Planning for Spring, 2013

hrp50,
I will start my peppers and eggplant seeds next Friday, January 11h.
Planting out date will be at the beginning of April or late March. depending when our last freeze will be this year.
Last year I had the perfect pepper's season.
In our Zone 8 - If you transplant your pepper plants out too early ... and if we will get a cold front, the pepper and eggplant plants will just get into shock and perform poorly for the rest of the year.

hrp--I do start the peppers & tomatoes at the same time.

I started my peppers with my tomatoes. The peppers take so much longer, but they'll put on steady and even growth inside in the warm room. Target for the peppers is early April.

Pulled out the eggplants to start soon, too.

It is still too soon for me to start tomatoes & peppers, but I am working on my spaces. This is my Christmas light setup ! I think it will make enough bottom heat through the glass shelves (the stand is a re-purposed bathroom stand) and I have one heat mat to use also. When they sprout I will put 24" fluorescent lights onder each shelf. Last year I started seeds in my greenhouse, but the winter winds have nearly torn the plastic off it, and I don't feel safe putting the seeds out there.

Jo,
You could put a shower curtain around that shelf, and you'd have yourself an Indoor greenhouse!

Linda, LOL- I could, but I put a fan on it when the seedlings start sprouting- it should give me all the tomato & pepper plants I can use in my little back yard garden. I always end up giving away dozens of excess plants- gotta cut back someday!

I just received my two-tier seed starting cabinet, with the lights. Now I have to put it together. Wish me luck! Also got a "Cultivator/Rototiller" and it arrived same day! Is this is SIGN?

jomoncon, is it a Black & Decker 18v ? Ihave that- it is great for small places-

I got one of those that attaches to your weed eater, this one:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_91536-65481-GC720_0__?productId=3665804&cm_mmc=SCE_gps-_-gps-_-gps-_-3665804&CAWELAID=1375880637

I didn't even see the the B&D ones. I may go take a look at it & exchange mine.
Jo-Ann

http://www.blackanddecker.com/outdoor/GC818.aspx
Be sure to see the video tour- it shows how it operates.This is mine- I love it because it does not rotate-just oscillates back & forth, so it doesn't tear up roots in a small space. I also have the string trimmer, blower, & hedge trimmer- they all use the same battery, and I have 5 chargers and lots of batteries. The tools run a long time on a charge. They are ideal for women because they are small and lightweight. Do I sound like I am an employee???!!! When I find something that really works, I like to tell everyone. Gardening can be so much pleasure when one has good tools.

OK, 3.5 hours later, Hubby and I have put the "2 Tier Compact SunLite Garden" together! We're exhausted. And, I am extremely mechanically-inclined, so it didn't go willingly! LOL!
But, the thing looks really good, and according to Mother Earth News (and you should REALLY go to their website or get December/January Issue-fantastic article on starting seeds), you HAVE to give the seedlings plenty of light.
So, I am redeemed - and good thing, so now Hubby has a BIG FAVOR owed to him for all of his cussin' and fussin' and working on a Saturday...
Not to mention the cost. But, I have to say, I really would buy everything that my kit contains, from the cow pots, to the organic seed starting mix, to the special fluorescent lights...really a nice kit.
If you're curious, go to Gardener's Supply, and drool away. I even bought an innovative coldframe from them. Got my landscaping done (finally), so now I can turn my attention to my vegetable garden.

Where are the pics, Gracye?

yeah, I wanna see photos!

I just checked and I see at least one green seedling top through the plastic. Too late to start unwrapping trays. Tomorrow they'll get shoved under the lights.

Five out of nine trays have popped and are under lights, right on schedule, six days from sowing...

Has anyone ever made and used soil blocks for seed starts?

I have had excellent luck with the Biodome from Parks seeds. The little sponges that go in them hold water well, and I can water from the bottom. I have a light, a small fan that has a heat button on it, and a seed heat mat. It sits in my laundry room, and the light and fan are on timers. I've been using the Biodome for about 6 years now, and just buy the little replacement sponges each year. I have had a rabbit infiltrating my garden, and he got almost all my fall stuff before I could figure out where he was getting in. But I found it, and fixed it, so hopefully my next round of stuff won't fall victim to him. I added mushroom compost and some peat to my beds this weekend, and I will put out my sugar snaps next week. My fennel and parsley are coming back from the rabbit attack, and I planted some thyme in my hanging baskets.

Seeds for this year:
Cucumbers - Cucina (small and very flavorful)
Eggplant- Little Fingers and Amadeo
Okra- Jambalaya (dwarf variety)
Spaghetti squash- Small Wonder
Zucchini- Eight Ball
Pepper- California Wonder and Thai Hot
Tomatoes- Nugget (small orange), Hillbilly, Mule Team, Texas Star, Atkinson, and Bonnie Best
Asparagus Bean- red seeded

I did some cleanup this weekend and got most of the pavers in at the new garden gate -- I ran short by a few. There are still a lot of weeds out there in the landscape beds and around the apple trees, but I'm calling it living mulch for now. It's looking ready for spring, which despite the 25F temperature this morning is just around the corner. I need a few more pavers and to get out there and extend the irrigation system into the new beds, but I waiting for a warm day since that's so hard on the hands.

Also, I have a guy coming to work on the drainage whenever it gets dry enough out there. (It's been a soggy month.) If the up-slope stuff works and corrects the down-slope erosion, I will have another huge area to landscape with perennial edibles. If not... I will have to figure out the next drainage correction project.

