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#1 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Tomato Cornhole
Posts: 2,550
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I do both top and bottom water depending on the size of the plant and if I have time to baby each plant. After transplanting i do top water to settle the soil and get any air pockets out.
Maybe your problem is starting seeds in the cup. I start all seeds in a community pot/tub/6 paks then transplant after the first true leaves develop into the cups so I can bury the plants deep and it's usually in the lower 1/3 of the cup so bottom watering will work. |
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#2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 1,460
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I start my seeds in 3 ounce white plastic cups, 3-5 seeds per cup. Rarely, I will do 1 or 2 seeds per cup if it is a hard to find seed that I do not have many of.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Val...Count/12167406 Less than 3.00/100 cups at Walmart. They are cheap, easy to find, easy to cover with a sheet of plastic wrap until germination, and easy to water when necessary. I separate individual seedlings while they are still small, before they go into the Solo Cups |
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#3 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Tomato Cornhole
Posts: 2,550
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That's what I'm talking about, starting them in a smaller cup with more seeds then separate and transplant in a 20 oz. I'm sure starting them in a 20oz cup the plant gets leggy without a transplant or two to bury it up to the true leaves.
The best, easiest way I found to start peppers is to use a dishpan with holes drilled on the bottom to start seeds and let them grow to about 5" then transplant into pots. It saves room on the heating pad and shelf space. They separate just as easy as tomatoes. |
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#4 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Georgia
Posts: 196
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I like the idea of communal planting but I don't plant a lot of the same plant so if I do that I will have to be careful with my labeling.
I also like the idea of starting in smaller bath cups before moving up to the larger Solo cups. The problem I encountered was that I lost most of the plants I planted in February/March to damping off. My understanding is that even established gardeners have problems with dampening off but my loss ratio was way too high and I think my rookie mistake was too much watering. I could have probably watered the plants less but been more careful when I did water. Last edited by agee12; November 30, 2017 at 03:56 AM. |
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#5 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Tomato Cornhole
Posts: 2,550
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Let the plant go through the stress of not enough water, it makes them grow a better root structure. I'm not saying let them dry out to the point of almost dead but just watch the plant and they will tell you when they need water. I use a spray bottle on small seedlings and it just takes a few squirts to make them happy after you see them drooping a little but once the roots come out of the bottom of the cup then bottom watering will work.
Keep us posted and good luck this year. |
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#6 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Tomato Cornhole
Posts: 2,550
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Imp, you're a trooper for labeling all those plants. I thought about why am I labeling all these only to need more labels later and started labeling the flat then writing down what seed is in what cell then transfer than to Excel for later use.
I make a label for the flat and attach it to the front and then record what I planted where, like this. |
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#7 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Wichita Falls, Texas
Posts: 4,832
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I'm not all that organized as you are, lol, and the sheets of print would get wet and blur, I'm a messy gardener!! |
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#8 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 1,460
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I am reluctant to admit this for fear of jinxing myself, but I have never had a problem with damping off. I wonder if keeping them a litter dryer helps, which I can do with the top watering. I don't know why, but I always have really soggy soil at the bottom of the cup before it wicks up high enough to get to the tiny seedlings at the top. And I used to think preventing damping off was part of the reason people didn't want to water from the top.
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#9 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Tomato Cornhole
Posts: 2,550
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I'm back to plant labels for sales and to look somewhat professional.
I just ordered 2300 labels for 117+shipping what ever that will be. It's $5.12 per 100. https://www.mastertag.com/index.cfm/...home/index.htm |
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#10 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Tomato Cornhole
Posts: 2,550
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Update on the label shipping cost: Total price for 2300 labels with shipping was $129.73. That's 100 each of 23 varieties and $11.97 shipping. It comes out to 5¢ each but I only have to order 100 at a time instead of 500 like the other company I talked to. I went with the normal plants that I know will/should sell and a few others that aren't common around here. I'm trying to go conservative and see what my market wants, we're a farming town-Kinda- and I know people like certain varieties. Here's the list copied from the order Big Bertha California Wonder Cayenne Hungarian Yellow Wax Jalapeno Sweet Banana Carolina Reaper Habanero Tabasco Melon Hybrid Ambrosia Hale's Best Jumbo Bush cucumber Dasher II Amelia tomato Large Red Cherry tomato Roma tomato Rutgers Hybrid Better Boy Hybrid Big Beef Hybrid Creole Hybrid Early Girl Hybrid Early Goliath tomato Black Beauty eggplant |
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#11 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Zone 5A, Poconos
Posts: 959
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Last year I just used Avery labels attached to the containers, custom printed on demand. The year before I used the same labels but I printed several numbers on each label and cut the labels in 4's and gave people a "key" sheet to tell them what plant the number corresponded to. (Note: the 200 or so labels and ink/toner cost me $0.00 ... shame on me).
But more importantly, the extras that I grew for friends and friends of friends. I handed out a list in March of what I planned to grow and gave an April deadline of what people (at the local bar) would want so I had an idea of quantity - nobody had to sign in blood or commit (just to get an idea). I grew what I thought I needed and I drank for free mid May through mid June. Sometimes I would get 2 drinks per plant, sometimes only 2 drinks per dozen ... YMMV, but I had a pocket full of wooden chips. To put that into 'real' money, some people paid $9-$10 per plant, others $0.50 per plant. I believe my actual cost for tomato and peppers (minus labor) was about $0.42 per plant with seed, soil mix and container. The generous people supplemented the not-so-generous people ... it's all good. I am NOT doing that this year because I am working out of town and only have 2-3 days a week to care for plants. Edit: My cost to grow 200 extra plants was about $85 (without considering labor)... sales, mainly via drink chips, was roughly $800. Well now gosh darnoodleyit, you know how much I spend at the bar each month (could buy another house perhaps instead). Last edited by rhines81; January 19, 2018 at 09:24 PM. |
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#12 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Omaha Zone 5
Posts: 2,514
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Double check your state regs. In Neb a permit was required for only perennials, but a new change requires that all plants sold need a state permit. I don't feel like having my dining room inspected so a no go for me
![]() - Lisa |
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#13 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Zone 5A, Poconos
Posts: 959
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#14 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Tomato Cornhole
Posts: 2,550
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I checked and it's a free money grab for the govmint. $25 for a greenhouse less than 200sqft and $100 for anything over. No test just a fee. Can you guess what my space will be?
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#15 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Indianapolis Area 46112
Posts: 857
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199 sq ft
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