Planted 85 pots of seeds

Yes, the Universe supports whatever we think. Like my dearest friend keeps using the expression "that's a pain in the @$$" whenever she doesn't like something. She's plagued with hemorhoids (sp?)!!! That's always been my best example. Be careful how you put things!

That's funny, LOL. I DO believe the Universe provides, and I also believe if you wish for something, what you get is wishing.

i try not to b negative....sometimes i think the wole world is that way . i also find people are sooo rude on the phone theese days.. had a couple of complaints for items mailordered and you practically have to kiss a** to get someone to b polite to you, i try being a nice person. it doesnt seem to help. well whinning doesnt help so i will garden instead. . everything i planted sprouted and is doing ok cept the maters are small compared to last year. no sun or heat im guessing.figure i probably need two grow lights per shelf for better light. i finaly set up the portable greenhouse outside past weekend. i had to put a portable heater in it with an auto thermostat b cuz its so cold out. still getting down in the 30s at night. so far so good. knock on wood.. i have off tomorrow too so i hope i will b able to do some outside planting.its 42 and cloudy & my arthritis is killing me!. i received 50 perrenials from jungs yesterday. mostly day lillies. some helibores, shooting stars, blue light clemitis. all perrenials.hope its warm enough to plant them. if its still too cold i will transplant my maters into bigger plants. am planning to use dixie cups. see ya seedies good luck! thanks noobie for the advise on the pics. i will try to send a pic or two of lasts years plants. kathy

I planted five more mater plants on the 13th. All but one of them have now sprouted and another eggplant sprouted!

I have given up on the pots that still have no signs of life. I planted on April 1st and it is now the 19th. I think they are pretty much not going to sprout. I am going to buy some peat pots (since the things I just planted in peat pots a few days ago have sprouted) and plant some of the seeds that I have left over.

I will also supplement with plants from the nursery once it is time to put things in the garden.

That's what I did, noobie. It pays to hedge your bets!

I have a tomato! It's almost 3/4 inch in diameter! I hope it matures. It's so sweet and little.

brigidlily...you have a mater?!! You must take a pik and share! You lucky angel you!!!

Let's just hope it stays on the plant, matures, doesn't get eaten by hornworms, etc.! But I should take a picture, you're right.

this is a picture of my dear dad who passed away in 04. he was my gardening mentor. he grew this in 02. he always mounded the soil added sheep poop and had sandy soil. he lived in central wisconsin. he always grew the best of everything. i miss him terrible, especially during gardening season. he always knew the answer to any question. xxoo daddy!
kathy

this ia a pic of what i did with my maters, peppers, onoins, & jalepenos,. i put up several jars of this chunky salsa. i bought a 5 burner stove just to b able to cook the salsa for my family. it makes great christmas gifts & tastes wonderful!

Kathy, you dad has the sweetest smile in that photo! I'm glad you have wonderful memories. I'll bet you think of him every time you're out in your garden, and it probably seems like you should be able to turn around and see him standing there smiling at you!

That salsa does look delicious. I put up different things each year too, and it's great to be able to get up a jar of something from the garden -- makes any meal seem special to me!

critter, i also inherited the hat my dads wearin. i wear it out side in the garden, i have his pocket knife too. i keep it in my pocket just to touch it. i truly feel he's with me. i lost my mom in 01. to lukemia. i planted a garden just 4 her. she loved the birds, butterflies & hummers. one of the last things she said was that she would miss the simple things in life like gardening & the birds. the garden keeps me goin and makes me feel closest to both of them! My mters look super this year so we will see what i make this year... when my dad was on restricted diet.. no salt. i made him spaghetti sauce, with lots of garlic oregano and basil. he loved it but oh so much work! best luck to us seedies... kathy

kathy, just looking at that picture, I love your dad for you. He's out there in the garden with you, no question.