My sister gave me a gift card mandating I use it to only to grow things she can eat, hah! So I ordered from Baker Creek:

Cherokee Purple Tomato
Poona Kheera cukes
Arumugam and Louisiana long green eggplants
Melrose: an Italian sweet pepper
Tatume zuke for fried blossoms
Zeebest okra
Mrs. Aquillard's cushaw - I've never grown cushaw, but we'll see!

and here's a tomato I started in the Aerogarden just a few weeks ago, I'm going to try to keep it under the cold frame out front and see what happens.

This message was edited Jan 7, 2013 1:26 PM

Nola,
There've been discussions here on rooting/growing plants in water vs. In soil. Seems they grow a different set of roots for each medium, and going from a water to soil environment delays the development, or something to that effect.

Check it out.

I'm planting seeds tomorrow!!

Dixondale sent my onions today! Wish I were home, whine, I'd hide in the garden and pretend I wasn't hurting from the wisdom tooth removal today, soon, soon... :) got new pix of the great grandson and his dad this week before he went back to the boys mom. He's helping his grandpa with a screwdriver fixing the pickup...and playing basketball with his uncle... he's only 1 and a half years old. Looks good guys, love the pictures...

Get well, soon, Kittriana. Will pray for fast healing!

Thanx, one day makes a world of difference, sigh. Plant for me, chuckle, I know the angels are here with us.

Dixondale sent my onions on Monday - so I'm anxiously awaiting my first try at onions. I have the raised bed all prepared with the rows marked & the fertilizer strips in. I'm going to try the organic route in my garden this year, so I used a complete organic fertilizer with extra bone meal. I got some Seacide Insecticide/Fungicide as recommended by Dixondale.

Now, if only the weather would cooperate. It's been rainy for the past 4 days & I'm tired of all the gloom.

I got the largest onions when I scattered blood meal along the rows.

The blood meal was meant to discourage voles. It didn't get rid of the voles, but it sure did make those onions grow!

My potatoes arrived a couple of days ago and I picked up a pound or so of Lasota Reds at the feed store yesterday. They had onions, too, but I had already ordered so didn't get any. Mark did see a temporary greenhouse structure that piqued his interest, though.

Purple Majesty and Yukon Golds
Purple Majesty already with sprouts!
Quality control

This thread is REVVING up!

Steph,
That's a good looking batch of bags there for your onion planting soil!

I'm going with MG potting mix and Organic Compost in a 1:1 ratio in my patented Earthboxes, with a huge amount of BONE meal (phosphorous) in the planting trench to promote good root development.

Once the transplants take, I'll switch over to the Ammonium Sulfate (Nitrogen) every 3 weeks, per the Dixondale recommendation, to promote good leaf development.

As of yesterday, I have 72 total seedlings under fluorescent lights. I'll divide them out after they get their first set of true leaves. I still have 48 cells that have not popped yet, and I'm in trouble if they do, cause I sowed 2 seeds into each cell. That's an ~ addition of 96 more seedlings, for a total of 168.

Oh, well....

OH, NO! I haven't even sowed the bells and the eggplants yet!!!!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggghhhhhhhhh!!!!

It might be time for a STARTING your spring gardens thread for you guys in the warmer locations.

I'm still hibernating, waiting for the sun to come back.

Same here Nichole. Lol

We've had no sun for the past 2 days and lots of rain! We've gotten 3.75" of the glorious wet stuff so far!

Today I started the following tomato seeds in my roaster oven:

Beefsteak
Homestead 24
Lg. Red Cherry
Pantano Romanesco
Rutgers

I started them in 6oz. yogurt cups. I have 6 cups for ea. variety, 2 seeds per cup, except for the Rutgers. I only started 3 cups of those because of the space in my roaster. I can fit 27 cups on my roaster oven, 15 on the bottom and 12 on the rack forming 2 layers.

I used LadyBug brand's seed starting mix, The Germinator. To that I added 1 handful each: cornmeal, lava sand, green sand and a bit of a gentle fertilizer. I watered them with warm water and popped 'em in the oven.

I like that name: "The Germinator". When you sow into it, do the seeds put on an Austrian ac cent and say "I'll be back!"

Steph!

"Today I started the following tomato seeds in my roaster oven"

That sounds soooooooooo funny!!! Sorta like, "you had to be there..." to understand it!

LOL!!

Steph,
I think that is soooooooooooooooooooo totally KEWL! I can't wait to see how it works!

Question: Do you add a bit water to the bottom of the roaster so it doesn't burn up? I imagine the foil will just warm up under those cups on the bottom, yes? Just wondering.

And, I called my neighbor across the street to see if she has an turkey roaster, cause if your experiment works, I'm gonna start my bell pepper seeds in one!

Hugs!

I am sooooooooooooooo excited about your experiment!

This message was edited Jan 10, 2013 5:29 PM

LOL Rick! I hope they're saying, "I'll sprout soon!"


Linda...you're so funny!

I'm EXCITED!!!

I find that I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, garden experiments and challenges, which is why I end up with so many tomato seedlings.

And, before it's over, I WILL grow edible, nip-free, spinach in Houston, Texas!!!

Another gardening website recently had a recipe for "Micro-Greens Pie".

Start with a pie pan, 2" of soilless mix and lots of seeds for edible greens.

Then they sprinkled vermiculite to PREVENT a crust from forming.
What's with that, a no-crust pie??

I saw that Rick!