Richard's Indoor Propagation
 

Here's my indoor setup for propagation this year (quite scaled down from previous years! :) ) This is in the sun room of my house, facing ENE.

In the photo can be found:[LIST][*]A cheapo 2' x 4' folding table with a piece of particle board on top for uniformity and insulation[*]On the particle board there are two 4' x 1' heating mats[*]On the heating mats are 4 rectangular 72-hole plug trays with hoods and drip trays[*]Overhead is a "Sun Blaster 48" - a commodity 4' by 8-bulb T5HO 6500K fixture[*]The lamp fixture is suspended by a commodity "Sun Stand 2" stand.[/LIST]
The heating pads are controlled by a timer set to come on from 5pm to 9am.
The light fixture is also on a timer from 7am to 4pm.
Next week I'll be filling up the plug trays and the whole growing process begins!
:yes:

[IMG]http://www.tomatoville.com/picture.php?albumid=242&pictureid=1301[/IMG]

Richard, you are a neatnick! What a pretty room you have for indoor gardening, with a view to look out on. Love your setup too, easy to keep organized and easy to expand. Do you have a potting area or is there a designated garage or basement space to get messy in?

-Lisa

[QUOTE=greenthumbomaha;391371]Richard, you are a neatnick! What a pretty room you have for indoor gardening, with a view to look out on. Love your setup too, easy to keep organized and easy to expand. Do you have a potting area or is there a designated garage or basement space to get messy in?

-Lisa[/QUOTE]

Yes, just a step to the left ... and I'm outside on my patio and into my 1/4 acre yard. I'll post some pictures of that when I fill up the trays.

Outside the window
 

Is that a pile of dirt or is it compost.
Your setup is really neat.

[QUOTE=Ken4230;391385]Is that a pile of dirt or is it compost.
Your setup is really neat.[/QUOTE]

Thanks Ken. That's about a cu. yard of dirt outside the window. I bought this home in April 2014 and renovations are almost complete. I'm going to build some raised beds outside where the dirt pile is.

Today I completed the first round of seed planting. :)

First, I filled the plug trays with damp seed starting mix about 1/4" from the top. Then I placed the seeds directly on top of the soil. Next I covered the seeds with vermiculite. Following that, I took the trays outside and soaked them with a very fine spray mister. Finally, I put the trays back on the propagation table with the hoods on for better moisture retention -- the humidity in my house is barely 30%. This method (seeds [i]on[/i] soil covered with vermiculite) has always worked well for me with small seeds; as opposed to say, beans. Below are some photos.

The seeds planted are:[LIST][*]Raspberry - Rubus probus (thanks Drew for the tip!)[*]Small Bush Tomatoes - Bush Champion II, Red Rocket[*]Cherry Tomatoes - Coyote, Sun Gold, Black Cherry, Galina's[*]Chili Peppers - Suave Orange, Ancho San Martin, Bulgarian Carrot, Purple Serrano, Guajillo, Chichen Itza, Hungarian Wax, Sahuaro[*]Sweet Peppers - Corno Verde, Corno Yellow, Corno Red, Better Belle II, Giant Szegedi, Socrates, Early Sensation, Giant Aconcagua[/LIST][IMG]http://www.tomatoville.com/picture.php?albumid=242&pictureid=1308[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.tomatoville.com/picture.php?albumid=242&pictureid=1309[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.tomatoville.com/picture.php?albumid=242&pictureid=1310[/IMG]

Nice, Richard- even your labels are neat! I imagine that the vermiculite might help deter mold, fungus, damping-off, too.

kath

[QUOTE=kath;393074]Nice, Richard- even your labels are neat! I imagine that the vermiculite might help deter mold, fungus, damping-off, too.

kath[/QUOTE]

Those labels are leftover from my nursery operation that ended 2 years ago. They're actually designed for 4-inch pots and are almost too wide for the plug trays! I also had a set of hanging tags for fruit trees.

[IMG]http://www.tomatoville.com/picture.php?albumid=243&pictureid=1311[/IMG]
:)

Richard, why do you bother to cycle your heating pads?

[QUOTE=Tom A To;393198]Richard, why do you bother to cycle your heating pads?[/QUOTE]

I did some measurements of soil temperatures in my environment. The daytime temps in my sunroom along with the radiative heat from the light fixture are plenty. If the heat pads were on the soil temps would rise into the high 80's. I suppose I could have spent $60 on a nice thermocontroller, but from past experience I knew that taking a few measurements could reduce that cost to $7.

NICE.

JON:yes::)

Don't thank me yet for the raspberry tip, as they are extremely hard to propagate! They may need scarification and stratification. I recently talked to the breeder of the Niwot black raspberry and he uses a 3 hour sulfuric acid bath to scarify. I'm think when I cross fruit to take the fruit and ferment like tomatoes. I'm going to at least try it. I can do the acid bath, but don't want to unless it is the only way. Currently I have seeds out all winter in pots in a cold frame. Too early to tell if it worked.

This morning I found 5 varieties sprouted overnight:

Cherry Tomatoes - Sun Gold, Black Cherry, Galina's
Small Bush Tomatoes - Bush Champion II, Red Rocket
:)
[IMG]http://www.tomatoville.com/picture.php?albumid=242&pictureid=1343[/IMG]

Germinating tomatoes is so rewarding :D

This morning I was greeted by
Coyote (last of cherry tomatoes to come up)
Early Sensation Bell (first bell)
Chichen Itza chili pepper (first chili)
:)