Seed starting without lights

[Redbaron]

Well all phases of my seed starting operation are up and running with seedlings in each phase. So for those who don't want to run up an electric bill here is the method of my madness.

1) I use a traditional heat mat and either cells or egg cartons to initially germinate the seedlings. The Mat is near a south facing window. I also cover the flats with saran wrap to keep the soil moist and warm all the way to the surface.

2) Once about 1/2 the seeds sprouted I remove the saran wrap and put the flats in my mini pop up green house, 2'X2' in the day light only and pull them inside at night.

3) Once I am pretty sure most everything that will sprout has sprouted, I leave them in the mini green house 24/7. This slows their growth a bit, but make them hardier. At this time I also mist them several days in a row with composted manure tea made with aquarium water for a light feeding and hopefully a good start with beneficial bacteria. Please note the mini green house is directly in front of a stone wall to prevent freezing temps inside the greenhouse. If it gets too hot I vent the green house around noon.

4) Once 2-4 real leaves show I repot to individual pots and put them in a hot frame heated by digging a pit and filling it with manure. I don't use big pots because I start later and use smaller younger plants initially in the garden than most people. Also I often use home made paper pots, although I have a few reused plastic ones from previous years.

5) A couple days before they go in the garden I harden them outside in full sun.

Pics to follow:

[FILMNET]

nice very smart ideas

[Durgan]

Well done. It is time all these grow lights were discarded. Seeds do not need light to germinate with a few exceptions. Any amount of natural light is far better then artificial lights. I don't have a grow lamp in my whole area and consider them a needless expenditsure of money and time. IMO

[Cole_Robbie]

Nice fence! I wish I had that to keep out the deer.

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Nice fence! I wish I had that to keep out the deer.

I live next to a military base. The tall fence is built to keep people out!

[gggeek]

Originally Posted by Durgan

Well done. It is time all these grow lights were discarded. Seeds do not need light to germinate with a few exceptions. Any amount of natural light is far better then artificial lights. I don't have a grow lamp in my whole area and consider them a needless expenditsure of money and time. IMO

While I'll agree natural light is always the best light, I'll have to disagree that artificial lighting to start seeds is a waste of time and money. The minuscule amount of electricity it costs to run modern lights is well accounted for with strong and healthy plants for gardeners who do not have any optimal areas to get natural light this time of year. I run my lights almost 24/7 currently and I hardly notice the uptick in my energy bill and the hundreds of pounds of produce I harvest later in the year along with the numerous plants I give away to family and friends will easily make up for that cost. Its far cheaper than me getting a greenhouse to take real advantage of natural light.

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by gggeek

While I'll agree natural light is always the best light, I'll have to disagree that artificial lighting to start seeds is a waste of time and money. The minuscule amount of electricity it costs to run modern lights is well accounted for with strong and healthy plants for gardeners who do not have any optimal areas to get natural light this time of year. I run my lights almost 24/7 currently and I hardly notice the uptick in my energy bill and the hundreds of pounds of produce I harvest later in the year along with the numerous plants I give away to family and friends will easily make up for that cost. Its far cheaper than me getting a greenhouse to take real advantage of natural light.

That pop up greenhouse you see cost less than 40 dollars (I am pretty sure it was on sale for even much less but it was a Christmas gift, so it would be impolite for me to ask the price paid). The bigger one I made with recycled materials for free. No matter how you cut it, natural light at least for me, is cheaper. But more than that, at least in my climate and with using manure as a natural heat source, it is actually producing higher quality results in my opinion. I almost never loose a seedling once I get them out in the greenhouses. While inside waiting for the late sprouters, I often loose seedlings, even years ago under grow lights.

So at least for me, I prefer the set up I have. That's why I made it like I did. I don't bother the light guys. I know it can work. I did it that way before. I just like this way better for lots of reasons.

[b54red]

I don't use grow lights either and usually it works fine. The one problem I sometimes run into when planting in the dead of winter is when rainy weather moves in for an extended time. Then I have to deal with leggy plants and damping off. Last year it was a real problem but this year the rainy weather was broken up by some sunny days even though we had record rainfall in February.

[Hotwired]

Leggy plants can be caused by an improper balance of light-temperature-nutrition. If you grow with only indirect sunlight, then you need to drop the temperature and cut back on nutrients. The wrong amount of any of these elements can cause leggy seedlings. I always used to grow seedlings in my greenhouse at 50F, with natural Winter light, and only watering.

[TerpGal]

I never used lights until this year. I have a nice little shop light setup using utility shelving unit that was already existing in the basement. We didn't even buy the shelves, they were there when we bought the place 6 years ago. Every year until now I have started plants in a south facing window and had very little trouble except for some leggy seedlings, but once planted in the garden came out just fine.

[Ms. Jitomate]

This method gets them out of the house much quicker. Did you take temperature readings? How warm does the little greenhouse get when they are with the compost? And when you say manure, is it fresh manure or composted manure?

Sorry, I'm a city girl so I ask about the manure.

[Durgan]

Originally Posted by Hotwired

Leggy plants can be caused by an improper balance of light-temperature-nutrition. If you grow with only indirect sunlight, then you need to drop the temperature and cut back on nutrients. The wrong amount of any of these elements can cause leggy seedlings. I always used to grow seedlings in my greenhouse at 50F, with natural Winter light, and only watering.

Right on from where I sit.

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by Ms. Jitomate

This method gets them out of the house much quicker. Did you take temperature readings? How warm does the little greenhouse get when they are with the compost? And when you say manure, is it fresh manure or composted manure?

Sorry, I'm a city girl so I ask about the manure.

Nope, no thermometers here. Sorry if that means it is hard to transmit over the internet or seems unscientific. I have been doing this so long that I just make judgement calls. Sometimes my judgement calls are wrong, but luckily most the time they are close enough. I do pay close attention to the weather station though. And I use my hands to feel things and find out if they feel warmer or colder than the air. Stuff like that.

The little greenhouse uses the stone wall as a passive heat sink, not manure. It gets pretty hot. So hot in fact I have to open it up and it has a double door, one with just screen for that purpose.

The bigger tunnel I made myself also gets pretty warm, that's why I recycled the tent door which also has a double zipper to have it screened or completely closed. Pretty soon I'll have to take the ends off the tunnel completely. For that one I used fresh horse manure and pretty fresh (un) composted table scraps. It gets warm enough that you wouldn't want to stay in it with out taking off your coat and just be in a thin T-Shirt, even when it is only in the 30's outside. The only worry is to keep checking it to make sure it doesn't get too hot.

[Stvrob]

Im a bit confused about the hardening off. I put my seedlings (Jan/Feb time frame) on the porch, practically as soon as they are up. The low angle of the sun means sunshine far back under the roof. They are basically in direct sun for 5 hours or so a day in midwinter. I have never had a problem with sunburn. I know I am getting away with stuff in Florida that wouldnt fly in colder parts, but if anything the sun here would be more intense in midwinter and more likely to burn than at a higher latitude.