2022 Gardening Thread

[SaltwaterSlick]

For those of you folks raising plants from seeds, are you folks starting the seeds in a “special “ type soil??

Seed starting soil really has no "dirt" in it. It is important if you're starting seeds in trays to use sterile starting soil so they do not have to compete with other seeds or soil borne pathogens... You can buy a bag of seed starting soil (NOT POTTING SOIL), or you can make your own pretty easy. It is essentially nothing but pure peat moss and a little perlite mixed together... Remember the seeds have everything they need to germinate and begin to grow. All they need is moisture and the right temperature... You can germinate them in a paper towel even!! In seed starting trays, just put the seeds in the tray and cover the only about as deep as twice the diameter of the seed and keep them moist and warm. Give them morning sunlight and shade the rest of the day if you can this time of year. once they sprout and put on that first pair of leaves just keep them moist. do not let them go dry and do not drown them... This is the most critical time for the new plants. Once they sprout that second set of leaves (what folks call "First True Leaves"), hit them with a little balanced fertilizer like Miracle Grow or what I use is Hoss Tools 20-20-20 water soluble fertilizer. I put a couple teaspoons/gallon of water and use that to water the plants once about every 5-7 days with normal watering in between. Using this method, if you are planting quality seeds from a reputable supplier, you will get high 90% germination rates on most seeds.

[Pedernal]

I wouldn't say special. I had a crepe myrtle and 4 rose bushes in each corner of my back yard. I ripped it all out and tilled up the area, then put a few bags of top soil on top. Probably could have done more. I planted straight in the ground with a bunch of seeds. I do have a raised bed with raised bed soil as well though.

Thank you… I have never planted seed but would like to start doing so versus buying plants.

Seed starting soil really has no "dirt" in it. It is important if you're starting seeds in trays to use sterile starting soil so they do not have to compete with other seeds or soil borne pathogens... You can buy a bag of seed starting soil (NOT POTTING SOIL), or you can make your own pretty easy. It is essentially nothing but pure peat moss and a little perlite mixed together... Remember the seeds have everything they need to germinate and begin to grow. All they need is moisture and the right temperature... You can germinate them in a paper towel even!! In seed starting trays, just put the seeds in the tray and cover the only about as deep as twice the diameter of the seed and keep them moist and warm. Give them morning sunlight and shade the rest of the day if you can this time of year. once they sprout and put on that first pair of leaves just keep them moist. do not let them go dry and do not drown them... This is the most critical time for the new plants. Once they sprout that second set of leaves (what folks call "First True Leaves"), hit them with a little balanced fertilizer like Miracle Grow or what I use is Hoss Tools 20-20-20 water soluble fertilizer. I put a couple teaspoons/gallon of water and use that to water the plants once about every 5-7 days with normal watering in between. Using this method, if you are planting quality seeds from a reputable supplier, you will get high 90% germination rates on most seeds.

Thank you for the info… going to try and plant all vegetables and flowers from seeds moving forward. I tried to transplant some seedlings that sprouted out of a store bought tomato but only two of the seedlings seem to be holding on. I also planted a “tomatillo” in the garden area and those plants are coming up… I will see how it goes.

One additional question, how many folks water there garden with well water versus city water?? I have to believe it’s a big difference for the development of the plants.

[Man]

Thank you… I have never planted seed but would like to start doing so versus buying plants.

Same here. I just went back earlier this morning and looked at the setup that Saltwater Slick purchased from Amazon/Hoss Tools and how I can piece together something similar for the size and width of my 4 tier shelving. The only problem I had in the past doing it was I had a HIGH ratio of plants that killed over when I transferred them from incandescent grow light out into sunlight. And it seems now its all LED, so I need to make sure I get an LED thats putting out the right spectrum of light and UV (I think) to make for an easy transfer for the plant and not shock it. But I guess thats some of the fun in it..learning as you go!

[SaltwaterSlick]

Thank you… I have never planted seed but would like to start doing so versus buying plants.



Thank you for the info… going to try and plant all vegetables and flowers from seeds moving forward. I tried to transplant some seedlings that sprouted out of a store bought tomato but only two of the seedlings seem to be holding on. I also planted a “tomatillo” in the garden area and those plants are coming up… I will see how it goes.

One additional question, how many folks water there garden with well water versus city water?? I have to believe it’s a big difference for the development of the plants.

I'm on well water and that's mostly what I use... but... If you have a way of collecting rainwater into a tank and water with that, it doesn't get any better than that! Well water is second only to that (untreated well water, straight from the well if possible).

Same here. I just went back earlier this morning and looked at the setup that Saltwater Slick purchased from Amazon/Hoss Tools and how I can piece together something similar for the size and width of my 4 tier shelving. The only problem I had in the past doing it was I had a HIGH ratio of plants that killed over when I transferred them from incandescent grow light out into sunlight. And it seems now its all LED, so I need to make sure I get an LED thats putting out the right spectrum of light and UV (I think) to make for an easy transfer for the plant and not shock it. But I guess thats some of the fun in it..learning as you go!

