Seed starting day is finally here...

rhines81 · March 28, 2015

Made a list of what gets planted in each row of my Jiffy house. In this case, 12 rows x 6 wide.
List.jpg

Labeled tray, so that I know where row 1 is (I can count the rest

)
container label.jpg

Added 2 TBSP water per Jiffy plug and planted each row one by one so there was no mix-ups
peat plugs.jpg

Finished Jiffy house placed on top of my ceramic heater with paver bricks as a spacer
finished.jpg

Also, while doing each row, I placed 10-12 seeds in a coffee filter and put in a labeled plastic baggie after a quick water dunk.
seed bag.jpg

PhilaGardener · March 28, 2015

Yahoo! Can't wait!

PA_Julia · March 28, 2015

Excellent!!!!

Your starting at just the right time for you being up in the hills.

Looks like we have a PA thread going!!!

rhines81 · March 29, 2015

From historical averages we don't hit a high of 70F until June 2nd and then the average high drops below 70F again after Sept 11th. Only a 100 day growing season here. Planting outside on Memorial Day weekend is tradition, but sometimes we have to wait.

PA_Julia · March 29, 2015

I lived in Ashland which is in Schuylkill County for three years and our growing season was the same as yours rhines.

rhines81 · April 1, 2015

Less than 4 days and 4 out of 6 of the Bonny Best Tomatoes, 2 of the SuperSweet Tomatoes and 1 of the Paul Robeson seeds were sprouted already. 1 of the Supersweets was almost 2" tall so I am guessing it popped yesterday (I did not check yesterday). I saw quite a few other jiffy plugs with green/white dots also, so I guess more will be popping out by tonight. I was expecting a few more days until this happened, so it caught me by surprise and unprepared for the shuffle. I will also have to check the seeds that I placed in moist coffee filters when I get home tonight, did not have time this morning.

rhines81 · April 1, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhines81

Less than 4 days and 4 out of 6 of the Bonny Best Tomatoes, 2 of the SuperSweet Tomatoes and 1 of the Paul Robeson seeds were sprouted already. 1 of the Supersweets was almost 2" tall so I am guessing it popped yesterday (I did not check yesterday). I saw quite a few other jiffy plugs with green/white dots also, so I guess more will be popping out by tonight. I was expecting a few more days until this happened, so it caught me by surprise and unprepared for the shuffle. I will also have to check the seeds that I placed in moist coffee filters when I get home tonight, did not have time this morning.

Just to add... tonight 90% of the tomatoes were sprouted, including the seeds started in coffee filters (an experiment- conclusion is that it doesn't matter where or how I start the seeds). All are now transferred to Dixie cups. If all of these live through this next stage, I will be giving some plants away (not many). Still waiting on the peppers ... but hey, it's only 4 days! Brandywine Pink Tomatoes, I assume, should be the next to sprout.

jmsieglaff · April 1, 2015

A great feeling isn't it? Sowed my tomatoes today! 16 varieties, 20 plants, most are ours but a few are for family. Tomatillos and marigolds in the next couple days too. Woo hoo!!!!!

FISHBONE · April 2, 2015

But only a few rows of the new seeds I purchased this week..last years only a few..five days so far under a heat pad 72 cell jiffy hex tray. I will have more than enough so not worried. Last year I grew too many close about two feet apart..way too many tomatoes did I harvest.. gave many away too.. This season , I'm going by the book and giving each row of staked plants room like three feet spacing.

rhines81 · April 2, 2015

I actually had 1 of the habanero peppers pop today ... only 5 days, was expecting the jalepenos way before the habanero. My ceramic heater units with the spacers give me between 75-80F heat when the units are storing or off-peak. 80-85F when on-peak and active. My germinated plants so far are enjoying the window sill in a 68-70F environment. I'll move them all to the basement this weekend under a grow light and heat mat, but the germination happened too early for me to get all set up (I was expecting at least 1 week to relax after sowing)... sheesh!

I grow 4x the number of plants that I need just in case I get bad germination... the extras compete for the 'ultimate' garden spot, deck containers or give-aways to friends and co-workers.

