starting vegetable plant indoors

Hi, new to site and looking for info on starting my vegetable plants indoors.I'm looking through vessey's catologue and there is a seed propagator(40 cell 9"x14"x3.5"high) Is this something i can use to start all my plants in? Is it just that easy? I don't have alot of room indoors to have a real nice set-up but wondering if someone can point me in write direction. Do i need to have grow lights? These trays seem kinda small. I would like to have decent size plant to put in. This year i want to order different kind of seeds(tomatillo,peppers,etc.) sort of exotic to me anyway. I have very large garden 45'x75' and almost half of that being raised bed and on other side of property have 150'x75' eventually want to have all my fruit and berries and corn there,already have couple rows of assparagus. Not ready to start planting that side yet but awful excited to. Just started gardening 3 years ago when we moved to new property with 3.5 acres.
Wanted to give some backgroud, hope someone can help

 

To have good success with starting indoors, you'll need grow lights. I've been trying for several years to start seeds without them, and end up with skinny, spindly seedlings.

This year, my wife is expecting and due in May, so I won't be using any grow lights this year. Next year though... a grow light and heating pad will get installed in our garden shed!

 

I have used some propagators from Lee Valley Tools but I think they're only useful if you do a lot of one single variety of seed where they would all grow more or less uniformly. I didn't find them useful for small scale seeding where I only want a few plants of each variety because they would grow at different rates and it was awkward extracting the faster growers for transplanting.

You will need lights though and it doesn't have to take a lot of space. I'm attaching a picture of my temporary makeshift set-up for this year, to give you some ideas but I think you'll need more to fill up that 3.5 acres but it's a good idea to start small and add as you go.

 

I don't know how different it might be in your part of the world-- we get a good bit more sun than you do at this time of year-- But I usually get my tomatoes and peppers started from seed without additional light. I start my seeds on a saucer with a wet paper towel --placing the seeds on the wet towel and covering that with plastic wrap. Seeds will sprout in a few days placed in a warm spot like the top of the water heater. I carefully move the sprouted seeds to pots with sterile potting soil (sterile soil helps prevent damping off). I save yogurt cups for pots and just cut a few holes around the bottom/side. I sometimes also use the clear plastic containers with closable tops that fruits and veggies come in. Here we can set the started plants outside during the warm days to get full sun and put them inside on the few cold days and nights until March.

I also start broccoli, cabbage and lettuce plants from seed, but do that in late summer for winter gardening.

Skeet

 

Well,i think i'll just have to experiment. I was thinking of Lee Valley for the heat mat and maybee the propagator too. I guess the only things i want to grow for now is peppers and tomatos, pretty much and i don't need a ton (20-30 all together) so i'll give it a try. The only thing with these propagators is that the tops seem to be not high enough to me, Anyone use these before.

 

The tops of the propagators are to be removed once the seeds have germinated. The dome top ensures high humidity during germination only. Janet

 

As JanetW says, the tops should be removed once germinated but therein lies the problem that unless they're the same variety, they'll all germinate at different times. You can use smaller containers for individual varieties and put them in ziplock bags for the same effect, and transplant them when they have a couple of sets of true leaves.

 

Thanks for the info about the tops, it makes sense now. I also talked to someone who has some damping off spray so i can spray the soil after the seed germinates or before,not sure?

 

Damping off is a soil born fungi that can kill seeds even before they have emerged, but if you use a sterilized potting soil, you should not have a problem. However, if you are going to use the spray, I would suggest using it at planting. As I mentioned earlier, I prefer planting seeds that have already sprouted in individual containers. The individual containers minimize damping off since it cannot spread from plant to plant. When using community planters, if you do get damping off, it will often spread and kill large areas if not all of the plants.

 

I live in South Louisiana and I plant my seedlings in separate pots. I don't have to use a grow light, since I can put by a window and get all the sun and warmth I need. I do use a top till sprouts show their little heads. Then I remove it. Also, I turn the container every day or so, so they won't grow crooked, reaching for the light.

 

Hi my friend works for the concil ( he's a gardener) he told me that when you want to germinate seeds just put them in the seas trays and put them in a plastic bag get a mist spayer ( can use a bottle used for hairspray steaped in water) he told me that seeds dont need sunlight to germinate just heat and moisure in the air! the plasic bag maintains the heat and moisture!

bye gavin

 

Some seeds do require light to germinate, these are sown on top of the soil. The seed package should tell you if they need light. Janet

 

I just recieved my seeds and trays in the mail in the last 2 days, so now i need to get some soil. Going to go to hardware today to check for some. I have never looked for soil in winter time. I know i should be looking for sterile soil, but what else should i be looking for? Should i be mixing peatmoss in with it? Also, what if the soil is frozen, should i just bring it in to thaw and bring the temp. of the soil up?

 

for germinateing seeds i use pure compost !

 

I use a peat based 'Seed Starting Mix' from Premier Pro-Mix available at Canadian Tire, Home Depot etc., and yes the soil should be thawed.

 

I use the same Promix seed starting mix, its excellent for drainage, aeration, and root growth. Just make sure you moisten it and mix it up well, breaking up any big clumps, before you fill your seed containers, otherwise it will float out the top when you water it. Janet

 

All the info has been great, i thank everyone for thier input. Now i need some more info. All my seeds are popping up already and i would like to know when to transplant into bigger pots and because i have planted them so early can i just put them into a large (10") pot right away or do i go for 3" and make my way up? I have read on this site where people wait for the plants to have there first "true" leaves before transplanting-what does this mean?

thanks for the help

 

The first two leaves that pop out are the seed leaves and anything after that are the true leaves. Since I'm assuming you used the propagators, you won't have to transplant them till they outgrow their space, probably into 3 or 4" pot. When they outgrow these, they should be planted into their permanent growing space.

 

well, most of my seeds have sprouted and now i am worried about my tomatoes and tomatillos-they seem to be very long and lanky and am wondering if i put a floresent light over them if it will help to straiten them out and make them a little stronger. It has been 14 days since i put the seeds in and in a previous thread i seen pictures of Durgans tomatos at 22 days of growth and don't think mine will look like that. Mine at 14 days are 4-5 inches long and lanky and kinda bent over.

 

I'm certainly no expert (like some of the other posters here) but if your little plants have started growing their true leaves you could try transplanting them into different pots and burying the stems, probably about half was, so the little plants are only a couple of inches high. This will solve the problem of long leaning stems.

Tomatoes are one of the few plants which will grow additional roots on the portion of the stem that is buried. Make sure that you have good light for them and not too warm. I've read that about 68 - 70 should be okay if it is warmer that may be making them grow up too quickly??

 

Here are my vegetables-see what you think. I put lip balm so you can see how long and skinny they are. Oh and this is first time trying to put pictures up so hope it works.

 

They definitely need more light. You could transplant the really long ones if you're careful by holding them by the seed leaves and put them deeper in the new pots with just the seed leaves exposed. Use a stick to loosen the soil so you don't break the roots when pulling them out.

 

It seems pretty obvious to me you're plants need better lighting... They're growing to the left and the ones on the left are normal so simply rotate your tray daily or get a more complete light source.