And here's a picture of that little first mater --

Oh Brigidlily! What a beautiful picture! There's nothing as special as that first tomato of the year!

brigidilly you must have the perfect spot for those maters! what an awesome pic! mine just have started their third sets of leaves. i am envious! my dad had cut worms. he used to wrap small pieces of typing paper to the bottom of each plant to prevent the cutworms from eating it.worked well for him. i (knock on wood) dont have any cutworms here. i just have tons of japanese beatles yuck! i hate it when you see those articles that tell you to" hand pick" the beatles off the plant. i had them so bad there were thousands on my grapes and porcelin berry vine. they destroyed the vine in one day. this year i spread something organic called milky spore powder every 4 ft. . its suppose to kill them b 4 they hatch. i hope it works. it cost me $34.95! how . it has taken forever 4 my jalapenos to sprout. i gave up on the first batch & started another batch 2&1/2 weeks ago and am just seeing tiny sprouts now. its finally raining! yeah!!! i thought it would never come! after the snow on the 11th i didnt have my rain barrel out yet and i was watching all that snow melt off the roof, go down the gutter, and on the ground.finally rain in my rain barrel! i am having a nerve block on my neck at 10;15 today. hope it will help this heinous neck pain! happy growing!

Milky spore works on the grubs that are actively feeding. It gives them a belly ache and they die. It does take a while to establish. It is a living organism, Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacteria that is a spore former. It is a crystal in the spore that gives the grubs a belly ache when they eat the spores in the ground.

Mike

Do you still have to dig little holes for the milky spore every foot or two to apply it? I can remember helping my dad with that when I was a kid... what a pain! I'll have to look into it, though. I put down Grub-Ex (Imidacloprid, if I have the spelling right) last year, but I don't know if it or the weather resulted in fewer beetles. Just in case, I'm trying it again this year! They have a few favorite plants that I have to spray with Sevin -- I know that's a "big gun" sort of chemical, so I only get it out when I'm pretty sure plants would be defoliated and die otherwise.

kathy1955,
You need rain? Come to Houston!

I'm just keeping a close watch. Last year I had some hornworms (two of which ate FOURTEEN cayenne and chile peppers between them) but haven't seen any so far this year. Is it too late to put out the Bt? I have some and wish I had treated the soil before I planted. I nearly lost the squash to borers last year.

Edited to say it's raining here right now!

This message was edited Apr 25, 2007 10:35 AM

Hey Critterologist et al,
I've spent $$$$ on my first tomato operation ever, this year. I'm a newbie, learning from all you seasoned DGers. Trying to prepare for the next growing season and need some advice. Respond if you can.

I have to revamp my seed starting operation to be more cost efficient. I have a wooden, 5 shelf bookcase, and I rigged up some T8 flourescent lights to the undersides of the shelves. But, I think they are not strong enough for my maters. Spent $$ on them, but need to probably go with the regular old shop lights that everyone's getting for $8 at Lowe's?

As for seed starting medium, I'm not inclined to go with seed starter pellets again, either. I've started collecting 6 oz. plastic yogurt cups to start all my seedlings in. I'll drill holes in the bottoms, and continue with the Jiffy Mix or MG for Seedlings.

I've also been collecting the heavy duty aluminum restaurant pans delivery pans. I can sit the yogurt cups in these for bottom watering and as drip pans.

Once my maters sprout in the 6 oz. cups and get root bound, I'll up pot once to the 12 oz. styro cups, then harden off and plant out from these. These styros worked really well for me this go round.

Does this sound like I'm on the right track? Comments are truly appreciated.

This message was edited Apr 25, 2007 10:49 AM

There are Bt products out there that you can apply to plants for the worms. But milky spore can just be spread on the ground with a drop spreader. Your suppose to do that three times a year for two years, and just before a rain. The other Bt products are usually a dust, and have for be applied after each rain. Milky spore is the bacteria and a living product that reproduces itself. The BT dust is usually just the para-sporal crystal, not the bacterium. It is the crystal that does the damage to the worms. This is the part that has been introduced genetically to some modified field corn to cut down on the corn borers.

