Starting the new growing season!

Hi there. I can't wait for springtime! I started seeds too: onions, tomatoes, peppers, some herbs too. I splurged on a garden shelving unit thing with a plastic cover; heat mats, and grow lights this year. It is going really well. Still cold and snowy in Wisconsin, USA. The snow is slowly melting though and I am thrilled. Here is a picture of my onions sprouting.

Gilligan Caisse wrote: I've never heard of the hot water method. What benefits have you noticed?

The seedlings come up quite quickly.
It looks like the hot water gives them both the necessary hydration and the temperature boost and it could also kill funghi.
Once poured over, you should cover the seed tray. This is for small-scale sowing when you don't have a heat mat.
But I have never done a scientific side-by-side test.

I hope the seedlings were all embedded in soil, otherwise the water might have scalded them!

Ralph Sluder wrote: Got my baby doll watermelon, roselle and nasturtum seeds started in seedflats last night. Time to put my corn, summer squash and cucumber seeds into the garden this weekend. Looks like the cold is over for us.

Watermelon?? Wow, we have almost two more months until I can think of sowing cucurbitae and similar. I might try baby watermelon this year but it is always a risk if they will ripen in the greenhouse before the first frost.

I just got a greenhouse built this winter (un-heated) and it has been great using it to get my veggies started. I have almost 200 starts growing in it at the moment and the first batch (pictured below) are getting close to being ready to plant. I need to get my tomatoes, peppers and egg plants seeded in pots soon but I think I got another week or 2 before I want to do that. I'm using extra covers in the greenhouse to help plants get started and so far it's working great. Good germination rates and growth so far.

Daron Williams wrote:I just got a greenhouse built this winter (un-heated) and it has been great using it to get my veggies started. I have almost 200 starts growing in it at the moment and the first batch (pictured below) are getting close to being ready to plant. I need to get my tomatoes, peppers and egg plants seeded in pots soon but I think I got another week or 2 before I want to do that. I'm using extra covers in the greenhouse to help plants get started and so far it's working great. Good germination rates and growth so far.

Those look great! When do you usually transplant your tomatoes and peppers outside in your area?

Glances at fresh snow on the ground, sighs, turns back to redesigning the garden.  After stumbling onto permaculture this winter and reading a few books I decided I HAD to get over the lack of space and find a design where I could start at least one perennial bed.  So far I have found room for a small bed that will have asparagus and strawberries planted in it.   My potatoes are in grow bags while I fix the "concrete" that is called dirt in that section of the garden.  Moved the squash to the front yard now I can have more then 2 plants...    

Sorting seeds, pulling out what I want to grow for this year, updating the database (still putting in seeds from a swap that swamped me)

Oh and yes I do have some Micro Tomato babies growing plus 2 possible micro x indet tomato babies...  NEXT week I get to start seeds broccoli, leeks, onions etc for my cool season garden.(yes I know I am late for the onions)   My tomatoes and peppers have to wait another couple of weeks those don't go out until mid May or the first part of June so I have time...  

Ok, so I got the seed pouches and... Well, they're tiny. The 2"x3" are NOT the right size to get, these are tiny cell size. They are flat, shaped like a teabag. BUT I was right that they folded into thing that stand upright with ease. But they do need a wee bit of fenagling.

I'll give a more in depth update later.

Gilligan Caisse wrote:Those look great! When do you usually transplant your tomatoes and peppers outside in your area?

Normally they can be transplanted in the first week or 2 of May but some years as early as late April. The last average frost day here is around May 10th but recently our last frost date has often been in late April. I always have to watch the weather to see when I should plant since it can be so unpredictable. But I did make some simple cloches using empty milk containers to help with any late frosts. But with the amount of fog we get it can be a bit of a challenge to know when to plant the warm loving plants. This year I'm trying a bunch of new varieties of tomatoes, peppers, egg plants and corn that are supposed to be relatively cold tolerant and good at germinating in cold wet soils. We will see but I'm hopeful!

I will likely plant my tomatoes in early May and hold the peppers and egg plants until the middle of May. Corn will likely be direct seeded in late April or early May depending on the weather. Got to avoid frosts but since I picked cold tolerant varieties I want to try getting them off to an early start this year. Still experimenting a bit.

Daron Williams wrote: Normally they can be transplanted in the first week or 2 of May but some years as early as late April. The last average frost day here is around May 10th but recently our last frost date has often been in late April. I always have to watch the weather to see when I should plant since it can be so unpredictable. But I did make some simple cloches using empty milk containers to help with any late frosts. But with the amount of fog we get it can be a bit of a challenge to know when to plant the warm loving plants. This year I'm trying a bunch of new varieties of tomatoes, peppers, egg plants and corn that are supposed to be relatively cold tolerant and good at germinating in cold wet soils. We will see but I'm hopeful!

I will likely plant my tomatoes in early May and hold the peppers and egg plants until the middle of May. Corn will likely be direct seeded in late April or early May depending on the weather. Got to avoid frosts but since I picked cold tolerant varieties I want to try getting them off to an early start this year. Still experimenting a bit.

I'm a little south of you so I'd love to hear an update on how your varieties worked out. Do you have issues with deer eating your corn, or is your area fenced?

I will share how things go My property is fenced with deer fencing but occasionally a deer will break in... though I'm hoping that is fixed now. It has been quite a while since one has gotten in. Fingers crossed!

May Lotito wrote:
I am quite encouraged and am trying to root several more plants like fig, mulberry, raspberry and blackberry the same way.

Gojis are doing great, triple in size with lots of shoots coming up from the bottom. They will find a new home in Pearl's garden.
Mulberry, raspberry and blackberry cuttings all show new growths, except figs.
Also I am trying to ID trees in my waste land now that leaves are emerging. Turn out I have an autumn olive and wild plums. Surprise!

My fig cuttings were growing leaves then it dropped into the 40s again but climbed right back to record high of 92 for a couple of days.   Last night back down to the 40s sigh my poor plants don't know if they should be shivering or swearing at the wind and sun.