Seed Starting
5 Feb 2026 12:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ursulas_alcoveI thinking the word I'm looking for is "Coveting". I don't have money for a beautiful professional seed starting system. There is everything from grow tents to shelving units. This is my current favorite:
https://www.greenhousemegastore.com/products/fluence-razr-modular-array-led?variant=45764067197127&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=ECI+-+%5BCONS%5D+%5BCONV%5D+-+ASC%2B+-+Cold+-+Higher+AOV&utm_content=Conv+-+Dynamic+Carousel+-+Higher+AOV+-+12%2F25&utm_id=120232348012860470&utm_term=120237030405140470&fbclid=IwY2xjawPc9F5leHRuA2FlbQEwAGFkaWQBqyrxRSUxlnNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR41frbi0SK_cLAA8UAJo6Z7NZZ-dFj3FStaI4-D58Kl1WUGFU3dx7YTUfSl6g_aem_rSVdR-Ir9HnG8MLkS2b9Sg
What a mess of code that is! Anyway, that is way too much money. MI Gardener recommends shop lights. He goes into Lumens and so forth to get ones appropriate for plants. Eventually I'll get there. Meanwhile, Ace hardware has Miracle Gro(TM) Light bulbs that fit regular sockets. I don't like watering with a danger of electrocution. I picked up trays to keep water from going through. My setup started with one single light, designed for hydroponics. Unfortunately, it isn't 3 feet long. It's 20". Most grow trays are 10" by 20". One fixture works for one tray. Even with staggering my plantings, that is not enough. I have a very gerry-rigged setup.
From 2024
Right now, I have 2 trays each or 10 plants each of spinach and lettuce just for winter growing. Those will be done soon. Lettuce has a 12 week growing cycle. The finished plants will be composted and the soil reused after refreshing it with coconut coir and a pinch of feather meal (nitrogen). What will I do to replace them?
It starts with my average last frost date. Mine is May 3rd, basically Beltaine or May Day. I back off of that what it says on the back of each seed packet. It could be 4 to 6 weeks or 8 to 10 weeks. For me, that means planting onions first. They need to go in at the end of January or beginning of February. That is the Celtic holiday, Imbolc or St. Brigid's Day. Commercial onion seed is fussy. Old seed has really bad germination. All my seeds came from 2024 or earlier. I don't expect much. As a backup, I also ordered seed bulbs from the Maine Potato Lady. Hopefully, those arrive in March. The seed bulbs get direct sown into the garden. A short word on onions, the kind you grow is dependent on your latitude. Farther north requires long day onions. Farther south requires short day onion varieties. I'm at an intermediate latitude, about 42 degrees.
Back to planting:
The next crops I'll be starting indoors in February like cooler weather. They take a long time to get going. I am starting thyme, rosemary, savory, celery, and more lettuce to replace the outgoing crop. Brassicas are also good to start. Since I have an allergy, I'm passing on planting brassicas. Another thing I start at about this time (or earlier) is sweet potato slips. They need warmth and sun to get going. I plant an organic sweet potato from the store on top of some soil horizontally. I used to do the toothpick trick and water but they get knocked over too easily. I like reusing bone broth or tomato soup cartons (not jars or cans) for this. I cut a large hole in one side and lay them flat. I fill them with soil and place on a heat mat under a grow light. That provides more surface area exposed to the heat mat. My windows are too cold to get anything going until April. By then, it's too late.
At the end of February, I'll start on warm weather crops that need a long time, like artichokes, eggplant, and basil. If you are following the new moon planting for optimization, then February 17th is the day. Some people swear by that. I find backtracking from the average last frost date works better.
My biggest problem is space. The seedlings need to be transplanted once they are big enough and the weather doesn't always cooperate. The other problem is that most plants that you want to start indoors all say 4 to 6 weeks. It can seriously take up your entire house. If I seed a 50 plug tray (10 x 20), then I need to find 50 spots as they grow for just that one tray under my lights. One tray becomes 5 trays of bigger pots. I think this is typically when people buy a greenhouse. That is so not happening here. I live on a hill in Appalachia. Level ground doesn't happen. What I try to do is grow things that can be hardened off and go outside under frost covers. It works to some extent. The bunches of flowers always gang up on me; all those 4 to 6 weekers. My front porch looks like a plant store until I get around to planting all of them in the ground. The other side of the steps can hold just as many trays. In all, about 140 plants. I usually manage to grow 300 though. Yes, I have a bottleneck.
This year more perennials are planned. It should help with the seed starting backlog. I also picked up some direct sow seed like flax and poppies. Why do I do this? I have mice and voles that eat direct sown seed. I also have squirrels that dig things up (and skunks). My direct sow success is very limited. Usually, only volunteers from the previous year come up. I can't plan a garden that way. My feral plants include claytonia and calendula. Those I typically leave where they come up. Major food sources like lettuce, spinach, summer squash and melons can't be left to chance. The mice do love themselves some spinach seed. It doesn't stand a chance. The squirrels love squash seed.
