I keep my seeds in the bar fridge! And I am asking for another bar fridge for my office as a Christmas present - you know, for important things like lunches - and pre-chilling seeds I will start inside.
CLOSED: Fall Frenzy Piggy Swap # 8
Hey everyone. I've not been around much of late as I've just been crazy busy with what seems like a million other projects. I hate when life gets in the way of my seeds/planting.
:-P
I've got to tell you a cool story though that really isn't OT since you guys have already been discussing seed starting. My furnace broke, which of course is NOT a good thing, but there was a silver lining to that little piece of bad luck. Some of you have seen my set-up in the basement with all the plants I'm overwintering down there. I call my furnace room the "coleus room" and the repair dude had to manoeuvre around 2 sets of shelves to get my heat back on. Of course there was a lot of jokes and comments about what I was growing, etc, and he asked if I used grow lights over the plants. I told him no - that they are too expensive and I've found that regular shop lights will do an adequate job.
Well don't ya know that somewhere along the line he had bought some shop lights at a garage sale and when he plugged them in he discovered that they gave off a "funny light." Upon closer inspection he realized they were plant bulbs and he replaced them all. The sweet part is that he never tossed out the originals which are now in my basement waiting to give my seedlings their first blast of sunshine this spring. Since I have never used regular grow lights I'm anxious to see if the results are any different than what I've always had with regular flourescent bulbs.
Regarding seed storage I do keep mine in the fridge. I try to keep them bagged by germination method and plant type ie "winter sow," "annuals," "perennials," etc. Then the bags get shoved into Pringles cans and stuck on the back of the shelf in the fridge. The Pringle cans work beautifully since they are tall and skinny and don't take up a lot of shelf space needed for less important things like food.
klstuart, That's a nice plantstand you have there! I'm wondering how that kitty is going to like them lol I bet she gets on that top shelf and claims it for her own LOL I have two in the house and that's where they want to be in the highest spot in the house, let us know later after you get your seeds going how she does and I'm sure you will :)
Welcome Trishann! I have your seeds all packed up and you are fitting right in at our trough LOL Oink Oink :)
You all are just chatting away and I'm getting lost again lol I can't keep up with you LOL
artemiss, I'm Oinking for some of your goodies in my trough, Oink Oink! Those sound soo delicious!
I need to update my list, I think I have fallen behind, everytime I think I'm caught up a little piggy is oinking lol Got to keep you piggies happy :)
OMG! Lala do you have enough on those shelves! Wow. Pretty :) I was wondering, do plants that don't care for hot direct sun like Angel Wing Begonias like to be under full artificial light? I see you have some there, but they're in front of the shelves. Is that due to space or preference of the plant. I have a little rooted cutting that I'm nursing along. Also, I wonder if my Bougainvillea would like it better under the lights or in the southern facing window... so much to learn!
Critter, ok, read some more articles, and now you've got me wanting to buy watersorb in bulk! I've used it in my pots before, but it is so expensive in the stores that I'm stingy about its use. Is there a typical time that someone might do a coop for it?
LeBug, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the rascal will be put off by the wire shelving. Gets up on my kitchen table and over to the solid plastic shelves all the time, eating stuff he shouldn't.
I have two cats, Freckles is in the photo checking out the shelves and is young and rascally, Fluffernutter is older and not much trouble... as you can see in this rather odd photo ;-) (She's not really quite this strange looking!)
The gal who has done co-ops for it in the past has been having increasing back problems, I think... The co-op prices have been a little better than buying in bulk, but if you bought 10 pounds rather than just 2 from watersorb.com I think you'd get a great deal (even 2 pounds from them is far cheaper than buying those 12 oz jars at the store). I've never ordered through the co-op, since I bought 50 pounds once and split it / shared it with a bunch of folks.
I use the "better" plant lights for my African violets and for anything else that's under lights long-term. The cheaper cool bulbs are fine for seedlings -- in fact, I think DeBaggio said they're a better choice for seed starting.
