(all planted and covered up)
This weekend we finally planted the seeds for our transplants. These are plants that will be grown in our home and then transplanted into our garden beds in May.
We really want to make sure that we don't have to purchase any transplants this year and invested a bit of money in a heating pad greenhouse. It's one of those purchases that *might* be frugal *if* it lasts several seasons. It won't be frugal if we only are able to use it this season. They run a bit over $34 and we bought two.
(one of the boxes from the heated plastic greenhouses)
Last year we used plastic pots we saved from previous transplant purchases and potting soil, but really didn't get good results. It took weeks for the seeds to germinate (due to low temps) and that meant small scraggly plants that didn't survive well outdoors during our cool early summer.
We ended up having to replace most of them last year and really want to get a handle on growing our own transplants.
Here's what we planted this weekend (I wrote plants to indicate what we'll end up with - some have more than one seed per "pot" right now):
- 25 Wisconsin 55 tomato plants
- 50 Amish Paste tomato plants
- 20 Buran pepper plants
- 10 De Cicco broccoli plants
- 20 Blue Solaize leek plants
- 4 German Chamomile plants (these in particular have many seeds in each pot)
- 15 Lamb's Ear plants
(all planted and under the grow lights)
I still need to get some more medicinal herb seeds and I'll begin those when we move the current plants out of the tiny greenhouses and into larger pots.
Other than the remaining medicinal herbs the rest of our garden seeds are planted into the garden beds in May.
Have you other gardeners begun your transplants? What are you planting this year? What's your favorite method for starting seeds indoors?
We'll be planting our seeds in a few weeks. We use a similar system to the one you purchased, sans heating element. I either put the babies on the toasty warm top of the fridge for germination or, if our walk-in unheated greenhouse is staying warm enough I'll put them in there. Isn't it so affirming to be planting again?
ReplyDeleteIt's so affirming to be planting again! I think my next project is going to be making a cold frame or two. I want to try and plant some greens out in the garden early this year.
ReplyDeleteI need to learn how to extend my growing season here and we don't have space to build a real greenhouse.
We have a make-shift cold frame I've made out of an old window and salvage lumber. It really does help get an early start on the greens!
ReplyDelete