What did you do in the garden today?

[gtaus]

That’s so weird about the selection! Around here there was tons of selection. I ended up buying mine too because my seeds didn’t sprout or even germinate. But yet my plants took off and my yellow squash plant is HUGE. And that sounds awesome!! I wish I had the room for that. Next year I’ve decided I’m just going to buy plants. Well, was originally my dad’s idea, I still kinda wanted to start mine, but now I’m on board because it’s sooooo much work to start them and most of my sprouts ended up dying anyways. I bought most of my plants this year anyway because of it. So not much different hah

A number of years ago I tried to start seeds in the house, but it was a lot of work and my sprouts ended up getting leggy and dying anyways. I was very disappointed. However, thanks to YouTube and members of this thread helping me, I tried again this past year and was very successful this time. Seems like knowing what does not work for me helped me find out what works.

This past winter I made a 4-level seed starter shelf out of scrap lumber and old shelving boards. On each level, I hung some LED shop lights I got on sale at Menards for just over $10 per shop light. I paid attention to the color balance and output lumens of the LED shop lights and they fell within the plant growing spectrum. The LED shop lights at $10 each were much cheaper than the $60 "grow lights" Menards was selling. Maybe those grow lights are better, but my cheap LED shop lights seemed to work just fine and none of my starts got leggy this time.

I think the biggest difference I made this time was using 3 inch hydroponic net cups instead of planting seeds in those starter pods or small plastic 6-pack veggie trays.

Here is a picture of the net cups I used...

I bought a 50 pack of those 3-inch net pots on Amazon for about $15.00. You can get smaller, or larger, net cups but I found the 3-inch pots to be a good size for my tomato starts even all the way to 8 weeks without having to replant them in bigger pots. If you try net cups, get the "heavy duty" variety so they will last many years of reuse.

The big labor saver for me is that you just fill the cups with potting soil, plant the seed, water them in trays, and put them under the lights. The open slotted sides air prune the roots as the plant grows, thus preventing root bound transplants. You don't see any roots spiraling around inside the cup because when they hit air, they stop. As you can see, the open slots allow you to bottom water the cups. All I had to do was fill the tray up with water, maybe 1/4 inch off the bottom, and let the plants soak up whatever water they need for a day or two. Then, I just let the soil dry out for another day or two, then repeated the bottom water to start a new cycle. Very little babysitting of the plants is required, and if you thought seed starting took a lot of time before, you will not believe how easy it can be with net pots.

The only disadvantage I found was that a 3-inch net cup takes a lot more potting soil than say a veggie 6-pack tray. However, if you start things like tomatoes for 8 weeks growth before transplanting, then you might as well start them in a cup big enough for the 8-week period.

You can get net cups from about 1 inch to 5 inches. Next year, I might get some smaller 2-inch net cups for seeds that I plan on starting for 2-4 weeks indoors. But certainly the 3-inch net pots were great for the tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers I started 8 weeks before transplanting.

My strategy this year was to attempt to start some plants in my house, and if I failed at seed starting, my backup plan was that I was just going to buy 6-packs of veggies at the stores. But fortunately, my seed starts took off and did well whereas the local stores had a very little variety of veggies to sell this year.

Here is a link to the YouTube video that gave me the idea of using net cups...

 

[ShrekDawg]

A number of years ago I tried to start seeds in the house, but it was a lot of work and my sprouts ended up getting leggy and dying anyways. I was very disappointed. However, thanks to YouTube and members of this thread helping me, I tried again this past year and was very successful this time. Seems like knowing what does not work for me helped me find out what works.

This past winter I made a 4-level seed starter shelf out of scrap lumber and old shelving boards. On each level, I hung some LED shop lights I got on sale at Menards for just over $10 per shop light. I paid attention to the color balance and output lumens of the LED shop lights and they fell within the plant growing spectrum. The LED shop lights at $10 each were much cheaper than the $60 "grow lights" Menards was selling. Maybe those grow lights are better, but my cheap LED shop lights seemed to work just fine and none of my starts got leggy this time.

I think the biggest difference I made this time was using 3 inch hydroponic net cups instead of planting seeds in those starter pods or small plastic 6-pack veggie trays.