Kelly the begonias are in that spot by chance not design. There is a "back row" of them too as I was just plain out of space. That room is also much cooler (55-60°) than the coleus room but so far no one is complaining. Of course there is a looooong way to go until I can get them out to the GH in April so there is no chicken counting going on yet.
Critter I saw you post earlier that you might be able to sort your Torenia fournieri
by color this year. If you did I would love a pack of each. If you didn't I'm good to go as Michaela is sending me a pack (but I believe hers is mixed too.) I didn't have any luck at all catching mine at seed. I don't know if my timing was wrong or if they just weren't there. I've recently seen a picture of a yellow wishbone flower so I am now on a quest to find those too. Good shade bloomers with lots of color are not too plentiful!
WaHooo La, you really lucked out on those plant lights! I myself like those better, I have the shop lights and can really tell a difference with the pants once they are up and going, the first year I had my lights I had all plantlights and my plants did just wonderful, I used them the following year again then replaced them with the shop lights and didn't care for my germination or how the plants grew, couldn't put my finger on it but I kept using the shop lights for the next year and now I use the shop lights for when I germinate then go to the plant lights for when they are growing, this is just my opinion and what I feel comfortable with but the plant lights are so expensive that just this year I will have enough for five plantstands downstairs to go back for just growing out the plants after germination but I have bought plant lights off and on all summer to have enough and still not sure I have enough for all of the shelves, I'll find out here pretty soon when I go down there to start cleaning and putting everything together, man what a job :)
La, now I'm going to start having to eat a lot of Pringles to go with my cheese (boxes) lol That sounds like a great idea and they don't take that much room in the back of the fridge, thanks for that suggestion! Such a great container to store in!
Critter, I think the shop lights don't put off as much heat maybe that's why the seeds germinate better with those and I think they do :) I've been growing under lights for at least five years now maybe a little more I've lost track lol
Those water crystals sure go a long way, I ordered some in a coop about two years ago this will be my third year with them I think and I still have plenty and just love them for water loving plants in dry places and I have a lot of dry places lol I'm not very good with them in pots though lol
klstuart, This is my first year ever having cats in the house and from what I can see I don't think they are 'put off' by anything lol They are little demons and like to climb period, these of mine are driving me nuts trying to train them on where they can go and where they can't. I have a web tray on a table and that's where in the winter that I water all of my seed trays before I plant them and that's the spot where both of them sleep in the web tray together lol I started putting another web tray on my window seats to try and scoot them over there for when I start my seeds and took the web tray off of the table and they still sleep there and from experience with them this summer they just crawled on top of my seed trays on top of the dirt so I'm starting to get worried about what they are going to do when I do get all of this started here pretty soon lol Love your kitties wish I could send a picture :)
What is the difference (besides price) between the regular lights and the plant lights? I got "daylight" t8 bulbs, it says 2700 lumens. They are 32 watt, but I was told that they are actually brighter than the 40 watt t12 bulbs?
Lala, so far I'm just working my way through the older Torenia seeds, which are mostly mixed. I'll see how far I can get by the deadline! The seeds on these are teeny teeny (dustlike) and are pale in color (ivory or light tan on mine)... the only way I was pretty sure they were seeds the first time I saw them is because they are uniformly round and slightly gritty/hard between your fingers. Take some of the dried "blooms" and rub them around on a dark colored plate, and let me know what you find. :-)
A DG buddy recently dropped off several sets of shop lights she was no longer using... woohooo!
Thank you all for the warm welcome!!! I will be adding my list of seeds tonight.
Ella, Thank you for letting me join in on the fun!!!
Trishann
Speaking of Cats.... does anyone need a cute lil kitty to love?
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=5848989
I can't due to a dog that is king of his domain plus i have allergies.
KL, that's a difference in the bulb type -- T8's are more energy efficient. I'll gradually replace my T-12s and only buy new T-8 fixtures (but couldn't turn down the free ones, LOL).
"Plant lights" actually operate in a different spectrum (color) than "regular" cool fl. lights.