There's little difference between the T-8 fixtures and the "regular old shop lights" (T-12 fixtures) that you mentioned... in fact, I'm gradually switching over to the T-8's any time I get a new fixture for plants because they use a tad less electricity and to me they look maybe a bit brighter (although that may be more a color thing than a lumens output thing). You don't need the "sunlight" or grow bulbs for the T-8's, and in fact some folks (like my guru, Tom DeBaggio) seem to think that seedlings may prefer cool florescents.

I start in seedling trays with an inch or so of sterilized potting mix, then pot up in deep cell packs that are about the equivalent of 2 inch pots... So I'm thinking that if you start 6-8 weeks ahead as Carolyn suggests, you should be fine potting them into the yogurt cups when they start getting their true leaves and just leaving them there until it's time to plant out. When in doubt, I always advise people to stick with Carolyn's method! :-)

(See the resource sticky in the tomato forum for a link to Carolyn's techniques for starting tomatoes from seed.)

Thanks for LMK about using a drop spreader for the milky spore... sounds much less tedious!

I let a couple of cherry tomato volunteers go wild at the back of my perennial bed, and that's where I carry tomato hornworms... I used to squash them, until I found out they turn into the lovely sphinx moth! OK, if I am truly overrun with them, I confess that I may still squash a few... but mostly I try to move them to "their" tomatoes.

I squashed one of the ones that ate all the peppers and what came out nearly blistered my skin. I guess that's the pepper they'd eaten. Ouch. Live and learn.

(Rule number 1,327: Do not squash hornworms that have been eating peppers.)

hey gymgirl, did you do a raindance for me? filled up my rain barrel today!! i am soo happy it finally rained. everything looks so good after a good soak. have i seen you on the vermicomposting thread? how are the worms doin?
i too made my own growing rack for my maters. i used a plastic display shelf from the grocery store. they were throwing it out. it has 4 shelves. i wired 24" grow lights 2 on each (one was not enough) shelf. got the lights on sale at menards for $6.99. for the top shelf i used an antique floor lamp & switched the bulb to a grow light. i started all plants in jiffy 48 pack starter kits. i used jiffy potting mix with a little extra vermiculite. i wet it first. i had great luck with this method. i transplant them using dixie cups, when i think theyre big enough. i then ,as soon as it gets sunny enough and reasonably warm enough bring them out to my portable greenhouse. i believe, since i have no sun in my house, that the greenhouse is the key. i purchased it for around $60.00 at menards at the end of the season 2 years ago. it stores well and i put a small electric heater in it for cool evenings. it gets full sun. everything in it is doing great!. sounds like your method is right on track.! best of luck kathy

Critterologist,
So I'm ok with my T-8s? Ok. But they cost $$. Where're you getting yours? I believe mine came up to around $38/per at Lowes. I only used one per shelf. I definitely need two side-by-side.

Yikes! I think I'm getting mine at Lowe's too (might be HD, but I think it was Lowe's)... the double tube 48" shop lights cost a little more than their T-12 equivalents, but I think they were more like $12, not $38! Unless maybe you're getting the 4-tube fixtures (I just picked up some of those for my new shop area in the making... splurged on the one with the betters lens for about $60 for a 4 tube, 18" x 48" fixture).

Two 48" cool florescent tubes will provide enough light for 2 flats of seedings. I cram 4 flats on a shelf (with a little overhang on the sides) with little/no help from window light, so I use two double fixtures per shelf.

Mine are only 24" long!

So two double fixtures is actually 4 tubes per shelf?

Yes, two double fixtures gives you four 48" tubes per shelf. I have heard that the 24" fixtures are lots more expensive, probably because they're less commonly used.

Two 24" cool florescent tubes is only enough light for one 10x20" nursery flat of seedlings, and remember that you want to position the lights as close to the top leaves as possible (within an inch or two is ideal).

Critt,
Let me know what you end up doing. Looks like you're out shopping!

? sorry, I'm not sure what you're asking about... I'm not buying more lights at present... I did just move a couple of lights from an upstairs plant stand (recently stripped of most of its african violet plantlets due to possible mite infestation) to downstairs, so now I have one extra light shelf that I've already half-filled with hellebore seed pots...