Here is a picture of the net cups I used...

View attachment 3607555

I bought a 50 pack of those 3-inch net pots on Amazon for about $15.00. You can get smaller, or larger, net cups but I found the 3-inch pots to be a good size for my tomato starts even all the way to 8 weeks without having to replant them in bigger pots. If you try net cups, get the "heavy duty" variety so they will last many years of reuse.

The big labor saver for me is that you just fill the cups with potting soil, plant the seed, water them in trays, and put them under the lights. The open slotted sides air prune the roots as the plant grows, thus preventing root bound transplants. You don't see any roots spiraling around inside the cup because when they hit air, they stop. As you can see, the open slots allow you to bottom water the cups. All I had to do was fill the tray up with water, maybe 1/4 inch off the bottom, and let the plants soak up whatever water they need for a day or two. Then, I just let the soil dry out for another day or two, then repeated the bottom water to start a new cycle. Very little babysitting of the plants is required, and if you thought seed starting took a lot of time before, you will not believe how easy it can be with net pots.

The only disadvantage I found was that a 3-inch net cup takes a lot more potting soil than say a veggie 6-pack tray. However, if you start things like tomatoes for 8 weeks growth before transplanting, then you might as well start them in a cup big enough for the 8-week period.

You can get net cups from about 1 inch to 5 inches. Next year, I might get some smaller 2-inch net cups for seeds that I plan on starting for 2-4 weeks indoors. But certainly the 3-inch net pots were great for the tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers I started 8 weeks before transplanting.

My strategy this year was to attempt to start some plants in my house, and if I failed at seed starting, my backup plan was that I was just going to buy 6-packs of veggies at the stores. But fortunately, my seed starts took off and did well whereas the local stores had a very little variety of veggies to sell this year.

Here is a link to the YouTube video that gave me the idea of using net cups...

Very interesting and helpful! Thanks!! I might have to try that. I can’t do the shelves and grow lights and stuff though I don’t think. Also doesn’t the dirt fall out the sides or no?

 

[gtaus]

Very interesting and helpful! Thanks!! I might have to try that. I can’t do the shelves and grow lights and stuff though I don’t think. Also doesn’t the dirt fall out the sides or no?

If you don't use lights, then your seed starts will grow thin and leggy. At least that is what happened to me. Then the starts just died. So, if you can't set up some light system, then I am guessing your starts might not do well.

I tried to start plants in my south facing sliding deck window, but we don't get nearly enough daylight for the young plants to thrive. I needed to put my starts on a shelf under the lights before I ever had any success.

If you can't do shelves and lights, there might be a way to start plants, but I just don't know if it would be successful. I did not have any success until I really committed to the shelf and lights setup. But I live in northern Minnesota, so we don't have much daylight in the winter months. My starts needed those shop lights on about 12 hours per day.

The dirt will not fall out the slots in the net cups. And if you use good potting soil in the cups and bottom water them, the soil will soak up the water from the tray and feed the plants. Of course, I had my net cups in a 10X20 tray that held the water and later I used some storage bin covers that were stronger and held even more cups.

Although I built my starter shelf for free out of pallet wood and old shelving boards, I still ended up investing about $100 in lights, net cups, potting soil, a heater pad, and a timer. If I would have purchased all my starter plants at the nursery, I would have spent more than $100, so I consider my investment paid for itself in the first year alone. Other than buying new potting soil next year, I will be able to reuse everything else from this year.

Having said that, for many years, I just bought veggie 6-packs from the stores and transplanted them into my gardens. It's easy, and mostly it worked well for me. But this year our local stores did not have much of a variety of veggies in 6-packs and I was not willing to pay $5.00 per plant in the larger pots. So, it really worked out good for me that I started a lot of my own plants this year.

 

[Sammster]

It's been a crazy busy couple of days. But I did get some more carrots, beans and tomatoes harvested.
The carrots and the beans with the yellow asterisk were grown in my GreenStalk, vertical garden. I'm very happy with my GreenStalk.
The beans with the red asterisk are scarlet runner beans. They are beautiful on the cattle panel trellis - but I won't grow them, again. They develop their bean-seeds too quickly, and the pods have an unappealing, fuzzy texture.
Yellow wax beans are my favorite! But, the germination rate was not very good. Next year, I will start them in flats, first - to make sure I get enough

 

[MotherofOrpies]

I explained to DH about why I can't go on vaca with him fromafter April 1st, to the end of October. I have to take care of the plants, I have to process the veg, or I have to clean up the garden for the next year. He grumbled a bit until he saw how much work it all was, and how good it all tasted.

