Northern Zone Pushers: watcha doing?

[bower]

Yep, never enough lights.. and the demand for light space just goes up and up...
Greenhouse plantout date for tomatoes is May 15 this year - a full month later than last year - and yes, it's tomato seeding time. Finally, come hell or high water. So I stayed up until 3 am, seeding as many varieties as I can fit on the heat mat. Biting my nails about the ones that are waiting in line, even though it's already more than I can reeeaaally fit in the greenhouse... (yes, Gary, Tormato, ... what a mess you made of me. Decisions were never so hard!!!)

Well, celebrate em, these are first in line at my greenhouse door, if there's no germination failures (and I promise not to whine about that if there is).

9 new to me indet. midseason slicers:
Amazon Chocolate PL
Indian Stripe PL
Pink Berkeley Tie Dye
Prudens Purple
Missouri Pink Love Apple
Siberian Giant Pink
Tarasenko 6
Northern Lights
Malachite Box

9 F1 crosses: all but one should be early
StuBche F1 2012 (cherry)
FiaBche F1 2012 (cherry)
ZoSIS F1 2013 (slicer)
ZoSBE F1 2013 (slicer)
ZoSanko F1 2013 (det heart)
BEISt F1 2013 (black slicer)
Kim Kupola F1 2013 (cherry)
Rozoviy Kuffa F1 2013 (small red)
PIDanko F1 2013 (midseason)

9 Early or cold tolerant, some repeats:
Chernomor PL (repeat, black slicer)
Zolotoe Serdtse (repeat, orange heart)
Pervaya Lyubov (repeat, pink slicer)
Oaxacan Jewel PL (repeat, bicolour slicer)
Sasha's Altai (new, 6 oz red)
Glacier (new, small red)
Moskvich (new, 6 oz red)
Azoychka (new, yellow slicer)
Belarus Orange (new, small orange)

5 Shapely and Colourful Cherries and Pears:
Medovaya Kaplya
Grusha Rozovaya
Blush
Purple Bumblebee
Russian Mini Yellow (extra early)
plus One determinate or compact, not late, black slicer - Tsindao

One determinate botrytis resistant lycopersicoides accession: LA 4268
One clock: Moravsky Div (Stupice minus 2 days)
And the heap of Moravsky Div's for the farm.

A month from now, if it's not looking spring like, the weeping will begin for those then due to be sown, and the utter lack of any light or window space remaining...

[bughunter99]

I've never heard of most yours bower. Cool list.
Stacy

[Cole_Robbie]

I started my germinating box a few days ago. It is just a plywood box with a space heater in it in my greenhouse. My first sprouts were up today, Northern Delight and Red Brandymaster. The white background is snow on the ground outside:

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...pse95276ce.jpg

[bower]

Cole Robbie, what kind of space heater do you use for that? Sounds like a good way to get the plants out there.

[Cole_Robbie]

It's just a small metal cheap one. I have seen them for $12. I run it on the low setting, 750 watts. The pic below is from last year. After seeds sprout, I put them on top of the box. Right now there is a kiddie pool turned upside down over the few sprouts I have, because the low tonight will be 23 F. The box is made from an old wooden pallet sitting on four concrete blocks. The top and sides are decked with some old plywood I found laying around. Styrofoam would have probably made more sense, but I had the plywood already.

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps0512a2bf.jpg

[Father'sDaughter]

Tonight I started lettuce and kale seeds. The spinach seeds are soaking--I'm trying priming them this year.

And now I'm looking at a forecast that says it'll be 5F tonight and 1F tomorrow night.

I'm holding off at least another week before starting tomatoes. I need to know I have a shot at getting the onions out within the next four to six weeks so that I'll have room for the tomatoes under the lights.

[Sodak]

For the plants that will go under Walls of Water in either raised beds or 25 gallon Smart Pots. In about six or seven weeks.
Sun Gold
Bloody Butcher
Rozovyi Myod aka Pink Honey
Native Sun
Gary'O Sena
Lucky Cross

[bughunter99]

Forecast high today 34 degrees!

I planted: Radishes, Borage, Zinnia, Marigold, Cosmos and Two kinds of beets

Put in the pop-up greenhouse for the day only: Lettuces, Kale, Onions, Broccoli, Cilician Parsley and Curley mustard.

Still under lights, tomatoes (all up except Indian stripe), Sweet Peppers, Basil, Licorice Mint, spinach.

Bulbs started: Double Oriental Lilies, Canna and Giant Elephant ears

Work outside: Not much. Breeze is brrrrrrrrrrrrrrisk. I pried ice chunks off the pond where I could and threw more snow on the patio to melt it. Once all the surround snow is melted, the patio area warms up really nice. There is just a lot of snow to get rid of!


Stacy

[NarnianGarden]

Another sunny day which enabled me to carry my seedlings outside to the balcony. They're hardening off nicely and won't be wimps by the time they should be permanently moved out.
If this weather continues, I will have strong and happy plants by May

[bower]

That is a cool system, Cole Robbie. I like the plywood, styrofoam has such a flammable reputation. I googled and got the listings at Walmart, quite a few really small heaters - nice for the price below $20 and right size for the purpose.

The box warmer is such a great idea. I would hate to run a heater in the open air in my greenhouse, it would be like trying to heat up the great outdoors! The box warmer with a bit of row cover on top... perfect. I may just have to build one..

[jakebb]

Since the weather was so nice (in the 60s) and the soil workable I decided to set out and double dig a raised bed today. I got a good start on it until I got about 9-10 inches deep. It looks as if the soil is still frozen. Sigh. Also there's a winter weather warning, but as usual it looks like we're getting the edge of the storm while the northern half of the state gets the brunt of it.

[Cole_Robbie]

Thank you. Just about any box would work. There is a $1200 germination chamber in one of my catalogs. It looks like an upright soda cooler from a gas station, like a refrigerator with a glass front. That is one expensive heated box.

Using the space heater requires daily waterings so that nothing dries out. I spray down the gravel underneath the web flats and leave a shallow pan of water in front of the heater to try to make some humidity. The heater is in the back right side of the box, where I can't knock it into the water by accident. You want to check it every day anyway to take out your sprouts before they get leggy.

[bughunter99]

Originally Posted by jakebb

Since the weather was so nice (in the 60s) and the soil workable I decided to set out and double dig a raised bed today. I got a good start on it until I got about 9-10 inches deep. It looks as if the soil is still frozen. Sigh. Also there's a winter weather warning, but as usual it looks like we're getting the edge of the storm while the northern half of the state gets the brunt of it.

UGH! One step forward, one step back. At least you had a nice day to get a taste of it!

Now you keep that wintery stuff up there with you. We want no part if it. We are done!

Stacy

[jmsieglaff]

Cold frame is on the deck--even if flurries are flying. The onions, lettuce, and broccoli will be making their transition in the next week or so--just as sweet peppers and tomatoes get sown inside.

[bower]

happy spring, everybody!!!

Every tomato I planted except one is either sprouting or up already. No I don't need that loner. Even the latest crosses ripened from green fruit last fall are makin little plants. And the TGRC bleach treatment really worked on the Lycopersicoides accession, they're up as fast as the others this time (thank goodness!). I have extras of everything... way too many extras... of course. Plant three seeds, six come up. Can't complain by now I am just used to it.

My early Jagodka has flower buds on it, now potted up. Leeks and onions for the farm are getting tall, and the farm Jalapenos and Guajillos are into the cell pack.
My pencil pod black wax beans have baby beans on em in the window!!!
And I don't care if it's still below freezing out, the sun is beating down and the greenhouse is hot, hot hot today. Time to get to work!

Hope you all are having a great day!