Critter they're gone now, but I examined them pretty closely before they went into the compost pile. I knew what I was looking for (I got seeds from you last year) and I think I netted something like 12 seeds total from both containers. LOL.
Aw tcs, that kitty is so sweet, I don't need to look that's how I ended up with three kitties this year lol There were two momma cats and a total of 12 kittens I think? The momma cat of mine adopted me soon as these people moved here then she and another one that the new people had ended up having all of these kittens. They ended up going to the shelter cause we couldn't find a home for them and I still worry about the ones that went if I could have I would have kept all of them! I cried for a few days after that! I myself have no business having three cats and a dog but what can a person do :)
Take that kitty to the cabin with you and she will keep the voles and mice at bay, I have little presents on my front door step and in front of the garage all of the time from the momma cat, now that's a good thing :) That should be a great place for her to run around plenty of space! Not so sure what you would do about her getting cold though she's awful small, that's why mine are in the house right now next year they will probably be outside to fend for themselves. That's what I'm saying right now anyway lol
I appreciate Terese spreading the word, but I don't want to derail this thread... please post chat about Kitty on his/her thread (link above). Thanks! I know Terese would give Kitty a home if she weren't so allergic. :-)
Regarding florescent lighting for plants - instead of "plant grow" lights which are horrendously expensive because they offer the full spectrum of light wave, you can just use one "cool" florescent light and one "warm" florescent light for the same effect at a significant savings. ^_^
Will get us another thread later this evening. Just wante dya to know, went to mail box just now and wondred what in the world was the big envies stuffed in my mailbox. Lol Had a senior moment.
received Maxines and Mamawk seeds today. : )
Oh little piggies. Just wait til ya see. heheheheheheh
I sent mine today, so I presume you will receive them sometime next week, starlight. BTW, I sent the seeds to the address listed in the address exchange - that was correct thing to do, I hope.
A little humor for today: I was out doing some christmas shopping and saw a bunch of Salvia greggii "wild things" in the flower beds at the strip mall. I was so excited to see ripened calyx's on them so proceeded to take them off the bushes as happy shoppers drove by. I acted like it was all in a day's work, (although dressed in office attire, certainly not landscaper attire) but sure didn't look up at anyone driving by! After I helped myself to those, I drove around the parking lot until I found some more and saw a real jackpot! I'm sure I will have enough seeds for all of those that have already spoken for them. I feel better about that. Anyway, thought y'all would enjoy laughing with me at myself! It's funny how seed snatchin' can just make a person's day! BTW - enjoying a lovely 75 degrees, so wasn't shivering as I was snatchin!
Tonya
Hooray! That's fun. And it reminds me... I think I still have some red & yellow Gaillardia seeds in my purse pocket that didn't make it onto my list.
I need to run to WalMart for more little seed baggies from the craft dept... Meanwhile, I'm printing some more labels.
Starlight or anyone...........when are we to have seeds to you (Starlight)? I was rereading instructions and either am overlooking the date or I'm just not seeing it. I thought I had read Dec 15? Wanted to ask.
from the guidelines:
"the swap will run until December 15, with all seeds due in by December 20. "
Yep, the swap doesn't close until the 15th, and some folsk there stuff may get here a few later the 20th.
Cheles. we hae some folks havign surgery and such and wil be goign away for holidays and so they get there's in earlier. Don't panic. we not done oinking away yet.
LOl.. What i think is fun is when ya get a seed pod, stuft it in your pants pocket and the darn thing opens with a gazzillion teeny tiny seeds. Then ya gotta figure out how to get your pants off and get them out of yoru pocket without losing them.
I will probably be sending mine in early next week too.
I do know there are some of the storm survivors that we have not heard from... but most of the remaining seeds i have are common [BES, Cosmos, Mex Hats, etc] I will be sending most if not all to Star anyways.
and heavens knows... i certainly dont need anymore seeds.... i already have too many.
OH ... i forgot to add.... GREAT SCORE Tonya!!
Got the new thread made!
here we go a waddling. Lol
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/929816/