FISHBONE · April 3, 2015

Still, not all the variety of tomato seeds sprouted yet day 5 but, some are leggy and hitting the top of the plastic low dome..i have a higher dome for these 72 cell trays too.. wondering if i should use the higher dome to help with maintaining a high moisture green house until all the seeds germinated? ..question,, is it a good idea getting the leggy ones in a party cups and under grow lights in the basement or is it okay to use the high dome and leave it in a sun room close to window sill ? They do aim for the window sun light and so i turn the tray each day.. (second time so far) .. but i do have a flood led grow light..just not sure if i need to use it if I'm transplanting the leggy seedlings into pint cups next week or so.Or do i wait regardless how leggy they grow until true second leaves before potting?

rhines81 · April 3, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by FISHBONE

Still, not all the variety of tomato seeds sprouted yet day 5 but, some are leggy and hitting the top of the plastic low dome..i have a higher dome for these 72 cell trays too.. wondering if i should use the higher dome to help with maintaining a high moisture green house until all the seeds germinated? ..question,, is it a good idea getting the leggy ones in a party cups and under grow lights in the basement or is it okay to use the high dome and leave it in a sun room close to window sill ? They do aim for the window sun light and so i turn the tray each day.. (second time so far) .. but i do have a flood led grow light..just not sure if i need to use it if I'm transplanting the leggy seedlings into pint cups next week or so.Or do i wait regardless how leggy they grow until true second leaves before potting?

Once the seeds sprout they need light and some air circulation. I separate those from my non-sprouted seed containers. The sprouts are able to withstand the room temperature environment on the window sill. An indoor greenhouse environment under grow lights would be more ideal, but if you are not ready yet, like me, you have to do what you can.

FISHBONE · April 3, 2015

I switched the tray domes, I have a plastic greenhouse dome made for 72 cell tray kits. Rhis one has vents too.. What I like about the domes is that I have less watering to do as these seedlings germinate. I think the cherokee greens are bad seed lot.. last year they never germinated either.. so far I have rutgers red bradywines prudens black krim burpee super beefsteaks.. just a few f1 sungolds matts cherry plants .. (last year I went too nuts with the sungolds and matts...I think I'll be happy if I get the slicer beef steak variety producing in my beds this season..

rhines81 · April 7, 2015

I have all of my tomato varieties sprouted, triple the plants that I can use, and I've gotten at least 2 sprouts from each pepper variety except for the Anaheim's... no sprouts there yet. My Poblano's just came up today so I'll be patient. It's only been 10 days. The TAM Jalepenos were slow, but I am almost at capacity with those. I'm sure I will also have some surplus Habenero and Cayenne plants to give away. I am trying to keep the garden limited to a 30'x30' fenced area (many, many deer) although I could do much more. The big problem is my gardens all need to be raised beds due to the sheet of bedrock that I live on - making raised beds are not cheap on a large scale!
Beans, peas and lettuce are in a separate fenced area 20'x8'.

FISHBONE · April 8, 2015

me too rhine.. my yard is full of deer.. I have a couple beds about the same size and all fenced in.. no deer or critters get in to ruin my plants!.. anyway,, leggy seedling will soon be in deeper starter mix in large plastic pint cups... i now know why grow lights are probably why I have such leggy seedlings now and for the future .. also going to use recommended rate of milogranite fertelizer this season for both lawn and garden, not only is it good fertilizer but it supposedly is like a deer repellent or at least deer don't like the scent.. easy to work with too.. I just ordered a soaker kit for my beds.. should be a good year with use of soaker watering system.

March 28, 2015	#1
rhines81 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Zone 5A, Poconos Posts: 959	Seed starting day is finally here... Made a list of what gets planted in each row of my Jiffy house. In this case, 12 rows x 6 wide. List.jpg Labeled tray, so that I know where row 1 is (I can count the rest) container label.jpg Added 2 TBSP water per Jiffy plug and planted each row one by one so there was no mix-ups peat plugs.jpg Finished Jiffy house placed on top of my ceramic heater with paver bricks as a spacer finished.jpg Also, while doing each row, I placed 10-12 seeds in a coffee filter and put in a labeled plastic baggie after a quick water dunk. seed bag.jpg

March 28, 2015	#3
PA_Julia Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Princeton, Ky Zone 7A Posts: 2,208	Excellent!!!! Your starting at just the right time for you being up in the hills. Looks like we have a PA thread going!!! __________________ Personal Best- 4.46 LB Big Zac 2013

March 29, 2015	#5
PA_Julia Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Princeton, Ky Zone 7A Posts: 2,208	I lived in Ashland which is in Schuylkill County for three years and our growing season was the same as yours rhines. __________________ Personal Best- 4.46 LB Big Zac 2013

