When to start seeds indoors?

I have tried grow lights. I have tried Plastic enclosed wire rack on wheels thing with lamp heat from bottom and sunlight or incandescent or fluorescent lights overhead. I still got leggy sprouts and then they fell over and died.

I have decided that container size MUST be 6 inch across mouth, at least that much deep. Soil has to be the same as where they are going in the ground (? ideas please). Ideas on how to keep the soil warm, say 68 minimum? mebbe warmer?
 
Starting tomatoes, peppers and eggplant this coming weekend. I bought a couple heat mats for starting seeds off Amazon this time. I used to just let the amish start everything for me but the last few years I have not been getting the varieties I thought I was getting. This past year my Early Girls were in fact Mr. Stripey and my Bradleys turned out to be Wrinkles and my jalapenos were sweet so this year Im all in for starting my own except my candy sweet onions I will still let the Amish start 200 of them for me.
 
I'm a week or so behind were I hoped to be but Im starting our seeds this Saturday indoors. Finally found a light that was priced fair and that should help the issues I experienced last year. 4 foot long 5500 lumen 5000 kelvin...LED...bought two of them to hang side by side over planter trays. Going to build wood frame that allows us to raise lights as plants grow.
Will report back on how it goes. The one south facing window we have just doesnt provide enough direct sunlight.
 
DoubleRidge said:
I'm a week or so behind were I hoped to be but Im starting our seeds this Saturday indoors. Finally found a light that was priced fair and that should help the issues I experienced last year. 4 foot long 5500 lumen 5000 kelvin...LED...bought two of them to hang side by side over planter trays. Going to build wood frame that allows us to raise lights as plants grow.
Will report back on how it goes. The one south facing window we have just doesnt provide enough direct sunlight.
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For my plant grow stand I got a 36inx14x70 5shelf wire rack on wheels from SAMS, then wrapped 3 sides in reflective mylar(those emergency blankets). Ordered a package of 6 - 3ft grow lights from Amazon currently using 3. Rigged up paracord so I could raise and lower lights over the seed trays. Lights are bigger and better than what I had last year too. Also using heat pads under trays. Attached a 6 outlet power strip on the middle shelf with a timer and lights are plugged into timer. Attached a 5 outlet power strip and plugged in the heat pads to it with no timer. I did remove the backside light deflector/shield off the light frame this gets reflected back to the seed trays for more coverage.
 
Forvols said:
For my plant grow stand I got a 36inx14x70 5shelf wire rack on wheels from SAMS, then wrapped 3 sides in reflective mylar(those emergency blankets). Ordered a package of 6 - 3ft grow lights from Amazon currently using 3. Rigged up paracord so I could raise and lower lights over the seed trays. Lights are bigger and better than what I had last year too. Also using heat pads under trays. Attached a 6 outlet power strip on the middle shelf with a timer and lights are plugged into timer. Attached a 5 outlet power strip and plugged in the heat pads to it with no timer. I did remove the backside light deflector/shield off the light frame this gets reflected back to the seed trays for more coverage.
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Nice! Sounds like a great set up! I will need to add some reflective panels or mylar and I do have one heat pad but will likely add another....dont have a timer yet....how long are you running lights? 12 on 8 off? Or?
 
Ive been running 12 on and 12 off for lights and 12 to 14 on heat pad. I do have the domes over my seed trays for now. The mylar blankets were cheap I got 6 of them for I think 8 bucks very thin and I need 1.5 to do 3 sides of my grow stand here is a picture. I still need to route my cords better. May add another light to each shelf, I like that its on wheels so I can roll it to wherever. Right now I have it in an extra bedroom. Here is a few articles regarding running grow lights, Most everything I have read recommends 12-16hrs of lights on, then adjust by how the seedlings are doing. Im going to get a timer for the heat pads too.

getbusygardening.com

When & How To Use Grow Lights For Seedlings - Get Busy Gardening

It's super important to use grow lights for your seedlings. Learn about the best bulbs to use, when to turn them, for how long, and much more!
getbusygardening.com getbusygardening.com

Best Time To Run Grow Lights – Night Or Day?