Not to mention how much $$ we saved and better we ate.

You are lucky, my hubby kind of hates plants and prefers buying veggies in a supermarket ( not that he really buys veggies at all, when I broke my big toe and couldn’t drive, I sent him shopping for veggies , and since he’s “the man” he couldn’t ask for them, so he came home with totally different veggies than I had sent him for ) always complains while I’m raising seedlings in the house and is relived when they go outside

 

[MotherofOrpies]

If you don't use lights, then your seed starts will grow thin and leggy. At least that is what happened to me. Then the starts just died. So, if you can't set up some light system, then I am guessing your starts might not do well.

I tried to start plants in my south facing sliding deck window, but we don't get nearly enough daylight for the young plants to thrive. I needed to put my starts on a shelf under the lights before I ever had any success.

If you can't do shelves and lights, there might be a way to start plants, but I just don't know if it would be successful. I did not have any success until I really committed to the shelf and lights setup. But I live in northern Minnesota, so we don't have much daylight in the winter months. My starts needed those shop lights on about 12 hours per day.

The dirt will not fall out the slots in the net cups. And if you use good potting soil in the cups and bottom water them, the soil will soak up the water from the tray and feed the plants. Of course, I had my net cups in a 10X20 tray that held the water and later I used some storage bin covers that were stronger and held even more cups.

Although I built my starter shelf for free out of pallet wood and old shelving boards, I still ended up investing about $100 in lights, net cups, potting soil, a heater pad, and a timer. If I would have purchased all my starter plants at the nursery, I would have spent more than $100, so I consider my investment paid for itself in the first year alone. Other than buying new potting soil next year, I will be able to reuse everything else from this year.

Having said that, for many years, I just bought veggie 6-packs from the stores and transplanted them into my gardens. It's easy, and mostly it worked well for me. But this year our local stores did not have much of a variety of veggies in 6-packs and I was not willing to pay $5.00 per plant in the larger pots. So, it really worked out good for me that I started a lot of my own plants this year.

I always put my seedling on trays, and when the sun is shining, carry them outside to get some sun and wind, and don’t forget to take them inside at night !

 

[MotherofOrpies]

A number of years ago I tried to start seeds in the house, but it was a lot of work and my sprouts ended up getting leggy and dying anyways. I was very disappointed. However, thanks to YouTube and members of this thread helping me, I tried again this past year and was very successful this time. Seems like knowing what does not work for me helped me find out what works.

This past winter I made a 4-level seed starter shelf out of scrap lumber and old shelving boards. On each level, I hung some LED shop lights I got on sale at Menards for just over $10 per shop light. I paid attention to the color balance and output lumens of the LED shop lights and they fell within the plant growing spectrum. The LED shop lights at $10 each were much cheaper than the $60 "grow lights" Menards was selling. Maybe those grow lights are better, but my cheap LED shop lights seemed to work just fine and none of my starts got leggy this time.

I think the biggest difference I made this time was using 3 inch hydroponic net cups instead of planting seeds in those starter pods or small plastic 6-pack veggie trays.

Here is a picture of the net cups I used...

View attachment 3607555

I bought a 50 pack of those 3-inch net pots on Amazon for about $15.00. You can get smaller, or larger, net cups but I found the 3-inch pots to be a good size for my tomato starts even all the way to 8 weeks without having to replant them in bigger pots. If you try net cups, get the "heavy duty" variety so they will last many years of reuse.

The big labor saver for me is that you just fill the cups with potting soil, plant the seed, water them in trays, and put them under the lights. The open slotted sides air prune the roots as the plant grows, thus preventing root bound transplants. You don't see any roots spiraling around inside the cup because when they hit air, they stop. As you can see, the open slots allow you to bottom water the cups. All I had to do was fill the tray up with water, maybe 1/4 inch off the bottom, and let the plants soak up whatever water they need for a day or two. Then, I just let the soil dry out for another day or two, then repeated the bottom water to start a new cycle. Very little babysitting of the plants is required, and if you thought seed starting took a lot of time before, you will not believe how easy it can be with net pots.

