seeds vs starts....

[lazy gardener]

Last week, I was out shoveling a bit of my garden so the girls could walk un-hindered to the green house.

 

[Arielle]

Do the girls eat your starts??

 

[misbhaven]

here is a website that has a tool that you enter your last frost date and it will tell you when to sow what seeds either indoors or outdoors..for those who are new to seed starting.
http://awaytogarden.com/when-to-start-seeds-calculator/

 

[TLWR]

I used this to figure out what to start when - just change the location

http://www.almanac.com/gardening/planting-dates/AL/Mobile

 

[misbhaven]

i started some strawberries broccoli , eggplant, each take 10 weeks and some broccoli today hopefully the weather is back to normal by april..I used a large dog kennel heater under my plants to help keep the soil at 70..for those who don't know what that is think giant heating pad but covered in hard plastic.

 

[Smithyard Farm]

so all set to try my seeds! I have a small greenhouse that hubby bought at tractor supply... not sure I really need it, but bless his heart. He is so sweet. I have a few seeds - some from last year - didn't think of the petunias.. but I will this year!

What do you all do for lighting? and doesn't it need to be in a fairly warm area? I can't wait to get up and running. still WAY to early I think, but I'm gonna check out the links above and see when I can start to get my hands dirty. and the gals at work are saving their dunkin donut cups for me...!

 

[jerryse]

I just found and read this thread. Here is a idea I use. You can but tomato and pepper plants when they first show up at the garden center. Buy just half or 1/3 what you need. Let them grow until they branch or take the top half off for cuttings. Pot them and keep in the shade. They will perk up in a few days. That means roots have started. You must leave at least 1 set of leaves on the original plant. This does not set them back much. By the time you plant in the garden they are all about the same size. The original will often send up 2 shoots if topped. You can make a cutting of 1 when it is large enough. Good for extending the season on determinate varieties. I start heirlooms from seed but I do some that people prefer. Myself I think pink tomatoes taste best. I gift a lot of these to friends and they like red ones.

 

[lazy gardener]

Nice idea for those of you in more temperate climates. Here in the north, the seedlings show up barely in time to get them in the ground to get a crop out of them b/fore they are killed off by frost!

 

[lazy gardener]

Do the girls eat your starts??

Arielle, I don't have anything growing in my green house right now. The plastic is needing to be replaced and is very well ventilated due to UV break down and the cats thinking it is a fine place to perch and survey their domain. But the girls do love to go in and dust bathe. It still warms up nicely, in spite of the ventilation! Before the end of the month, I'll block off part of a bed, and plant some cold weather stuff under a tunnel so it'll get benefit of 2 layers of protection. It'll drive the girls crazy to see green stuff just out of beak range.

 

[pinusresinosa]

Most seeds germinate just fine at regular old room temps, but for those rarities that like it hot, I do use seedling mats for extra warmth (for melons, peppers etc). Petunias will germinate just fine in room temps, for example.

For lighting, I have a gigantic south facing window that works well, but I also use 200W daylight CFL's in metal clamp lamps too when more light is needed or I don't have any room in the window anymore (which is getting that way these days, started tons of flats yesterday!). Hubs is making me a greenhouse this spring, a lean-to style against the house. Most definitely needed, as our dining room is my greenhouse right now.

Petunias are so easy and so fun to start from seed, and you get such choice from seed too. And you can start them as early as you want, cut them back if you want as they go, and often times with enough light will bloom in the house even, which for me is so welcome in the early spring. There's even a variety that you can start from seed now that looks and grows like those little superbells that you could only get from nurseries as cuttings- look for the "sparklers". Here's where I got some this year: http://www.sampleseeds.com/?page_id=3153 (scroll down to the Petunia x hybrida ‘Sparklers‘ PetSpar) listing.) Sorry about the sample seed shop plugin again, my fav place for seeds and the owner of this business is a real gem in the gardening world.



Yep, started petunias in an old cleaning bucket last year.