Seeds..the beginning..well one of them

well llllllllllllllllllllll
i am changing around all of my gardens and as i worked cleaning up and hauling and stuff..a little whisper said to share
so here i is

first i will try to do a differnt post for different things..unless R thinks it's too spread out

but basically anyone can do this and that is my point in sharing..that you can grow your own food no matter where you are

so first seeds....if you don't want to buy plants..but buying plants is just fine too..

thursday i planted 36 tomato seeds...

no i didn't spit on em to change their dna.. :laughter: ..that always cracked me up
but
i did hold them in the palm of my hand and ask them to grow
yikes i'm already getting ahead of myself
here's a pic then i'll try to go in pee-pee steps to explain
you don't need a greenhouse





a little stand covered with a piece of aluminum foil
pots are plastic and wide at the top and not real deep ..the kind you see bulbs in
the dirt is a bit from my garden area..or some of what they will be planted in
mixed with some potting soil..and a little vermiculite....perlite also works

i like to use some soil from where they are going to grow to acclimatize them to where they will grow
you can do it in just plain old potting soil too..
but i have found that some dirt they will be growing in makes for a stronger start and stronger plant
i do sift it all together thur a small screen..didn't think to take a pic of that..sorry

but i sift it to pull rocks out and smash clumps

then a single piece of news paper in the bottom of the pot..just tear it to fit ...it's so the dirt doesn't come thur the holes
fill the pot

wet it down and let it sit so that the soil will be evenly moist
something under the pot..watering from the bottom works better later
if more than one kind of seed..label the pot..
really you won't remember which is which
then
the seeds...i have three kinds of tomatoes here
12 seeds per pot..this is just to germinate them..they won't be in this long

then into an eastern window for early morning sun

i have a thermomter sitting on the ledge
and a spritz bottle for misting the top layer (cost 99 cents)
tap water....but fresh every day so there is lots of oxygen in it

most seeds are light germinating..so don't put them in too deep

i poke a little hole and drop in the seed and then mist over it to move the dirt over top

ok..
other things i do for me

i keep a little journal of when i start things and any notes i think i will want to know later
like the seed distributor

ok.. so i put them in the dirt thursday march 17...
and will keep track of them in this thread

mornin at cha...hahahah that is if anyone is here..

anyway..no sun today our gift of three days of 60's and sun are over..but we got a lot done..so no complaints here
but of course the seeds need light so

i dug thur a box of stuff to find a light that a friend gave me awhile back ( she bought a carton of them at auction)



and darn.. it says cool..i am just reading that..hummmmmmmmmmm well i'll let it go and see if the temp comes up..if not i guess i will need a run to the store...seeds need some heat but mostly light..dummy me just remembered the box saying natural..dang.

anyway..got my flex lamp from the craft table to put ovver the seeds



i didn't say i was an expert..did i..sigh...

i haven't done any watering since planting..the soil mix is still plenty damp and i don't want to drown the seeds

Sky I love the idea of putting some soil in from where they will be finally be growing. Great tip!

You are quite lucky to have good Oxygenated water, but how does that work?

Up on the farm I'm looking at flowforms to get a bit of good ol water river treatment back into the water before it soaks into the edibles LOL

http://www.livingwaterflowforms.com/

wow Soma
that is involved...
i just get water out of the spigot..and don't let it sit
because when it sits the oxygen bleeds out

when we used to haul horses we would carry water and before letting the critters drink
just pour it back and forth inot another bucket to get the oxygen back into it so it wasn't 'flat'
which is what i think is one of the things he is trying to do

the rest..i will have to read it all again

here they are poppin out of the soil at day 8..march 25..
so far this morning there are
5 early girls and three oregon spring and no best boys..which is fine cause i grabbed the wrong seed pack there
i wanted better boy seeds...





even with the lamp straight up they are heading towards the window and real sun...

you have to keep turning them so they grow straight

Gee, very good sky, your very exact with everything. Good one.

day 9 and they all have some germination



the early girl is 12 for 12....i have grown these for years and they prove to be very dependable every year
the oregon spring is 8 for 12
and the new one best boy is only 4 for 12 and not a nice strong seedling either
besides i read the package of this mistake and it is a determinate..

tomatoes come in two types determinate..which means they only grow about 4 feet or so..
these are good for pots and small spaces
indeterminate..well they just keep on growing as long as they can..they need staked and tied to get the best out of them

i mostly grow indeterminate....it's a matter of choice

happy growing

ok day 17
and ready to transplant into a larger container..potting up step one..potting up step two is in the other thread
but i will continue to follow the process here with the tomatoes from seed
they could have been transplanted about day 14 but i ran out of time..they would not have made it much longer than today
they were getting very leggy
and the second set of leaves were visible



so next step
i screened some more dirt..mostly to remove stones or large pieces of anything that would bruise the baby plants
i added some vermiculite to it because vermiculite is natural ...you can use other stuff like perlite
and i added it so that the soil mix wouldn't be too heavy and cake

then i got every thing to the same spot.. and started..i was just inside the garage because the wind was getting gusty and
would have damaged the little plants

you can do this anyway you want..
me i don't like sterilizing pots so i came up with this method for step two a few years ago
i used to do between 400 and 500 tomato plants each spring and this worked for me
i get 16 oz styrfoam cups..they keep the plants warm and are just the right size..
mark the rim with the initials of the type going into it
really take a minute to match up the starter pot label with the cups the plants are going into
really..it might sound dumb..but it is easy to mix up stuff at this point
..then i poke holes in the bottom for drainage




into the cup i put a little soil
and then a very small pinch of fertilizer
and then more dirt
and you are ready for the plant

with a trowel or by hand take the plant from the starter pot gently





place it in the center of the cup..gently



hold it gently right below the leaves
and bring the dirt around the plant all the way up to the leaves..
yes..the whole stem is now buried
you should only have leaves visible

and yeah..now would be a great time to talk to them and ask them to grow



fill in around the plant with the soil
and sit the cup into some type of carrier..so you can move them as a group..
do not use cardboard because you are going to be watering them and the cardboard with not hold up
nothing worst than picking up your tray of plants and having the bottom fall out

when your tray is full..water gently



see the cup with a puddle..guess which cup didn't have holes in it..
just pick it up and poke some in
re water
gently

and here they are...ready to either go back into the window..or in and out side as they grow..
they will need the sun and probably a lot of water



so far from the 36 seeds planted
i have
12 out of 12 early girl
11 out of 12 oregon spring
and only 8 out of 12 best boy..those are the determinate

not a bad run so far..but be ready to lose a few along the way

good growing

Step by step your givin us, so I will know exactly what to do myself with seeds, thanks so much sky.

you are much welcome, Biggs

i was urged to share what i know from my own experience..
with the hope the info can be used by someone

it's not absolute
.but
when growing ..nothing is absolute

at the worst i hope it is entertaining