Re: Starting seeds indoors




Amy, when I first started out planting seeds indoors in my basement (and I
had really no funds to speak of) I had a good friend build a stand of sorts
out of PVC tubing.  It's really neat, can hold up to four flats and has
shop light fixtures that you can adjust as the plants grow.  It was built
from a plan that was published in the magazine "Garden Gate" when it first
came out.  I believe all of the materials and his help figured out to about
$20 and a chocolate cake.  It beat spending over $100 for similar stands
out of the magazines and I can break it down for storage!!  If you're
interested in this plan, Garden Gate magazine offers back issues.  I wonder
if I gave you a copy would I be violating any copyright laws?  Anyone?

Next, I bought a cheap timer that I rigged to an outlet strip that had my
lights plugged into it.  This allowed the seedlings to get 12 hours of
light without relying on me to remember.  I found out through time and
error that a small fan (cost $5 at a drugstore) is quite useful for keeping
the mold down on the soil.  I plugged this into the outlet, pointed it
toward the seedlings, and left it as long as the lights.  Not enough
current to blow my seedlings away, but just enough to move the air.

I used peat pots to start the seeds.  One, because they hold water better
than soil and, two, because they make it easy to handle the seedlings.  I
diluted some Miracle Grow and used that to water them when the seedlings
had true leaves.  One day I'll splurge and get a heating mat to use for the
seeds that need a little heat to germinate, but for now, the top of my
fridge works and so does the heat from a sunny window.

Anyway, I've had great success with the above method.  I've grown both
annuals and perennials this way, used both seeds from the store and seeds
from my own garden.  One word of caution... be sure to check your seedlings
everyday.  You'd be surprised at how fast they can dry out.

Hope some of this gabbing helps you out.

Valerie
Zone 5/6
lowery@teamzeon.com


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