My indoor seed starting diary

Stepheninky · January 2, 2011

I have bought one of those three shelf mini greenhouses to get a head start on planting out seeds. I will be adding lights and building it all out in the next day or two. (I will try and provide some pics along the way) The plan will be to use it indoors in till it warms up and then transfer it outside.

Here is a stock pic of it for now

So one of the things I was needing is seed starting trays, with shipping etc they were kinda expensive to be honest online, So I went around my town to the box stores . Everywhere I went they told me at the big box stores that they will not have them till march. The guy working at Lowe's explained to me that they actually send them back to the vender for credit in the winter months.

So I wondered around one of the big box stores doing some other shopping and came across something that I think will work and that was fairly economical. Those little white plastic cups like used in a dentist office. We always called the paper ones Dixie Cups and these were called bathroom cups. Anyways at 100 for 1.50 thought that was pretty good. They are 3 oz white plastic cups. So I will poke a hole in the bottom for drainage and probably use those to start my seeds.

lemurian · January 2, 2011

The Dixie cup idea is very clever!! And economical! I recycle old purchased seedling containers and water/soda bottles (the tops of which I've already cut off for use in my garden). Those little mini-greenhouses are great, you will love it

I have huge South windows with nice sills, but my plants have done so much better under the grow lights, and I can grow so many more that way. Good luck to you!

One other thing, the seed starting kits (with the tray, dome and everything) were $3.50 a piece last year at Dollar General.

OneoftheEarls · January 2, 2011

Another great thing are the takeout trays...black with a raised clear plastic cover....or cover the cups with plastic as a greenhouse...but only until they pop...plastic breakfast bowls are great too...and foam egg cartons too

More photos on request

kath · January 2, 2011

Sometimes the local garden centers, Agways, etc. keep seed starting materials out all year long, and they will definitely have a good supply out by Feb. at least.
Tried the little paper cups once but they didn't hold up too well being wet all the time. Make sure you pack them close together in whatever container you will use to hold them.
Shouldn't be long before they'll be big enough for their first transplanting anyway.
Good luck with your new greenhouse; I envy your early planting date!

OneoftheEarls · January 2, 2011

kath · January 2, 2011

Earl, don't tell me those photos are some of your 2011 seedlings!?

OneoftheEarls · January 2, 2011

nahhhhhhhhh...BUT this thaw has me thinking of planting the dwarves out already

That and these photos...lol

Stepheninky · January 2, 2011

Yea I think those little cups will work well for me. Hopefully I will not need the humidity domes. I have tried growing indoors this winter and had humidity issues so hoping the mini greenhouse with some assistance from my Humidifier will get things off to a good start. One of the things I like about the little cups is that I can write on them with a sharpie so I will not have to worry about tags getting mixed up or left off etc...

I also got some of the solid red with white lining 18 oz party cups that I can transplant up to later on.

I might do a test of a new to me tomato starting method that I recently saw on youtube. They used peat pots, but since I dislike peat pots I am going to use the 18 oz cups.

Basically you place a couple of inches of soil in the bottom of the cup. Use another cup if you like to firm up the soil a bit by placing it inside the soil cup. Then use tweezers (another cool ideal) to pick up a seed and place it in the center of your planting media. (repeat this step in till you have planted the desired number of seeds per container. The tweezers are handy because they allow for better placement of the seed in the center of the container and also for the proper depth of the seed.

Now let that tomato sprout and grow once it has a set of true leaves fill the cup up a bit with soil and as the seedling grows continue this in till the 18 oz cup is full. The ideal with this the plant should as you fill the cup develop strong roots and the stem hopefully will get thicker. Also by starting it with less media the media temp will be easier to get warmed up to help the seed germinate. The white sides of the cup should also reflect some light to the seedlings as well.

Anyways thats another one of the ideals I will be using. Hoping to get the green house put together in the morning.

