Started some tomato seeds today in eggshells!

[justbugged]

Way cool idea. I am thinking that I will need to try this method. Was it very difficult to peel the membrane out of the shells?

 

[CrazyCatNChickenLady]

Its super easy to peel the membrane but you're probably better off leaving it in to hold the shells together. If anyone tries this PLEASE post pics or let me know how yours do! I'm very happy. I just scooped up some dirt that didn't get planted in last year from the garden and tada!

 

[Lapaysannefarm]

I've done that before, it was so fun!

 

[lagunitas]

Cool pics, Casey! Do you keep the seedlings in the brooder room with the hatchlings? Nice and warm and humid, perfect for little starts.

 

[CrazyCatNChickenLady]

Amy we just moved our brooder out to the back porch actually. No more chickens in the house or the laundry room! (lol besides the mostly blind rooster still taking up residence in my laundry room! Last week I had 7 quail loose in there. Does Tom want some quail dinners btw

) Its pretty bad when your doing laundry and if you drop something after its been washed, right back into the washer it goes, so I made a new rule of not brooding in the house, not including the straight out of the incubator "nursery". How do you do it?! My batches are always 15-20 and not a million little peepers.


I have the seedlings on a little area big enough for my seedling mat on the work bench in the garage. They're doing awesome. I'll get a couple more pics later today hopefully. I was thinking about trying to take a picture of them everyday but I always try and do that with a chick and I never do..

 

[lagunitas]

Need more pics!

I don't know how I do it....luckily we have a studio where all the chickies go, I think there are 5 brooders in there right now? My favorite one is an old wooden crib we got for free and fashioned into brooder, complete with roosts and raised waterers/feeders. And heck yeah Tom wants quail dinners! He's always going on and on about it but I won't let him hatch any out til we get moved otherwise I really will loose my mind.

 

[CrazyCatNChickenLady]

I have more pictures actually! I just lag at uploading them. At what point do I transplant them? Should I just plant them in small pots and leave them on the workbench under the light until they can go outside? My seedlings never do this good!





I only managed to kill 1 so far!

 

[lagunitas]

That's what I would do, it's probably still pretty cold over there, right? Super cool pics!!

 

[brennamae]

Those are looking wonderful! I wonder how the roots are doing in there? I imagine they will eventually "break out" of the shell - but I would fear things becoming root bound - others haven't found this to be an issue? Great way to add calcium to the soil!

 

[CrazyCatNChickenLady]

I started to transplant them today and realized I needed to take some pictures first! They grew a lot faster then I expected. So about half of them got planted into pots, then I ran out of space, and pots.

Anyways, I didnt know how to separate the root clusters so I just planted them together..

The other ones could probably go another week until Easter hopefully. I broke apart the shells and mixed it into the soil, I dont know if the roots would actually break through those thick shells? And the membrane that apparently didnt come all the way out when I washed them like I thought. We'll see.. I'll do a couple without breaking them up and compare.