Author Topic: Starting Seeds  (Read 36661 times)

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Richard Myers

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Starting Seeds
« on: March 25, 2010, 09:14:36 AM »
When starting some seeds, I often write the variety on the pots. But, the nurseries have little plastic sticks they place in the pots.  I liked that idea, so I looked around for material to make my own. Here is what I came up with.



Strawberry Container



After cutting out my "sticks"



My plastic stick labeled with Sharpie Permanent marker



Stick in pot



Or stick with white background in pot.  I did not have to make it white. I used the strawberry label. :)


Before you start your seed sowing, get everything ready before hand to make your work more enjoyable. I used peat moss, compost,and  perlite to create my soil mix. You may want to sterilize your soil before using. I used whatever was leftover from previous purchases for my containers and some fruit containers that I had to place drain holes in. You may want to sterilize your old pots also. Bleach them at a 10:1 ratio. If you are short of old containers and money, go the park where there are tables and you will find plastic cups that make good containers. Poke drain holes in bottom of cups. Styrofoam cups are good. Yes, I know they are dirty, bleach them!   :)
Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

colporteur

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Re: Starting Seeds
« Reply #1 on: March 25, 2010, 12:37:11 PM »
Richard;

I did the very same thing last week and used an empty white clorox container and then cut the material into markers. Why try to find them in a store somewhere and pay for them ?
It's easier to slow a fast horse down than to get a dead one going.

Richard Myers

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Re: Starting Seeds
« Reply #2 on: March 25, 2010, 12:43:49 PM »
Great idea!! The white shows up the black marker better.  I now have to get up close to see when there is no white background. Thanks for sharing, cp.

Are you using lights?
Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Vicki

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Re: Starting Seeds
« Reply #3 on: March 25, 2010, 12:45:40 PM »
Thanks for the info on sterilizing old pots. I knew I needed to but hadn't looked into the hows of the matter.

Watch the print on the labels. A few years ago I made some and they faded badly. I don't remember how long that took, perhaps it was just from one year to the next instead of before transplanting. At the time it surprised  me that permanent doesn't mean permanent.

Mimi

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Re: Starting Seeds
« Reply #4 on: March 25, 2010, 03:21:54 PM »
Why sterilize them? To rid of possible mold from an old plant? I never heard of this, but I am not a master gardener, either.  :-[ Or even a moderately knowledgeable gardener.
  For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Psalm 119:89 

Vicki

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Re: Starting Seeds
« Reply #5 on: March 25, 2010, 05:12:43 PM »
There may be other reasons, but that's the one I remember. We use mostly 8" pots in the greenhouse so once the plant emerges it doesn't have to be repotted until it's a nice size. It stays plenty damp in there. A few pots have had troubles with mold although the plants have always been fine. I just don't want to press my blessings on this since I have learned better!

colporteur

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Re: Starting Seeds
« Reply #6 on: March 25, 2010, 07:37:50 PM »
Great idea!! The white shows up the black marker better.  I now have to get up close to see when there is no white background. Thanks for sharing, cp.

Are you using lights?

Yes, though I have not planted yet. I need to get on that Friday or Sunday. Canvassing, Bible studies and maple syrup has  kept me busy and then some.
It's easier to slow a fast horse down than to get a dead one going.

RobertParker

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Re: Starting Seeds
« Reply #7 on: March 27, 2010, 10:26:59 PM »
Great idea!! The white shows up the black marker better.  I now have to get up close to see when there is no white background. Thanks for sharing, cp.

Are you using lights?

Yes, though I have not planted yet. I need to get on that Friday or Sunday. Canvassing, Bible studies and maple syrup has  kept me busy and then some.
Well I am glad to see you are around still CP! You guys must be unfortunate where you live. Here in South Australia we do not have to use lights (at least I don't) in order to propagate. I just stick the seed in the ground--put a bit of water on and sit quietly by for a few days until they get tired of being buried and poke their heads above the ground.

I rarely use pots as I have a bit of open soil. At the moment though, I have a nice cherry tomato in a big pot and it is doing very well indeed. It has about a dozen tomatoes on it and more arriving. It is about 2 feet high and still growing.

We are having a beautiful steady rain right now and the tomato plant has its mouth open wide singing a song of thanks.

Robert

RobertParker

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Re: Starting Seeds
« Reply #8 on: March 27, 2010, 10:34:44 PM »
There may be other reasons, but that's the one I remember. We use mostly 8" pots in the greenhouse so once the plant emerges it doesn't have to be repotted until it's a nice size. It stays plenty damp in there. A few pots have had troubles with mold although the plants have always been fine. I just don't want to press my blessings on this since I have learned better!

Do you get enough sunlight to stop the mold Vicki? Also, you can get an anti mold spray. You will have to come to Australia to grow astonishing vegies ;D

By the way Vicki, are you the Hahn variety?