Stepheninky · January 2, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by kath

Sometimes the local garden centers, Agways, etc. keep seed starting materials out all year long, and they will definitely have a good supply out by Feb. at least.
Tried the little paper cups once but they didn't hold up too well being wet all the time. Make sure you pack them close together in whatever container you will use to hold them.
Shouldn't be long before they'll be big enough for their first transplanting anyway.
Good luck with your new greenhouse; I envy your early planting date!

I agree these cups I got are white plastic (not paper) so they should work pretty well.

kath · January 3, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by OneoftheEarls

nahhhhhhhhh...BUT this thaw has me thinking of planting the dwarves out already

That and these photos...lol

If this is enough of a thaw to have you thinking that, then I take comfort in knowing that there's someone worse than me when it comes to 'jumping the gun' on planting!

Stepheninky · January 3, 2011

Just got it put together and took a quick pic of the progress so far. I still need to add my lights. The greenhouse I bought was $20 at big lots store its made by William and Fisher. its 48in tall so I placed it on top of a set of metal shelves I had which placed it pretty well in the window I plan on moving left or right into a full window later on I think. Just have it there now so I got more room to place the lights

Here is the unit with the lights installed the two lights the bottom one is 125 actual watts 5500k (out put of 400 watts) and the top one is 68 actual watts 2700k ( with an out put of 300 watts)

I also have two additional 18" T8 units one is 2700k and the other is a plant bulb that produces blue and red spectrum that I can use on another self or as side lighting

strax · January 3, 2011

I have a few of those mini greenhouses. Be carefull with them when used outside. they do a good job of protecting seedlings from wind and rain. They also help protect seedlings from frost, although they are not large enough to hold or radiate much heat through the night.

When the sun comes out they can cook the seedlings on the top row in a matter of minutes. All the heat rises and it amazes me how hot it gets at the top. I lost 6 flats one year, and dont want that to happen to you.

Now, i exclusively use coldframes for my seedlings and have had good luck with that.

best,

strax

Stepheninky · January 3, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by strax

I have a few of those mini greenhouses. Be carefull with them when used outside. they do a good job of protecting seedlings from wind and rain. They also help protect seedlings from frost, although they are not large enough to hold or radiate much heat through the night.

When the sun comes out they can cook the seedlings on the top row in a matter of minutes. All the heat rises and it amazes me how hot it gets at the top. I lost 6 flats one year, and dont want that to happen to you.

Now, i exclusively use coldframes for my seedlings and have had good luck with that.

best,

strax

Thanks for the tips for now it will be used indoors only and if I use it outdoors latter I am not sure just yet.

Stepheninky · January 3, 2011

Here is a pic to give an ideal of what it will look like loaded up. I am not ready to plant just yet. Probably going to start my peppers first ( that are in the mail LOL) and then at the end of the month I might get my tomatoes started up. April 15 to may 1 is within our normal plant out date. So the plan is probably going to be let them grow in the house feb and march then do the tomato shuffle outside till it is safe to plant them out. I may stagger the seedlings out a bit as well. Still mulling over all that lol

The main reason I am building it now is utter boredom. I already had the lights so the cost of the greenhouse $20 and the 100 white cups $1.50 and 50 red cups $2.00 the little trays I have in there are 2.00 for 4 X2. So total I have in it is only $27.50 so far

Stepheninky · January 23, 2011

Here are some updated picks of my seed starts. Nothing has been up too long yet but hopefully they will grow.

This is the overall pic the The container on top with the red looking stuff in them is an experiment. the top center is a 2.00 clear box I found that I germinate seed in once it sprouts I move them to the shelf under it.

These are my pepper plants and I have one cup with a terhune and one cup with a goose creek tomato.

This pic is of a Big Bertha pepper sprout and the other cups have sweet basil in them. I planted the sweet basil thursday night and its now just Saturday night of the same week.