The only disadvantage I found was that a 3-inch net cup takes a lot more potting soil than say a veggie 6-pack tray. However, if you start things like tomatoes for 8 weeks growth before transplanting, then you might as well start them in a cup big enough for the 8-week period.

You can get net cups from about 1 inch to 5 inches. Next year, I might get some smaller 2-inch net cups for seeds that I plan on starting for 2-4 weeks indoors. But certainly the 3-inch net pots were great for the tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers I started 8 weeks before transplanting.

My strategy this year was to attempt to start some plants in my house, and if I failed at seed starting, my backup plan was that I was just going to buy 6-packs of veggies at the stores. But fortunately, my seed starts took off and did well whereas the local stores had a very little variety of veggies to sell this year.

Here is a link to the YouTube video that gave me the idea of using net cups...

You can save paper toilet rolls , cut them 4 times and fold them over to close 1 end, if you want, you can soak it in water and dry it for a day, then it stays closed and use them ( no need to remove them later, just plant the seedlings with the roll) or just roll a newspaper into a cylinder and put the seedlings in there

 

[gtaus]

I always put my seedling on trays, and when the sun is shining, carry them outside to get some sun and wind, and don’t forget to take them inside at night !

I live in northern Minnesota, zone 3b. When I started my seeds 8 weeks before our average last frost date, there was still 2 feet of snow on the ground and the outside daytime temperature can sit around 0F or -18C. I don't have the option to take the seeds outside during the day and bringing them in at night.

I don't normally put plants outside during the day until around mid-May. Maybe only for a few hours per day, depending on the temps. They get transplanted outside on Memorial Weekend, which is the end of May. In fact, where I live, we usually hold back transplanting the peppers until mid-June.

You can save paper toilet rolls , cut them 4 times and fold them over to close 1 end, if you want, you can soak it in water and dry it for a day, then it stays closed and use them ( no need to remove them later, just plant the seedlings with the roll) or just roll a newspaper into a cylinder and put the seedlings in there

I have tried that with paper toilet rolls, and if you are only going to grow the plant for a few weeks, it's probably OK. But I had to start my tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants 8 weeks before our transplant date. No way could you grow plants that long in paper toilet rolls. But it may work well for plants that only need a couple of weeks before transplanting. Location matters, and I'm sure someone in a warmer climate has other options.

I have also tried the newspapers rolled on a can to make paper pots. Again, great for short periods, but not so good for weeks and weeks. My newspaper pots got soaked and moldy. Probably my fault. But the net cups were much better to use, for me.

I'm all for saving money on my gardening hobby, but I did not have much success with the newspaper or paper toilet rolls. So, this year I invested in a seed starter shelf, LED lights, a heater mat, and those plastic net cups and finally, successfully, started plants in the house. Even with the up-front investment in all that equipment, I still saved money over buying all the plants at the store. Next year, all I have to buy is new potting soil.

 

[Sammster]

I explained to DH about why I can't go on vaca with him fromafter April 1st, to the end of October. I have to take care of the plants, I have to process the veg, or I have to clean up the garden for the next year. He grumbled a bit until he saw how much work it all was, and how good it all tasted.

Not to mention how much $$ we saved and better we ate.

Yup. I can relate! 100% this ^
Just add "I can't leave the chickens" ~ and we'd have the same story

 

[Sammster]

I love them raw when they are still tender. They are slightly sweet and a bit nutty. They are OK cooked, preferably in a stir fry. They mush up in liquid, so not good for soups. Once the beans start to develop well, the pod becomes too bitter for fresh eating. I've never eaten the dried beans, but you certainly could if you like. They are kidney bean sized. I grow them to nibble on in the garden, to fix nitrogen, to draw pollinators and hummingbirds, and to add vertical interest and shade.

Good to know! I grew these for the first (and last) time this year. Will not put them in soup. I think I'll stop picking them, altogether. I can't get past the fuzzy pods. I would consider them more of an ornamental. The flowers sure are pretty