Seed Starting

I am attempting to start up my blog again. Focusing on gardening and animals is my objective. Hopefully I can keep it up and have an account of what I did at what time of year, etc.

So, my current project is seed starting.

It's the middle of February and for zone 6 our last frost date is April 15th. My goal is to start all of my flowers from seed this year. Plants are extremely expensive and I just can't spend that kind of money for all the plans I have this year! Seeds are actually quite expensive as well. Especially if you want a variety of plants.

I have attempted seed starting before in a windowsill and was not impressed with the results. My seedlings always ended up leggy and weak looking. Some would survive into prosperous plants but it wasn't the best way to start a healthy crop.
Last year we built a greenhouse so I thought I would start seeds in the greenhouse.

Well, my first year with a greenhouse I have found there are limitations to it. Many more limitations than I first realized. Don't get me wrong, a greenhouse has it's use and it is good for it's purpose, which is another post entirely. Right now I will stick with seeds! The seedlings will be moved to the greenhouse for toughening once they are established.

OK, so what I have learned is seeds need constant temperatures (which a greenhouse will not provide!). Around 72 degrees is ideal. They also need a good light source. Unfortunately a windowsill is not a good light source. The seedlings grow long and leggy struggling to reach up for the light. This causes them to develop weak spindly stems and they will sometimes fall over.

Here is a picture of my solution. This is not the best picture. It is actually extremely bright but my camera only wanted to focus on the lights so the picture came out dark.

I bought a 4 tier mini greenhouse from Tractor Supply. It comes with a plastic covering but I took it off. On each shelf I attached a 2 foot 75 watt floruescent light to hang just above the seedlings by about 4 inches.

The seedlings need around 14 hours of light each day (a window will not give this much) so I have a plug in timer to turn the lights on at 4 a.m. and turn them off at 6 p.m.

I put a reflective material over the top so the light is reflected inside and keeps even light all over. This is a silver bubble wrap. I found it in the garage. I don't even know where it came from. My husband has a habit of holding on to things and this was probably one of those things! I usually get annoyed when he does that but it came in handy this time!

There is a small fan for air circulation which helps to toughen the stems.

Lastly I have a radiant heater near the seedlings set to 72 degrees to help regulate temperature.

I purchased seed flats with 72 cells each. The flats have a clear plastic top. Keep the top on until the seeds sprout.

The top is used to keep moisture levels consistent. Seeds need more moisture for germination.

When the seeds sprout prop the cover open for 24 hours and start the fan. After 24 hours you can take the plastic top completely off.

Keep the fan on them at all times set on low. Just enough to circulate the air.

You will also want to keep the soil moist but not overly wet. Too much water can cause a disease called dampening off which causes the stems to rot and results in your seedlings falling over and dying.

I had started tomato plants in a windowsill. They came up but were extremely tall and weak. The good thing about tomatoes is you can repot them and plant them up to the top leaves. When they started to put on their second set of leaves I repotted them. Doing this also helps them to develop a strong root system as the tiny hairs on the stems actually root out when put into the soil.

After having them in this newly constructed seed starting tent the tomatoes already look healthier. They have taken on a deeper green and are growing faster and stouter.My other seeds haven't sprouted yet but I will keep posting the results.

Here's a breakdown on what I spent:

Mini Greenhouse TSC - on sale for $20

3 flourescent lights at Wal-Mart - $27

5 Seed Flats at Wal-Mart - $22.50

plus the cost of seeds

Everything else I had was free because we already had it. With the amount of seeds I have purchased this investment was needed!

A breakdown of seed starting:

Constant Temperature - around 72 degrees

Air Circulation- needed after sprouting

Light - 14 hours

Moisture - fairly moist while germinating and less when sprouted

I have learned alot about seed starting this year so hopefully this post can help others!