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Starting your garden indoors
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We live in Nebraska and last year it took FOREVER for our garden to start producing. I started little seedlings inside in April, so they were just little things when I transplanted them after our last frost date.
This year, I’d really like to get things started much sooner – I’m willing to invest a little money for a sun lamp or a moveable mini hot house, but I’m looking for a little advice from someone that knows what they’re talking about.
Does anyone else start their garden indoors – how do you get the seedlings to a nice size for when you want to transplant them? Do you have recommendations for websites or books (that hopefully don’t require hours of reading)?
Thanks!
Rebekah
Rebekah,
If you want to invest in starter lamps and such, then spend it on the Aerogrow 7. I started my items last year for the first time in my 3 aerogrows and it was the first time I was successful (they’d gone unused uptil that point). You specifically get the Garden Starter System-it has the sponges, the stiff foam insert, the liquid nutrients They use very little electricity. The 7 classic is what I have. It’s extremely easy to implement and the starting process is shorter so plan accordingly. If the packet says 12 weeks before last frost (like my leeks), then I’m only going to start it at 10 weeks because it makes the plants grow faster; the plants grow strong and quick.
I recommend to price shop for the Aerogrow 7 and the garden starter system. You’ll want to do it soon, as the Garden Starter System gets out of stock quickly. Here’s the main site. Let me know if you have any questions. I’d tried other wyas and from many other book’s instructions and this was the only way that has worked.
Rachel
I don’t know for sure, but this kind of information sounds like it would be a good contribution to the PennyWise Woman blog….if it hasn’t already been submitted. Perhaps Rachel (or someone with working knowledge of the basics of starting a garden indoors) could write and article or two on this.
Just a thought….
Sue
Yes, Sue, I agree; I should do that. I have to start my Leeks and onions in January in Ga. Down here, I can directly plant most things in March, plus, I have greens from the Fall planting that are dormant now and will start up on their own as the temps. get warmer in late March. Plus, I start my sweet potato slips in Feb., the cheap way is to buy two organic sweet potatoes from the store and start the slips growing, then plant them at the appropriate time.
When I take the Leeks and Onions out of the Aerogrow, that’s when I start my tomatoes, peppers, etc.
Rachel
I start ours in pots made from newspaper:
http://www.leevalley.com/en/garden/page.aspx?p=10566&cat=2,44713,40757&ap=1
in compost from our red worm bins, which we keep in tha basement. I use a Wonder Lite:
http://www.orchidlight.com/wonderlight.html
which I love because it uses a regular socket – no need for a special system! Like Rachel said, the plants grow more quickly so it takes less time than suggested on the seed packets.
I’m starting strawberries this month and leeks also.
Gaeleen
Rachel great idea, would you put something together for the blog – these sort of things are really important and as you have experience with this it would be really wonderful to post. With spring coming and gardening coming up, it would be very good to get something on soon – no pressure of course lol. Whenever you can we would love to hear from you. Linda – Penny Wise Women
Hi all – I wanted to share the method we use to start garden plants indoors. First – I know this won’t be for everyone, as many of you will not have space or want to share your home with this contraption, but here is how we do it – I have a big garden and operate a csa so I start a lot of plants.
We have a large bathroom with a separate shower stall and big antique bathtub. I also have a big sink – like a large enameled kitchen sink – in this bathroom. During plant starting season (after Christmas till early spring) our bath tub is sacrificed to the plant rack.
We have a heavy duty plastic utility shelf – I think we got it from Lowe’s. It has four shelves. It sits in the bathtub. We use four inexpensive shoplight fluorescent fixtures with just normal bulbs – not the expensive grow lights. They hang above each shelf from wire or chains hung from the bottom of the shelf above. The top light hangs from the ceiling above the top shelf. The lights need to be fairly low/close to the plants.
I can put four flats on each shelf. I use a flat that holds 72 plugs so 1000 + plants on my shelf? I guess so, seems like a lot LOL. You might be more likely to use 36 flats, as I had to order these big ones special, and the 36 flats can be reused from plants that you purchase.
I water the flats by putting a few inches of water in my sink and taking each flat and soaking it in the sink for a bit (it is watered this way from the bottom so that the tender seedlings are not damaged), then putting it on the bottom shelf to drip (the bottom shelf is over the bathtub with no light beneath it). When all the flats on the bottom shelf stop dripping, I start cycling them from different shelves until all have been watered.
Yes – this is a lot of work but it just is a matter of going into the bathroom and moving flats every five minutes or so until it is through – and it is only 16 flats. It does not need to be done every day until the plants get really big then it is usually time for them to go outside. And this is the work that is required in order for me to get the plants I need. You can see that it is a lifestyle choice to decide to do this in your bathroom LOL.
If you all want a simple and inspiring resource for seed starting then take a look at the Johnny’s website
There are so many choices and you are sure to find something that works for you. My method could easily be scaled down for smaller space and less plants.
Hope that helps someone. Have fun!
We start most of our seeds inside. We purchased some cheap fluorescent shop light fixtures from a home improvement store. We hang those over our plants on a wooden shelf using small chains and hooks so we can adjust the height. We just use regular bulbs and not the more expensive daylight kind. I saw a study several years ago showing that regular bulbs have not quite, but close to the output of daylight bulbs when they’re new. They work great but they should be replaced each year. We cycle them into our basement ceiling lights after planting use and it works out pretty well.
When the plants get a little larger we run an oscillating fan near them. The constantly changing airflow seems to help them develop stronger stalks.
We also made a planting schedule spreadsheet. Start with your last frost date and then subtract the number of weeks recommended on the seed packets. Subtract a few more weeks if you have a coldframe in the garden to move them outside earlier.
I’ll second the recommendation for Johnny’s Selected Seeds. Get on their mailing list because the paper catalog is a wealth of information with germination temperature charts, etc.
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