Yes, maybe I work too hard, but I love doing it.
https://www.greenhousemegastore.com/products/fluence-razr-modular-array-led?variant=45764067197127&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=ECI+-+%5BCONS%5D+%5BCONV%5D+-+ASC%2B+-+Cold+-+Higher+AOV&utm_content=Conv+-+Dynamic+Carousel+-+Higher+AOV+-+12%2F25&utm_id=120232348012860470&utm_term=120237030405140470&fbclid=IwY2xjawPc9F5leHRuA2FlbQEwAGFkaWQBqyrxRSUxlnNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR41frbi0SK_cLAA8UAJo6Z7NZZ-dFj3FStaI4-D58Kl1WUGFU3dx7YTUfSl6g_aem_rSVdR-Ir9HnG8MLkS2b9Sg
What a mess of code that is! Anyway, that is way too much money. MI Gardener recommends shop lights. He goes into Lumens and so forth to get ones appropriate for plants. Eventually I'll get there. Meanwhile, Ace hardware has Miracle Gro(TM) Light bulbs that fit regular sockets. I don't like watering with a danger of electrocution. I picked up trays to keep water from going through. My setup started with one single light, designed for hydroponics. Unfortunately, it isn't 3 feet long. It's 20". Most grow trays are 10" by 20". One fixture works for one tray. Even with staggering my plantings, that is not enough. I have a very gerry-rigged setup.
From 2024
Right now, I have 2 trays each or 10 plants each of spinach and lettuce just for winter growing. Those will be done soon. Lettuce has a 12 week growing cycle. The finished plants will be composted and the soil reused after refreshing it with coconut coir and a pinch of feather meal (nitrogen). What will I do to replace them?
It starts with my average last frost date. Mine is May 3rd, basically Beltaine or May Day. I back off of that what it says on the back of each seed packet. It could be 4 to 6 weeks or 8 to 10 weeks. For me, that means planting onions first. They need to go in at the end of January or beginning of February. That is the Celtic holiday, Imbolc or St. Brigid's Day. Commercial onion seed is fussy. Old seed has really bad germination. All my seeds came from 2024 or earlier. I don't expect much. As a backup, I also ordered seed bulbs from the Maine Potato Lady. Hopefully, those arrive in March. The seed bulbs get direct sown into the garden. A short word on onions, the kind you grow is dependent on your latitude. Farther north requires long day onions. Farther south requires short day onion varieties. I'm at an intermediate latitude, about 42 degrees.
Back to planting:
The next crops I'll be starting indoors in February like cooler weather. They take a long time to get going. I am starting thyme, rosemary, savory, celery, and more lettuce to replace the outgoing crop. Brassicas are also good to start. Since I have an allergy, I'm passing on planting brassicas. Another thing I start at about this time (or earlier) is sweet potato slips. They need warmth and sun to get going. I plant an organic sweet potato from the store on top of some soil horizontally. I used to do the toothpick trick and water but they get knocked over too easily. I like reusing bone broth or tomato soup cartons (not jars or cans) for this. I cut a large hole in one side and lay them flat. I fill them with soil and place on a heat mat under a grow light. That provides more surface area exposed to the heat mat. My windows are too cold to get anything going until April. By then, it's too late.
At the end of February, I'll start on warm weather crops that need a long time, like artichokes, eggplant, and basil. If you are following the new moon planting for optimization, then February 17th is the day. Some people swear by that. I find backtracking from the average last frost date works better.
My biggest problem is space. The seedlings need to be transplanted once they are big enough and the weather doesn't always cooperate. The other problem is that most plants that you want to start indoors all say 4 to 6 weeks. It can seriously take up your entire house. If I seed a 50 plug tray (10 x 20), then I need to find 50 spots as they grow for just that one tray under my lights. One tray becomes 5 trays of bigger pots. I think this is typically when people buy a greenhouse. That is so not happening here. I live on a hill in Appalachia. Level ground doesn't happen. What I try to do is grow things that can be hardened off and go outside under frost covers. It works to some extent. The bunches of flowers always gang up on me; all those 4 to 6 weekers. My front porch looks like a plant store until I get around to planting all of them in the ground. The other side of the steps can hold just as many trays. In all, about 140 plants. I usually manage to grow 300 though. Yes, I have a bottleneck.
This year more perennials are planned. It should help with the seed starting backlog. I also picked up some direct sow seed like flax and poppies. Why do I do this? I have mice and voles that eat direct sown seed. I also have squirrels that dig things up (and skunks). My direct sow success is very limited. Usually, only volunteers from the previous year come up. I can't plan a garden that way. My feral plants include claytonia and calendula. Those I typically leave where they come up. Major food sources like lettuce, spinach, summer squash and melons can't be left to chance. The mice do love themselves some spinach seed. It doesn't stand a chance. The squirrels love squash seed.
Yes, maybe I work too hard, but I love doing it.
no subject
Date: 6 Feb 2026 10:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 7 Feb 2026 04:27 pm (UTC)