gardeningwithallie.com gardeningwithallie.com
 

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Forvols said:
Ive been running 12 on and 12 off for lights and 12 to 14 on heat pad. I do have the domes over my seed trays for now. The mylar blankets were cheap I got 6 of them for I think 8 bucks very thin and I need 1.5 to do 3 sides of my grow stand here is a picture. I still need to route my cords better. May add another light to each shelf, I like that its on wheels so I can roll it to wherever. Right now I have it in an extra bedroom. Here is a few articles regarding running grow lights, Most everything I have read recommends 12-16hrs of lights on, then adjust by how the seedlings are doing. Im going to get a timer for the heat pads too.

getbusygardening.com

When & How To Use Grow Lights For Seedlings - Get Busy Gardening

It's super important to use grow lights for your seedlings. Learn about the best bulbs to use, when to turn them, for how long, and much more!
getbusygardening.com getbusygardening.com

Best Time To Run Grow Lights – Night Or Day?

gardeningwithallie.com gardeningwithallie.com
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Nice set up...appreciate the info...just noticed my math was off with 12 on 8 off LOL....but 12 to 16 on makes sense and adjust based off how seedings are doing.
I do have a heat pad under my tomatoe tray until it germinates.
 
this is my first year trying my own seeds. I have as of now, 50 diff heirloom tomato's planted (cherokee purple, pink belguim, brandywine, and ??) I put 2 seeds per container (eggcrate style) and planned to pull one if both come up. So far each on has two sprouts. Right now i have a low watt heat lamp on them, trying to keep them around 70 degrees.

they have been planted for 1 wk and are now coming up. I am not sure what to expect, but i hope they work out.. I'll buy them from a greenhouse before I spend all day moving them around to find sunlight :)
 
The picture above I had 1 3ft light per shelf, but some of my tomato seedlings were starting to lean to the middle. So yesterday I added another 3ft light to each shelf. See if that does better. I still figuring out the growing from seeds too. I'm enjoying it though.
 
Forvols said:
Popcorn did you start your seeds? Im going to start mine today, I think.
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I did, peppers were quick and easy, egg plant was quick but so tiny and fragile, I don't know about them. Tomatoes have been slow and some varieties have a weak germinating rate. But have since replanted them.
Those heat Matt's will keep you watering! Plants are covered but a lot of moisture escapes. Still waiting on second set of leaves but those little led grow lights have them dark green and not so leggy.
 
I screwed up had to re-seed my tomatoes/peppers only had about 3 out of 24 tomatoes and 2 out of 16 peppers seed germinate( all seeds were new this year too). I had the seed tray on a heat pad with a dome. I didnt water enough and also cooked the seeds running the heat pad to long. I now have the heat pad on a timer couple of hours on and couple of hours off with the dome on until I get germination and some growth then I will remove the dome this time. Same issue but not as bad with other vegetable/melon seed I started. That cabinet I setup traps more heat too.
 
Forvols said:
I screwed up had to re-seed my tomatoes/peppers only had about 3 out of 24 tomatoes and 2 out of 16 peppers seed germinate( all seeds were new this year too). I had the seed tray on a heat pad with a dome. I didnt water enough and also cooked the seeds running the heat pad to long. I now have the heat pad on a timer couple of hours on and couple of hours off with the dome on until I get germination and some growth then I will remove the dome this time. Same issue but not as bad with other vegetable/melon seed I started. That cabinet I setup traps more heat too.
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Last year I had to restart most of my seedlings but still had time to get everything out a little early vs waiting and direct sowing. You still have some time to get a head start.
 
This is my first year trying to grow my own tomato plants. It was a spur of the moment thing while I was in wally world, and I bought seeds, soil, and those paper-egg carton planters.

I figured that I would plant 2 seeds in each pod and hopefully a few would germinate. Seems every single seed germinated, and I guess i dropped some extra seeds along the way.. Anyway, every pod had 2 or 3 plants coming up. So now I have split those into other pods..

I have about 72 Black Krim, Pink Belgium, Brandywine, and Cherokee Purple. No way I'm planting all of these so will give some away.
 
Got a question for those that have done this before.

