Does anyone grow their own transplants?

[Melinda S in TX]

We grow some of our transplants and need to be more successful with them. The feedstores and nurseries here just don't have much, and they are expensive.

 

I use the little newspaper pot maker thing and seed starting soil from the nursery. The shelf is adjustable so we can raise/lower the light (plant bulb) as needed. A majority of the seeds sprout. They grow tall and leggy even though the light is right there. They never have the stocky stems like the nursery plants. By planting time, we are lucky to have half of the transplants good enough to plant. What are we doing wrong?

 

I usually grow what I can and end up filling the empty spots (lots of them) with transplants. Transplants are so expensive! Plus, I would like to grow heirlooms and save my seed from year to year.

 

Anyone have a favorite book on growing transplants?

 

Blessings,

Melinda

Edited January 16, 2011 by Melinda S in TX

[gardening momma]

How low do you put the light? I don't do much seed starting, but I seem to recall reading that the light should be very close to the plants.

 

A book I really like is Making More Plants by Ken Druse. I'm not sure where I got it, or where you can get it (because it's very expensive on Amazon). Mine has a cover price of $45, but I doubt I paid that for it.

 

ETA: I might look up propagation or seed starting rather than transplants.

[Firefly]

I start almost all of my transplants from seed. The trick is to make sure the light is never more than 1" from the tops of your plants. Also, it's important to get grow lights or others made especially for that purpose, in order to expose your plants to the complete light spectrum. I've had success with regular fluorescents, one "cool" and one "warm".

 

Gardening From Seed is one of my favorite books on the subject. I'm not a fan of Martha, but this book is really simple and straightforward.

[stormy weather]

I have never used a light except on african violets so I can't speak to using lights. I always used a south facing window and never had too much trouble with legginess. Just as soon as they can go out with a cover at night or out during the day without freezing I carry them back and forth, that way they are getting a good amount of sun (being careful that they don't get sun burned of course). Do you fertilize them at all?

 

This book is an oldie but it has been the best I have read over the years The Seed-Starter's Handbook

[gardening momma]

From the book mentioned above:

"Seedlings need a great deal of light as they grow, but they no longer require bottom heat. In fact, after seedlings have emerged, high temperatures will cause them to become leggy, and they may be useless by the time it is safe for them to go outside."

[Mallory]

You live in Texas? How many things do you really need to start inside? I would work on making a bed where the things that fall right on the cusp could just start outside -maybe a warm wall of hay bales on the north side, or making your own kind of green house with plastic and wire, or a cold frame can work really well. The more things you can start outside the better.

 

I also have always put a fan on my seedlings so they have to build stouter to stand up to that wind. Even before the lid comes off the sprouts I brush my hands along them 2 or 3 times a day.

[chickenpatty]

We start them in trays with peat (or is it peet?) pellets, keeping them inside where they get sunlight. As they sprout and it's not too windy, I put them outside a little each day (having them in the trays makes it easy to transport them), gradually leaving them out there longer & longer. They do look a bit leggy, but are pretty hardy. With tomatoes, you can plant them up to their "necks" & all those little hairs turn into roots, so this helps with the legginess.

 

HTH! I find the transplants too expensive too.

[Sara R]

Look into Winter Sowing, an easy and reliable to start plants from seed outdoors.

[MamaSheep]

I'm totally eavesdropping here because I'm planning to have a serious go at starting transplants this year too. I've done it with just a few things a couple of times before, but timed it wrong and didn't have enough light, and it didn't work out so well. This year it's time to get serious, though, so I just purchased some supplies to set up a good station with some grow lights and got some chain to hang them from so I can keep them really close to the seedlings. I also saw somewhere that it's good to put the lights on a timer so that they are on for 16 hours or so, and then off, so that the plants can get a "night". The same place recommended having a fan blowing on them like a previous poster mentioned. Also, I got this Planting By Color guide to help me with the timing on everything. I'm really looking forward to gardening this year. Last year I just let it all slide so I could really focus on the house, but this year the yard gets the focus. Yay!

[gardening momma]

I just found this chart for last frost date that I thought would help any fellow gardeners. I never understood why the frost dates vary so widely (not regionally or nationwide, but my area!). For example, I just tried an internet search for the last frost date for my area, and it ranged from April 14 to May 19. :confused: But this chart helped. I'm going with April 27, which is in the 10% window for 32°.

 

This chart is divided into percent chance of last frost (90% of the time X will be the last frost date, 50% of the time Y will be the last frost date, and 10% of the time Z will be the last frost date). Somewhere I read that you should plant in the 10% window to be on the safe side. It also divides these percents into temperatures, called Threshold (in degrees Farenheit). So if you're looking for the last date above 28°, 32° or 36°, it will tell you for each percent window (90, 50 or 10).

Edited January 17, 2011 by gardening momma