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Re: seeds inside

Lauren,

Sounds almost exactly like my setup, except, because it is in an
unheated shed, I have 2 200w bulbs on a thermostat that is set at 39 deg
F.  If the temp drops below that the bulbs come on and warm the trays. 
(We don't usually get below about 28 deg F here in Western Wa, after
mid-Feb.)  I have heard about changing bulbs, but mine are eight years
old and I haven't noticed any decline yet.  Although my onions aren't
doing well this year, but I think it was because I was away for a week
and they got too dry.

I transplanted my broccoli, cabbage, cauli, lettuce, mustard and
raddichio into pots (4-packs for the "greens") today.  Then I just set
the pots right back in the tray.  Each shelf holds 36 3.5" pots or 24
4-packs.  They'll all go into a window box (in the same shed -- it's a
tractor shed so it's pretty big) when the weather stabilizes -- maybe a
week or so from now.  Then I can start tomatoes and peppers!

Steve  (Maritime...)


nonayobusiness wrote:
> 
> -- [ From: nonayobusiness * EMC.Ver #2.3 ] --
> 
> Hello you all.  I am about to start my seeds, because I don't want them
> ready too early, up here in NY.  I will be using a homemade seed condo that
> is just about the same in dimensions to the expensive one you see in the
> backs of all the seed catalogues.  The only differences are that mine is
> made of wood and is held together with screws, so after I finish starting
> seeds we can take it apart and put it in a crawl space or something. Also,
> it has 3 shelves instead of the 2 you usually see, because I figured if
> it's going to take up all this room on the floor, I might as well get my $
> worth, vertically.  It is big enough to hold a bunch of those black plastic
> seed trays.  I will put shop lights over each shelf, and my husband did
> something where they will all be plugged into one big outlet that is
> attached to the side. I'll put one automatic timer there, and all the
> lights will go on for at least 18 hours, by themselves.  The shoplights
> will be suspended from the chains they come with, from screws above
> them..For anybody who's doing this for the first time, turn on a fan now
> and then (like at least once a day for a while) GENTLY!!!!  This is good
> because you will have less fungal problems like damping off, and also, the
> plants will have stronger stems.  Keep the lights just above the tops of
> the seedlings.  Also, set up your seed starting in a cool room. Warm for
> germination, and then cool to grow.  They won't be so spindly, then.  I
> always have used a warm and a cool white in each fixture, but now, they
> have all these things that don't say what's in it, like "Bathroom and
> kitchen natural daylight," and stuff like that.  So I'm trying one of these
> and one cool in each fixture.  You should change the tubes every year or so,
> because even though they still look OK to us, apparently the tubes stop
> giving of the maximum amount of light after a not so very long while.
> Perhaps somebody else can say more...I have crocuses , Johnny Jump Ups, and
> Heather blooming, and I am pretty happy about it!  Aha!  I just remembered
> something that I'm sure somebody here will be able to help me with. The
> rhubarb that I planted 3 years ago from seed is going to be ready to
> harvest this year.  When should I do it, how much should I take from each
> plant, how should I cook it, etc?  All suggestions will be WELCOME!  It's
> coming up now, super bright red.  The stalks are only about 2" so far, and
> we're just waiting to do something with it!
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