Now that my seedlings are really starting to grow, will the "seed-starting mixture" be enough for them until I plant? They probably still need a couple weeks of growing before I can plant. Some are reaching 4" now with multiple leaves, while some are still trying to get started good.
 
gtk said:
Got a question for those that have done this before.

Now that my seedlings are really starting to grow, will the "seed-starting mixture" be enough for them until I plant? They probably still need a couple weeks of growing before I can plant. Some are reaching 4" now with multiple leaves, while some are still trying to get started good.
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Every year I say Im not going to use my small cell seed starter trays for this very reason...but I used several again this year...so recently I had to "up-pot" several different seedlings into solo cups and various 4" and even 6" pots I had saved.
I used potting soil blended with some of my raised bed soil....so this way they will have some nutrients until time to transplant.
 
Thinking its easier to go buy tomato plants when I"m ready to plant :)

Google says:

Seed Starting Mix:
Seed starting mixes are designed to be nutrient-poor to prevent over-fertilization and promote root development
Initial Nutrient Supply:
Seeds contain enough nutrients to support the initial growth of seedlings, but once the cotyledons (seed leaves) are gone and the true leaves emerge, seedlings need supplemental nutrients
When to Transplant:
Transplant seedlings when they have 3-4 sets of true leaves and are large enough to handle the transition to larger containers or the garden.

So, it looks like i have 72 tomato plants that I will need to "re-pot", before i'm ready to put them in the garden .. My wife is already griping about me taking up all the counter space in our laundry room .. She's going to be extremely happy when I triple the space I need :)
 
DoubleRidge said:
Every year I say Im not going to use my small cell seed starter trays for this very reason...but I used several again this year...so recently I had to "up-pot" several different seedlings into solo cups and various 4" and even 6" pots I had saved.
I used potting soil blended with some of my raised bed soil....so this way they will have some nutrients until time to transplant.
Click to expand...
gtk said:
Thinking its easier to go buy tomato plants when I"m ready to plant :)

Google says:

Seed Starting Mix:
Seed starting mixes are designed to be nutrient-poor to prevent over-fertilization and promote root development
Initial Nutrient Supply:
Seeds contain enough nutrients to support the initial growth of seedlings, but once the cotyledons (seed leaves) are gone and the true leaves emerge, seedlings need supplemental nutrients
When to Transplant:
Transplant seedlings when they have 3-4 sets of true leaves and are large enough to handle the transition to larger containers or the garden.

So, it looks like i have 72 tomato plants that I will need to "re-pot", before i'm ready to put them in the garden .. My wife is already griping about me taking up all the counter space in our laundry room .. She's going to be extremely happy when I triple the space I need :)
Click to expand...
Once the seedlings get to where I see them stressed, I begin feeding them with a little liquid fertilizer when I water them. They usually respond well to that, the only issue I have is they get leggy, no matter what I do with the light, distance timing etc., I still have many survive transplanting, I just plant deeper. I got a small fan this year to see if that will help so more survive but have not re-potted (actually called potting up I've learned) any of my garden plants, maybe I need to start doing that too.
 
gtk said:
Thinking its easier to go buy tomato plants when I"m ready to plant :)

Google says:

Seed Starting Mix:
Seed starting mixes are designed to be nutrient-poor to prevent over-fertilization and promote root development
Initial Nutrient Supply:
Seeds contain enough nutrients to support the initial growth of seedlings, but once the cotyledons (seed leaves) are gone and the true leaves emerge, seedlings need supplemental nutrients
When to Transplant:
Transplant seedlings when they have 3-4 sets of true leaves and are large enough to handle the transition to larger containers or the garden.

So, it looks like i have 72 tomato plants that I will need to "re-pot", before i'm ready to put them in the garden .. My wife is already griping about me taking up all the counter space in our laundry room .. She's going to be extremely happy when I triple the space I need :)
Click to expand...
I don't know if this helps or not, but when I started doing my own plants from seeds, I started out filling the bottom 3/4 of the starter pots with potting soil. Then, I'd fill the last 1/4 with seed starting mix. My thinking was, "that 1/4 is enough to start the seeds. Once they sprout and start taking roots, they'll have the more nutrient rich potting soil in the bottom to draw from." Has it made any difference? I honestly have no idea. But it's always worked for me so I never bothered to try anything different.
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