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Post by Clotilde on Dec 30, 2016 8:26:47 GMT -5
I've never started seeds indoors but I wanted to cut my cost a little over buying transplants.
My concern is the temperature. I think the lower level of the house would be too cold for a grow box, which I am going to build. The question is, how do I tell? They would be out of the way there but I can put them upstairs as a second choice.
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Post by RitaMarita on Dec 30, 2016 19:30:52 GMT -5
I've never started seeds indoors but I wanted to cut my cost a little over buying transplants. My concern is the temperature. I think the lower level of the house would be too cold for a grow box, which I am going to build. The question is, how do I tell? They would be out of the way there but I can put them upstairs as a second choice. As long as your house is not below freezing you should be fine. They will grow a little more slowly, but it will also help preserve them. Back before the riding business got busy my mom used to plant half of our seeds inside first. One thing that you will want to make sure of is that they have enough light though. The plants will need that to keep strong and survive transplanting. Some people place a light over the plants if they are in a darker room. Indoor seeds are a lot of fun, but be careful, they can be a bit messy! Have fun and please keep us posted!
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Post by Marya Dabrowski on Dec 30, 2016 23:12:57 GMT -5
I've only used a light in the old basement. I've never tried putting them in front of the window upstairs but I know people that do that and use clear plastic drinking cups by their south window. I'm a novice at it yet but maybe Jen51 will chime in.
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Post by jen51 on Dec 31, 2016 13:57:35 GMT -5
I started growing my own seedlings about 6 years ago. The first year I nearly killed them all before transplant, but when I put them in the ground it finished them all off. Lol. I was terrible at it! Over the years I went to having better looking plant with store bought seedlings to better looking plants with homegrown seedlings. Also, you have a much better variety to choose from if you go the home grown route. And it's rewarding!
My observations with heat vary according to what types of seeds are being grown. Peppers and eggplants have a more difficult time germinating without adequate heat. One year I tried to germinate them in a room upstairs that stayed about 55 degrees in the winter. They didn't germinate well, and even the ones that did germinate seemed comprised and never grew to be strong, healthy plants. That was just with the peppers and eggplants, and certain herbs like rosemary and stevia . The tomatoes did alright, but they took longer to germinate. Some suggest putting a heat mat under them until they germinate, but that was too complicated for me with watering, and I didn't want to buy one. So now I just put a space heater in that room and keep it at 75 degrees until they germinate. After that I turn the temperature back down to normal, and make sure that they have adequate lighting.
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Post by Clotilde on Dec 31, 2016 17:31:01 GMT -5
Thanks, Jen. This is exactly what I need to know! I think I'm going to build some light boxes and put them in the warmest rooms. I am now sure the basement will be too cold.
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Post by jen51 on Jan 2, 2017 14:24:33 GMT -5
Sure!
It's sad thinking that winter has only just begun, but planting seeds before winter is over helps to get me over the winter blues by anticipating the warm sunshine to come, as well as delicious garden fresh meals!
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Post by Clotilde on Jan 2, 2017 21:58:25 GMT -5
Sure! It's sad thinking that winter has only just begun, but planting seeds before winter is over helps to get me over the winter blues by anticipating the warm sunshine to come, as well as delicious garden fresh meals! I am really looking forward to that but planting Spring bulbs helps me! I love that splash of color after a bleak and gray Winter and four months of dirty snow.
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Post by jen51 on Mar 10, 2017 22:59:14 GMT -5
Sure! It's sad thinking that winter has only just begun, but planting seeds before winter is over helps to get me over the winter blues by anticipating the warm sunshine to come, as well as delicious garden fresh meals! I am really looking forward to that but planting Spring bulbs helps me! I love that splash of color after a bleak and gray Winter and four months of dirty snow. I was at Costco today and saw gladiolus bulbs, 60 for 11.99. They are my favorite! I talked myself out of it on behalf oh my husband, though. I already knew he was going to croak when he knew how much I spent (stocking the shelves really well before baby arrives). Not to mention peonies, phlox, clematis and so and and so forth. Seed starting has commenced at our house. Chamomile was the first to germinate, followed by marigolds, thyme and basil. Tomatoes should pop up any day now, followed by peppers and eggplants. Exciting times!
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Post by Clotilde on Mar 10, 2017 23:16:57 GMT -5
I am really looking forward to that but planting Spring bulbs helps me! I love that splash of color after a bleak and gray Winter and four months of dirty snow. I was at Costco today and saw gladiolus bulbs, 60 for 11.99. They are my favorite! I talked myself out of it on behalf oh my husband, though. I already knew he was going to croak when he knew how much I spent (stocking the shelves really well before baby arrives). Not to mention peonies, phlox, clematis and so and and so forth. Seed starting has commenced at our house. Chamomile was the first to germinate, followed by marigolds, thyme and basil. Tomatoes should pop up any day now, followed by peppers and eggplants. Exciting times! If it isn't too much to ask, could you describe how you germinate them and what you do next? Even if you have a picture. I went to a local class on starting seeds and we know we need a heat mat because it is so cold here but we dont have a souther facing window, so I'm trying to decide a cheap way to provide enough light without having having to build anything that is involved.
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Post by jen51 on Mar 10, 2017 23:41:06 GMT -5
Our setup for seed starting looks different every year depending on what is going on in the house.
Most seeds do not require light to germinate, so we keep the lights off until they do. Except for the chamomile- that one needed light. Once they germinate, the lights come on. You could hold off until they get their first true set of leaves if you wanted to.
I just hate messing with heat mats. My husband had a clever idea this year. We placed a low lying table over a heat vent to start the seeds on, and it seems to be putting off enough heat right on them to do the trick. We keep the peppers and eggplants closest to the vent since they benefit the most from the heat, then tomatoes, then herbs and flowers.
We don't have windows that provide enough light either. One year we just hooked the heating lamps to chairs surrounding the table and it worked. We didn't use grow lights, but heat lamps. They are handy because they can clip and swivel, and point whichever direction you would like. Another year my husband built a quick and easy frame around and over a table. We put tinfoil all around it to reflect light and it worked well, but it was a hideous site in the house. One time I had very limited space, so I put my seedlings on the floor, and placed a 5 ft long fluorescent light over them. I didn't want to build anything, so the light sat on clothes baskets, lol. The light wasn't big enough to cover all the seeds at once, so I rotated them morning and evening.
Our seeds are just now germinating, so we'll have to get them under light this weekend. Honestly, neither of us have decided how we're going to do it yet. I'm sure we'll monkey rig something. I'll try to post a pic of it once we get it done!
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Post by Clotilde on Mar 11, 2017 0:30:12 GMT -5
Chairs! Now that is a great idea. I have a lot of folding chairs.
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