and put an old heating pad in the middle (The oak will keep the weight of the tray from crushing the elements in the heating pad.)

And make sure you don't spill/get the heating pad wet/keep it in a garbage bag etc...

Keeping the soil warm will help them germinate up to 50% faster.

Then I would sink an extra $25-$30 in a flourescent growlight set up that you can hang over head.

At Menards the 2 bulb 48" fixture is $15.99... Then each "Daylight, full spectrum" bulb is $4.99

I have one that I bought 4 years ago that is still alive and kickin... So it's a decent little long term investment, and in the winter you can use it as a bonus shop light.

When the seedlings first start to emerge, turn the heat off and keep the grow light low (2 inches over head)

If you don't provide some kind of over head light to augment what comes in that south facing window they will start to all reach towards it... If they leg out too much, they can fall over and die... If they survive, but they get used to this bent over growing habit, when they harden off in the outside world they'll have one side of their foliage that will always be weak and wind succeptible.

Once they have their first true leaves, brush your hand lightly over the tops of them for a couple of minutes each day... This strengthens the stock. (You can also turn an oscillating fan on them for 1-2 hours a day for the same effect.)

[Nainoa]

Arrrrg! I spaced out on my peppers again well luckily I have a couple of nice heating pads to use. Thanks Nainoa nice to see you back.

With a heating tray you could probably still get Jalapeno's and Green Peppers this season... Look for Carolina or California Wonders... They have an earlier harvest than most.

They're actually teh same exact pepper, it's just the carolina wonder is nematode resistant.

[reinhard1]

this is going to be quite a project if i do it correctly as you say. i want to do this right. take a lot more pride in the achivement from the seed up. {kind of like building my own smokehouse}. would i be better off going to a nursery this year and buying their plants and putting them in the ground and start collecting the "tools of the trade" as you describe this year and getting my room set up properly for the following year? also, what type of lettuce would you recomend in this area to grow? good luck.

[Swimmer]

I agree you should invest in some cheap 48" flourescent shop lights and you do not need to buy full spectrum bulbs. Plain cool white tubes work very well. Remember to turn the heating pad off once the seeds germinate. Also, if you can find some old waterbed heating pads...they work great. I used a small fan on all the time to strengthen the stems and facilitate transpiration (a CO2/O2 thing). Luck to you.

[Swimmer]

PS, you can use the cardboard box that the flourescent(s) came in to make a tray. Line it with 6 mil plastic and place your peat pots with soil into the trays. [don't use jiffy seven expanding peat pucks -- never had luck with them]. The left over cardboard can also be used to make a larger tin-foil-lined light diffuser taped to the top of the lite -- hangs down to distribute more light to the lower regions of the plants. Fun to watch those little guys grow especially when looking out the window this time of year and still seeing nothing but white.

[reinhard1]

watching them grow is one thing i look forward to. when i try something new, i feel a little intimidated just for the fear factor that i'm going to screw it up. your information and the poster previously will help me a great deal. i think i will try this and learn from my mistakes. i will probably have more questions so i will be looking for all the advice i can get since i'm a newbie to gardening. thanks. good luck.

[croixflats]

Reinhard give it a go I had a great time last year doing this, I had Ma help me with transplanting them into bigger pots when it was time. Be a great thing to get the grandkids to help you.

You could go small this year and do tomato's and a the peppers Nainoa mentioned then next year go bigger.

I went a bit over board last year and ended up with 120 tomato. Ended up putting them in the garage when it got warmer the car got a bit peaved as those buggers took up the whole garage

Last year the timing to plant in ground was all messed up. The darn weather didnt cooperate and it was freezing a week before fishing opener so I held off until I got back from fishing opener to get them in the ground. After the 9 day fishing opener I got back the tomato's grew a foot in the garage and got all leggy on me because it got hot during those days I was gone. Hopefully this year the timing weather wise is better before opener because I have that 9 day trip a gain.

Its pretty easy to do Reinhard If I can do it so can you plus we will be here for the help. Oh yea even though the Tomato's got tall and leggy they still turned out great.

[reinhard1]

i cant believe i never thought about my grandkids involment in this. what a super awesome idea. thanks croix. i'm always doing stuff with them and this will be great. good luck.

[blarkey]

how long do you need to have the light on, all day or do you time it

[luckycrank]

For the record I am no expert gardener, but I started peppers from seed last fall as well as tomatoes march 3.