We had this issue this year too!! There is a VERY IMPORTANT step when growing plants from seeds under ANY artificial light. It's called "hardening off the plants"... There is lots of information out there on this, but essentially it is taking the time to acclimate your plants to direct sun. Our second batch of seedlings fared very well after we learned our lesson! The sun's light is more intense than any artificial light and just putting them out in the sun essentially sunburns them. What you have to do is take your seedlings out in the morning sun for a bit, then bring them back in at least to the shade, then put them out a little more, then back into the shade... gradually increasing the time in the sun over several days to a couple weeks. This will get them used to the sun without shocking them. In reality, we lost close to half our transplants on the first batch to sun scalding... We'd never done it before either and somehow with all the hundreds of videos we watch, we clean missed the deal about hardening off our plants... Most YouTubers just mention the hardening off as a matter of fact like everyone should already know about it... well we didn't!!

[SaltwaterSlick]

One other thing about rigging your lights... Make the lights so that you can easily raise/lower them as the plants germinate and grow. If you have the lights a foot or more away from the top of your trays, the plants will sprout and "get leggy" reaching for the light. By putting the lights within a couple inches of the plants (taking care not to place the light so close as to burn the plants), then raising the lights as the plants grow, they will grow to be stronger, heavier stemmed, and healthier plants as opposed to the long skinny easily toppled over leggy ones... A small fan that keeps the young plants moving about a little is also helpful, especially tomatoes and pepper plants... No hard blowing fan, just a little air movement enough to move them about a bit.

[bbbuck]

[emoji28][emoji28] well this is a bit embarrassing. I know that I was either at Calloway's or Home Depot and I know I picked up a watermelon plant, but yes, I just cut one off the vine. And it is indeed a cucumber. I looked thru my receipts and never bought a cucumber seedling, but I can't find the receipt with watermelon on it. Since day 1 I thought I had watermelons. Now I have about 20 yellow cucumbers. Hahahahaha. Next year I guess.

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This made my day! I needed a good laugh.

[eradicator]

Sometimes I use peat, sometimes I use potting soil. Have never seen a difference in germination. My brother has a greenhouse and I use a south facing window. Use heirloom stuff and you will have no issues starting plants. And will be able to save seeds on a yearly basis and not have to rely on the store.

[ctom87]

Staring at cucumbers for weeks waiting for them to turn into watermelon was so great I decided to have a little fun with it. Please join me on a tour of my garden. There was a little impromptu funny business at the end. Yall enjoy

https://youtu.be/pBe7SE33FDA

[Man]

Staring at cucumbers for weeks waiting for them to turn into watermelon was so great I decided to have a little fun with it. Please join me on a tour of my garden. There was a little impromptu funny business at the end. Yall enjoy

https://youtu.be/pBe7SE33FDA

Very nice garden sir! Ya got a little bit of everything there.

[ctom87]

Very nice garden sir! Ya got a little bit of everything there.

Thank you. This is year 2. Year 1 had okra and basil. Year 3 will probably expand to the open part of the back yard but feature less stuff. It is too much to have Google "when harvest x, y and z," followed by "tips for growing a, b and c," and then "why is h, I, J dying?" Less types of plants, more varieties, more space. We will see! I appreciate all of yall helping the new guy out!

[Geezy Rider]

Well my corn was a total disaster because I waited too long to hand pollinate. So I pulled them all up and added them to the compost pile. Got a couple of nice zucchini that will be ready in a day or two so that’s a good thing.

[SaltwaterSlick]

We were way late planting our corn, then battled the dang crows... I got drip tape put down finally, but it was late... I think it stressed it too much not getting consistent water... Most plants started to tassel at about 18", some less... They have formed ears, some right next to the ground. It's only about 3 feet tall!! I'm still pouring the water and fertilize to it to see what we can get... Been spraying spinosad on the tassels and silks... hope to keep the corn earworms at bay... Not much expectation from it though... I may try to plant Fall corn... If I do, I'll start it in trays in the shade to maybe stay ahead of the crows...

[Throwin Darts]

For those of you folks raising plants from seeds, are you folks starting the seeds in a “special “ type soil??

You can start seeds on grow mat with a tray or in some rockwool

[ladrones]

For those of you folks raising plants from seeds, are you folks starting the seeds in a “special “ type soil??

I get above a 90% germination rate for direct to soil using Roots 707 soil. Most quality soils are to hot for seeds.

I make all my own growth hormones, amino acids etc so I usually sprout 6-8 ounces of various seeds a week to keep fresh fertilizer.

I soak my seeds for six hours in a mason jar with ro water. Add a pinch of a quality sea salt to the water for minerals and trace elements. I like Sea90 by sea agri. Then drain and rinse. Place into a moist paper towel and put them to the side. In a couple of days you will have plenty of seedlings to plant.

[Man]

Well my corn is maxing out at 4' and starting to produce. I can't imagine these making any big cobs. I must have planted to late, or not tilled my new clay area I planted them in up good enough with good soil. Part of me wants to wait the rest out and see what they do..and part of me wants to yank em and get something else in their place asap.