Lights * Camera * Action!!!

It started simply..... I want to start my own plants and save a bit of money this year.

I purchased plugs which had already been started for me, inexpensive enough. 512 of them for about $50.

Then I had to get the trays and inserts. A friend lent some to me. (seems she is not doing as much this year) Then shelves to put them on & oh yeah...lights. 12 double fluorescent shop light fixtures. And bulbs.....which ones should I get? I log onto DG and read up, not really clear. It seems the cool ones are ok. But I buy full spectrum perhaps they are $5 a case more but perhaps a tad better. Then well...in for a penny...I decide to start seeds as well. I read the backs of the packs and seems to be straight forward.

But now what? I put them into the pots, watered them. Stuck them under lights. Is that it? Do I have to put warming mats under them? Will the lights be enough?

I am going to post pictures of this new obsession. I can guarantee you...I saved no money this year!!!!

I wouldn't use heat mats (unless you're growing them in an unheated greenhouse or a cold garage or something). I use heat mats to start seeds but as soon as they germinate I take away the heat, otherwise it makes them leggier. But if you're growing them in a cold location then the heat mats could be beneficial.

I assume that you had to get 512 of the same plant? So what did you get?

It's a good thing we like starting and germinating our own seeds, cause we sure could buy them cheaper probably. But then we wouldn't get excited every time we saw and new little green thing popping up!!

well, I spilt trays of 512 plugs between four of us....

1) petunias - double red & white ruffled things
2) impatience - mixed
3) lobelia - blue, not sure if they are trailing or upright, so far they look upright
4) verbena - mixed

So in the end I got 512 total...125 each or so

Then I started from
seed:
white swan echinacea
swiss chard - northern lights
baby's breath
lavender
sunflowers - mixed colors 4' tall
tubers:
Caladium
Liatris




This message was edited Mar 27, 2008 1:44 PM

Here is some more pics....

Verbena

I have two shelving units full now. I bought a set from Menards that is actually one of those portable greenhouses. It was on the clearance rack for $55.

I swear one should offer a course of premarital councelling and all you do is put together one of these kits......it is a good life lesson in patience!!!!

As you can see, I have more room. I could add more items but was lost about what to do. I have some seed I collected from Cleome last fall and something called cypress vine. What are some other flowers for shade I could start from seed?

You can cut that verbena back and it will branch out fuller. Try it with one and within a week you will see more growth coming out where you cut it back.
Your setup looks nice!

tigerlily123: I was wondering about cutting back the the verbena. Thanks!

Well, I have never tried anything like this before so I am not sure about some of this....

How long do I leave the lights on. So far it has been 24/7. Should it have down time?

Some plants withint he same trays seem to dry out whilst others are soaking wet? And...should I water from the top or the bottom?

What r the differences between the plastic trays and the fiber pots/trays? (other than the obvious) Are there advantages/disadvantages?

Here is a picture of one of my pots from last year, I am starting the bulbs/tuber? from that caladiam.

I know I have tons of questions but one more....

I saved the sweet potatoe from my sweet potatoe vine last year.....what should I do to make it grow? Is it like a potato where you can just cut it up and plant it?

Thanks!!!

(here is the sweet potato vine from last year)

Looks like lots of fun!

You can actually suspend the sweet potato above water (did you ever do that with an avacado when you were younger?) or pot it up. Then you snip off the sprouts as they go and root them in dirt or water, like you would any other cutting.

Would I use rooting compound?

So it is not like a potato that you cut up with eyes on each section and plant? But you let it start to grow and cut off the sprouts and root them?

Rooting hormone is not necessary. They root easily. They'll root in a glass of water.

I don't honestly know about cutting them up. Sweet potatoes are different than potatoes in that you want to plant the sprouts instead of the potato. Maybe someone else will answer that one.

Here is a whole thread by HollyAnn. on the Sweet potatoe vine. Have fun

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/694728/

I have the sweet potato figured out now. Anyone on how long the lights should be on?

lights on 16 hours, off 8 hours.

Thanks.....

My plants seem to be fairing ok. They dry out so fast, well at least the ones in the fiber pots do.

Doveby, I started the same way, by saving all that money, and now I realize I could have ordered anything and everything I wanted out of the Wayside Gardens catalog and have been money ahead. LOL! But it wouldn't have been as much fun, and entertainment costs money.

Your setup is beautiful and so CLEAN! Did you sweep up all the potting soil from filling those flats?

When you bought the split order, were they rooted cuttings? Or did you root them? I just wondered what they looked like when you received them because I've never seen what they look like, though a lot of people on here buy them.

All your little plants, but especially the Verbena & Impatiens, will root again. When you pinch them back, you can root the pinchings, just like the place you bought them from does. Chances are only 1/2 of them will live, but if you want more Verbena & Impatiens, just in case 125 isn't enough, you could have it :))

I use Rootone on everything because I don't trust things to root without it and an envelope of it is only a couple dollars. I hate fiber pots and peat pots, and peat pellets, but as soon as I post this, a couple people will chime in that they LOVE peat pots and peat pellets. I think they hold moisture funny -- as in bad funny, either too dry or too wet, but I am having trouble finding a good seedling medium this year, so I should not be one to take advice from!

Some things that would be good in the shade are annuals: Coleus, Balsam impatiens, and Browallia, and perennials: Hosta, Heuchera, Bergenia. There are actually a fair number of shade plants, I just can't think of anything else. The tall Lobelia, Lobelia cardinalis, likes a fair amount of shade. I guess it depends on how much shade you're talking about. It's too late for Primula, pansies and Violas, those are better started in lateJuly-Aug in our area because juuuuust when they start getting to go, the heat rolls in and stops them in their tracks until the nights cool off.

Congrats on your great set up! It looks a hundred times better than mine. Can you go back to Menard's and see if they have some sunshine? That's what we need most! I want to get out of the basement and into the sunshine outside, and so do my seedlings!

Suzy

Illoquin: Thanks for the encouragement. I, like you, can not wait to get outside. I was out there yesterday cleaning a bit of this and that but it is still just too wet.

The plugs I bought were from www.hpsseed.com I have no idea if they were cuttings or seed started but they were about the size of my baby finger and had good healthy roots in soil. They are started in trays of 512 the same size overall as any tray that fits into those plastic tray bottoms. They came packaged very well via mail. I just took them and transfered them into Miracle Grow moisture control potting mix that I put into trays of 50.

The geraniums are zonals and I bought the plugs of them from a local company. They were in 288 trays, well rooted. I transferred them into trays of 15. I have 30 overall of them. The rest I have started from seed.

I never started anything in the house or from seed before (well except black eyed Susan vine I just threw into apot last spring). So this is interesting.

I am a bit OCD so yes, I sweep, and mop everyday. Insane. I know it. But it is that same OCD that has me growing all this stuff. Planting all this seed fro the first time! And planting huge gardens. In for a penny......

I currently grow gardens of ferns (about 50) , hosta aprox 350?), huerchra (30) and other shade lovers like columbine, dicentra and anything I can find. I do not have a ton of sun areas but where I do it gets real hot.

Here is a picture from one of last years gardens......at the beginning of the year...it has more plants now!!!