January 2, 2011	#1
Stepheninky Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Kentucky Posts: 682	My indoor seed starting diary I have bought one of those three shelf mini greenhouses to get a head start on planting out seeds. I will be adding lights and building it all out in the next day or two. (I will try and provide some pics along the way) The plan will be to use it indoors in till it warms up and then transfer it outside. Here is a stock pic of it for now So one of the things I was needing is seed starting trays, with shipping etc they were kinda expensive to be honest online, So I went around my town to the box stores . Everywhere I went they told me at the big box stores that they will not have them till march. The guy working at Lowe's explained to me that they actually send them back to the vender for credit in the winter months. So I wondered around one of the big box stores doing some other shopping and came across something that I think will work and that was fairly economical. Those little white plastic cups like used in a dentist office. We always called the paper ones Dixie Cups and these were called bathroom cups. Anyways at 100 for 1.50 thought that was pretty good. They are 3 oz white plastic cups. So I will poke a hole in the bottom for drainage and probably use those to start my seeds. Last edited by Stepheninky; January 4, 2011 at 11:42 PM. Reason: Adding image of the mini greenhouse

January 3, 2011	#11
Stepheninky Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Kentucky Posts: 682	Just got it put together and took a quick pic of the progress so far. I still need to add my lights. The greenhouse I bought was $20 at big lots store its made by William and Fisher. its 48in tall so I placed it on top of a set of metal shelves I had which placed it pretty well in the window I plan on moving left or right into a full window later on I think. Just have it there now so I got more room to place the lights Here is the unit with the lights installed the two lights the bottom one is 125 actual watts 5500k (out put of 400 watts) and the top one is 68 actual watts 2700k ( with an out put of 300 watts) I also have two additional 18" T8 units one is 2700k and the other is a plant bulb that produces blue and red spectrum that I can use on another self or as side lighting Last edited by Stepheninky; January 3, 2011 at 01:58 PM.

January 2, 2011	#2
lemurian Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Ida Grove, IA Posts: 55	The Dixie cup idea is very clever!! And economical! I recycle old purchased seedling containers and water/soda bottles (the tops of which I've already cut off for use in my garden). Those little mini-greenhouses are great, you will love it I have huge South windows with nice sills, but my plants have done so much better under the grow lights, and I can grow so many more that way. Good luck to you! One other thing, the seed starting kits (with the tray, dome and everything) were $3.50 a piece last year at Dollar General.

January 2, 2011	#3
OneoftheEarls Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Up North Posts: 660	Another great thing are the takeout trays...black with a raised clear plastic cover....or cover the cups with plastic as a greenhouse...but only until they pop...plastic breakfast bowls are great too...and foam egg cartons too More photos on request

January 2, 2011	#4
kath Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: zone 6b, PA Posts: 5,664	Sometimes the local garden centers, Agways, etc. keep seed starting materials out all year long, and they will definitely have a good supply out by Feb. at least. Tried the little paper cups once but they didn't hold up too well being wet all the time. Make sure you pack them close together in whatever container you will use to hold them. Shouldn't be long before they'll be big enough for their first transplanting anyway. Good luck with your new greenhouse; I envy your early planting date!

January 3, 2011	#12
strax Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: z5 Posts: 146	I have a few of those mini greenhouses. Be carefull with them when used outside. they do a good job of protecting seedlings from wind and rain. They also help protect seedlings from frost, although they are not large enough to hold or radiate much heat through the night. When the sun comes out they can cook the seedlings on the top row in a matter of minutes. All the heat rises and it amazes me how hot it gets at the top. I lost 6 flats one year, and dont want that to happen to you. Now, i exclusively use coldframes for my seedlings and have had good luck with that. best, strax

January 23, 2011	#15
Stepheninky Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Kentucky Posts: 682	Here are some updated picks of my seed starts. Nothing has been up too long yet but hopefully they will grow. This is the overall pic the The container on top with the red looking stuff in them is an experiment. the top center is a 2.00 clear box I found that I germinate seed in once it sprouts I move them to the shelf under it. These are my pepper plants and I have one cup with a terhune and one cup with a goose creek tomato. This pic is of a Big Bertha pepper sprout and the other cups have sweet basil in them. I planted the sweet basil thursday night and its now just Saturday night of the same week.