I had more peppers and tomatoes than I new what to do with and started them all in jiffy expandable pellets, however I will not be growing out of them this year.

for the simple fact that I thought them to be too small for said plants

I have never seen a proffesionally grown garden such as described in this thread so I have nothing to compare mine to. or do I need to see one to know mine was no comparison.

with that taken into consideration

I made lots of salsa had plenty of cucumbers and gave away grocery bag after grocery bag of peppers and tomatoes. had no grow light or heat mat for that matter either. that being said I appreciate the advice given here , gives me something to strive for and keeps me on track

[pushbutton]

+1......this is not rocket science, if you want to start plants from seed now would be a good time to do so, if not, just pick some up plugs in a few months at the local garden center and plant away. make it as easy or intricate as you want, but ultimately just get out in the garden and have some fun. ok, weeding and the bugs suck, but there is something special about having your own garden.......

[KEN W]

It's not to late to start any plants except maybe onions.I don't start tomatoes or peppers until April 1.But then I live just outside of Fargo and you don't want to put them out until you are pretty sure there won't be frost.The best is starting them 6-8 weeks before you plan on setting them out.Otherwise they get pot bound.

I get all I can possibly eat,plus give away lots.But then I pretty much buy all my seeds from catalogs to get the best,earliest hybrids I can.

Leggy tomatoes are not a probem.In fact they are a plus.You lay them on their side and bury the stem up to the top leaves.Tomatoes are the only plant I know that roots on buried stems.Large root to feed the plant above.

As stated above.....you definetly want to use grow lights.And as stated put your seedlings 2 inches or so under the lights.Almost all my plants are started in large pots.Then transplanted into individual pots.If you don't have pots.....I use gallon milk jugs cut in half almost all the way.Keep the top on until they germinate....then remove it.

You asked about lettuce.I like crisp lettuce for salads.....the best I have found is Little Gem Romaine.Easy to grow with solid heads.

[reinhard1]

realy like all this information. ken, this lettuce you mentioned does it grow back once you cut some off? i had a friend that said his lettuce kept producing after they cut some off to eat. good luck.

[Swimmer]

One thing that's worked for me is to use landscape fabric over a soaker hose in my garden. I just make an "X" slit in the landscape fabric and transplant the peat pot into the soil. The hose for the soaker hose goes to a timer at the faucet. This way I don't have to weed or water (lazy I know) or worry about the aforementioned when I'm away.

I also lay down a lot of organic compost (do this in the Fall if you can) prior to laying down the fabric. Believe it or not, you are not supposed to fold the compost into the soil (unless you do this a year before planting) because it creates air pockets and disease. There is something about organic heirloom tomatos that just bursts the taste buds. My favorite varieties are Black Krim, Brandywine (of course), Omar's Lebanese, and whatever new old variety I can find. And of course save the seeds from your best plants for next year.

[KEN W]

realy like all this information. ken, this lettuce you mentioned does it grow back once you cut some off? i had a friend that said his lettuce kept producing after they cut some off to eat. good luck.

No Little Gem is a Romaine.....they head and don't grow back.

Loose leaf lettuces grow back after cutting them.Example would be Black Seeded Simpson.They are not crisp which is why I don't grow them.I usually start them in the house in a week or 10 days and put them out around the first of May.

The first things that go in the garden when it is tillable are....Lettuce,Peas,Onions and Radishes.All can take light frost.

[reinhard1]

thank you. i think i'll stick with what your growing. i like crisp lettuce as well. and romaine is what i buy. thanks again. good luck.

[pushbutton]

RH1,

do a little research on "summer crisp/batavian" lettuce. get a little of everything with this variety. fast growing, heat resistant, good flavor, and decent crunch. hands down my favorite.

[reinhard1]

ok, will do. cant go wrong with two different lettuce types, i will have enough room. crisp is good. thanks. good luck.

[Nainoa]

how long do you need to have the light on, all day or do you time it

If you leave the light on all day long you'll actually kill them... Just like us plants need rest... The Dark Period makes it easier for them to bring root nutrients up to the leaves in gangbusters. (You hear the same thing in a cornfield at night in the heat of summer where it starts making all those cracking noises etc...)

In fact Tomatoes and Peppers are what's called "Short Day Plants" Meaning they detect the shorting of days after the summer solstice, and that's what triggers the chemical recations that cause them to begin setting fruit.

18-on 6-off is the MAX I would go... 20-4 is the limit before long term disaster happens.

Just buy a surge protector with a timer and rig it accordingly.

Just make ABSOLUTELY SURE that your lights come on before the sun rises... Otherwise they will begin to lean (Possibly catastrophically) towards that window!

[Nainoa]

I agree you should invest in some cheap 48" flourescent shop lights and you do not need to buy full spectrum bulbs. Plain cool white tubes work very well. Remember to turn the heating pad off once the seeds germinate. Also, if you can find some old waterbed heating pads...they work great. I used a small fan on all the time to strengthen the stems and facilitate transpiration (a CO2/O2 thing). Luck to you.

While you don't NEED full spectrum... You'll do better with them than without them.

Also... A 100 W "Daylight" CFL will work... But only for a small area.