April 1, 2015	#6
rhines81 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Zone 5A, Poconos Posts: 959	Less than 4 days and 4 out of 6 of the Bonny Best Tomatoes, 2 of the SuperSweet Tomatoes and 1 of the Paul Robeson seeds were sprouted already. 1 of the Supersweets was almost 2" tall so I am guessing it popped yesterday (I did not check yesterday). I saw quite a few other jiffy plugs with green/white dots also, so I guess more will be popping out by tonight. I was expecting a few more days until this happened, so it caught me by surprise and unprepared for the shuffle. I will also have to check the seeds that I placed in moist coffee filters when I get home tonight, did not have time this morning. Last edited by rhines81; April 1, 2015 at 08:56 PM. Reason: Mislabeled Bonny Best Tomotoes (with Serrano Peppers... how could I do that!)

April 2, 2015	#9
FISHBONE Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: the garden state Posts: 38	few of my new seeds sprouted! But only a few rows of the new seeds I purchased this week..last years only a few..five days so far under a heat pad 72 cell jiffy hex tray. I will have more than enough so not worried. Last year I grew too many close about two feet apart..way too many tomatoes did I harvest.. gave many away too.. This season , I'm going by the book and giving each row of staked plants room like three feet spacing.

March 28, 2015	#2
PhilaGardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Near Philadelphia, PA Posts: 1,940	Yahoo! Can't wait!

April 3, 2015	#11
FISHBONE Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: the garden state Posts: 38	most seeds but not all sprouted yet Still, not all the variety of tomato seeds sprouted yet day 5 but, some are leggy and hitting the top of the plastic low dome..i have a higher dome for these 72 cell trays too.. wondering if i should use the higher dome to help with maintaining a high moisture green house until all the seeds germinated? ..question,, is it a good idea getting the leggy ones in a party cups and under grow lights in the basement or is it okay to use the high dome and leave it in a sun room close to window sill ? They do aim for the window sun light and so i turn the tray each day.. (second time so far) .. but i do have a flood led grow light..just not sure if i need to use it if I'm transplanting the leggy seedlings into pint cups next week or so.Or do i wait regardless how leggy they grow until true second leaves before potting?

April 3, 2015	#13
FISHBONE Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: the garden state Posts: 38	switched domes I switched the tray domes, I have a plastic greenhouse dome made for 72 cell tray kits. Rhis one has vents too.. What I like about the domes is that I have less watering to do as these seedlings germinate. I think the cherokee greens are bad seed lot.. last year they never germinated either.. so far I have rutgers red bradywines prudens black krim burpee super beefsteaks.. just a few f1 sungolds matts cherry plants .. (last year I went too nuts with the sungolds and matts...I think I'll be happy if I get the slicer beef steak variety producing in my beds this season..

April 7, 2015	#14
rhines81 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Zone 5A, Poconos Posts: 959	I have all of my tomato varieties sprouted, triple the plants that I can use, and I've gotten at least 2 sprouts from each pepper variety except for the Anaheim's... no sprouts there yet. My Poblano's just came up today so I'll be patient. It's only been 10 days. The TAM Jalepenos were slow, but I am almost at capacity with those. I'm sure I will also have some surplus Habenero and Cayenne plants to give away. I am trying to keep the garden limited to a 30'x30' fenced area (many, many deer) although I could do much more. The big problem is my gardens all need to be raised beds due to the sheet of bedrock that I live on - making raised beds are not cheap on a large scale! Beans, peas and lettuce are in a separate fenced area 20'x8'. Last edited by rhines81; April 7, 2015 at 07:51 PM. Reason: spelling error, "Poblano" :)

April 8, 2015	#15
FISHBONE Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: the garden state Posts: 38	me too rhine.. my yard is full of deer.. I have a couple beds about the same size and all fenced in.. no deer or critters get in to ruin my plants!.. anyway,, leggy seedling will soon be in deeper starter mix in large plastic pint cups... i now know why grow lights are probably why I have such leggy seedlings now and for the future .. also going to use recommended rate of milogranite fertelizer this season for both lawn and garden, not only is it good fertilizer but it supposedly is like a deer repellent or at least deer don't like the scent.. easy to work with too.. I just ordered a soaker kit for my beds.. should be a good year with use of soaker watering system.