Robert

RobertParker

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Re: Starting Seeds
« Reply #9 on: March 27, 2010, 10:37:48 PM »
Why sterilize them? To rid of possible mold from an old plant? I never heard of this, but I am not a master gardener, either.  :-[ Or even a moderately knowledgeable gardener.

Greeting Sybil. If you are using recycled pots, give then a good wash and scrub and use fresh potting soil before you put the seedlings or seeds in.

Robert

RobertParker

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Re: Starting Seeds
« Reply #10 on: March 27, 2010, 10:47:09 PM »
Why sterilize them? To rid of possible mold from an old plant? I never heard of this, but I am not a master gardener, either.  :-[ Or even a moderately knowledgeable gardener.

If you are using recycled pots Sybil, wash and scrub them before replanting. Always use new potting soil. Note! I do not always do these things myself as I am a lazy gardener. :- But I do not have a problem with mold very much.

Of course you are not a "master" gardener: you are a "madam" gardener, if your name means what it reads. :)

Robert :-[[/size]

RobertParker

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Re: Starting Seeds
« Reply #11 on: March 27, 2010, 10:55:16 PM »
Richard;

I did the very same thing last week and used an empty white clorox container and then cut the material into markers. Why try to find them in a store somewhere and pay for them ?

Because they are so cheap by the dozen and avoids tedious work CP. I HATE work ::)

Mimi

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Re: Starting Seeds
« Reply #12 on: March 28, 2010, 06:36:32 AM »
 :D

Quote
By the way Vicki, are you the Hahn variety?

Robert

Oh how we love that Hahn variety, but no - our Vicki is of a different stalk altogether.
  For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Psalm 119:89 

Richard Myers

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Re: Starting Seeds
« Reply #13 on: March 28, 2010, 08:47:26 AM »
Robert, you can plant seeds any time of the year in South Australia, you must not have any freezes in your part of the world?  I thought South Australia was cold in your winter, Robert. 
Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Mimi

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Re: Starting Seeds
« Reply #14 on: April 06, 2010, 07:06:37 PM »
Why sterilize them? To rid of possible mold from an old plant? I never heard of this, but I am not a master gardener, either.  :-[ Or even a moderately knowledgeable gardener.

Greeting Sybil. If you are using recycled pots, give then a good wash and scrub and use fresh potting soil before you put the seedlings or seeds in.

Robert

And Hello, Brother Robert! Today I planted tomato "Wine" variety seeds from California, Continental US. Wonder where I got those? From my good friend, Richard Myers. We are so blest to be able to share seeds. My late friend, Jude, had some organic paper seeding pots, so I used those. I think there are about a dozen of them, so they got three seeds to a pot.

This year the huge sacks of potting soil were unusually affordable, so I stocked up and most all of the flower beds have the dead foliage from last year, a thin layer of ash from the wood stove and a fresh top layer of new soil. Over the next few weeks, I will work all of that around the plants that are beginning to show their little leaves. How happy we are spring has finally come.

Garden work is so soothing to the soul. Sometimes while digging in God's great dirt, a world of solutions to situations we have been struggling with come like a flood. God certainly knew what mankind needed when telling Adam & Eve to tend the garden. It is medicine for the soul.  
  For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Psalm 119:89 

Richard Myers

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Re: Starting Seeds
« Reply #15 on: January 13, 2011, 09:36:33 AM »
With the snow, rain, and wind, it is not something that would come to mind, but if you want large tomato plants to put out when the weather turns nice, it is time to start thinking.
Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Mimi

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Re: Starting Seeds
« Reply #16 on: January 13, 2011, 11:07:44 AM »
That reminds me ... I found some Heirloom tomatoes at Trader Joe's the other day and decided to harvest the seeds and begin again. Thanks for the reminder!

This year I will let the plant stay in the pot to bear fruit for as long as it wants to. Am convinced I pulled it up way too early last year when it did nothing.

Well, we will ask God's blessing on our venture this time around!
  For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Psalm 119:89 

Ed Sutton

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Re: Starting Seeds
« Reply #17 on: January 15, 2011, 03:36:20 PM »
Do you have a warm sunny spot in the house ?   If so you could plant heirloom seeds in a 3 - 5 gallon bucket with drainage holes and a round plastic tray to catch the drainage, and keep the tomatoes inside till planting time outside.    Just keep intense enough light on them   5-10 inches above, to keep them from getting too tall and skinney.    unless hand pollinating with a soft bristle brush, don't expect tomatoes.
Grateful for Psalms 32 and Titus 2:10 - The divinity of Christ is acknowledged in the unity of the children of God.  {11MR 266.2}

Richard Myers

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Re: Starting Seeds
« Reply #18 on: January 15, 2011, 03:39:47 PM »
Why hand pollinization? Because they are inside? Why can't they get pollinated when put outside?

And, what happens if the plant is kept in the dark after germination for a period of time?  Will not the roots develop?
Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Vicki

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Re: Starting Seeds
« Reply #19 on: January 15, 2011, 05:17:47 PM »
Mid-winter and we had a bee in the house yesterday - no pollination worries here.  :D