Seed Starting Update

I documented the kickoff of my seed starting efforts back in March. The results turned out to be  less than satisfactory. I managed to kill about half the starts, usually because I forgot to water them after coming home from a late night at work.. By replanting I was able to salvage the tomatoes except for Opalka, a paste, which I replaced with purchased plants of Blue Beech. The peppers, given their long germination time, didn’t fare as well, so I planted out without Padron, Jimmy Nardello, sweet Red Cherry, and Tiburon Ancho.

 

I used 3/4” soil blocks for the tomatoes, intending to put them in 2” soil blocks when they got their first true leaves. The trouble with that size soil block is it has very small mass and quickly dries out if not watched and watered frequently, particularly in the bone dry inside air during a New England winter. They are also annoying with their tendency to fall over and roll around in the tray, scrambling any attempt I make to keep them sorted and identified. The 3/4” blocks are attractive because they are efficient and conserve space on the heat mat. I may try to devise some type of physical barrier to keep them upright and stationary in the trays I use.

 

 

The peppers were an experiment. I tried starting seeds in a medium, planning to transplant the germinated seedlings into 1 1/2” soil blocks after they germinated. I used a diatomaceous earth medium called UltraSorb, an automotive product used as an oil absorbent for garage floors. This was placed in a Styrofoam egg carton with holes in the bottom for drainage. The contents of each cell is easily marked on the size with a ball point pen.

 

 

This scheme did not work very well, but I am impressed with the UltraSorb. The major problem again is keeping the seeds/seedlings moist. The quantity of UltraSorb in the cells is small and coupled with its great aeration properties, the cells dry out quickly. It would be nice to use the carton lid for a tray to bottom water the cells, but the style of carton I have has the projection you see above to protect the eggs from crushing that interferes with that.

 

The other problem with the egg carton method and starting 10 types of peppers and eggplant is the wide range of germination times. With one grow light, a lot of space was taken by all the brassicas so there was no room for the heat mat. Once some peppers in the carton started germinating, they had to go under the grow light (without heat), so that extended the germination time for the rest. The big plus from trying this was the amazing, bushy root structures that the seedlings developed in the UltraSorb (which I did not photograph). That’s why I am going to try this again, hopefully with some better techniques to keep the medium from drying out.

Seed Starting 2014

It is officially spring now. The days are growing longer and the sun is definitely stronger and higher in the sky. A boy’s thoughts are supposed to turn to starting seeds, forgetting the winter that would not end. I have already started my onions and the seedlings are doing great. While I still felt like hibernating, this week I did get my tomato and pepper seeds planted.

 

 

I am starting the tomatoes separate from the peppers because the peppers take so long to germinate. I used 3/4” soil blocks for the tomatoes and will plant up to 2” soil blocks when they get some true leaves.. This year I am using a bag of McEnroe’s Organic Potting Soil I saved from last year to make the blocks. Compared to Johnny’s 512, it is much finer and has fewer twigs and rocks to pick out. I added some horticultural grade vermiculite, since it is lacking that. I covered the seeds in the dibbles with some UltraSorb, described later, and put the tray on the heat mat.

 

For the peppers and eggplant seeds, I decided to pre-germinate them in a medium and transplant them to 1 1/2” soil blocks when they get some true leaves. The medium I am using is UltraSorb, a product from Moltan and sold by Autozone stores in the US as an oil absorbent for garage floors. UltraSorb is granular diatomaceous earth, not at all like food grade DE or the powdered DEs used in swimming pool filters. It is very popular and extensively discussed on the Tomatoville forum, where it gets rave reviews.

 

 

To hold the UltraSorb, I used a Styrofoam egg carton with slits cut in the bottom for drainage. The idea is to provide enough opening to drain (and bottom water) the tray without allowing the UltraSorb to leak out. I used a razor knife to cut the slits, but found I needed a few direct holes in the bottom (made with a toothpick).

 

 

I used a Sharpie to mark each cell with the pepper variety. Each cell was filled with UltraSorb and moistened with water. I then used a pencil as a dibble to make planting holes, planted the seeds, and covered with a little extra UltraSorb. If you want to try using UltraSorb, make sure you get the product by that name manufactured by Moltan. AutoZone sells another absorbent that is made from calcined clay and it’s pH isn’t suitable for seed starting.

 

 

With that done, next step is to get some of the brassicas going, broccoli, kale and collards, and then the lettuces. This year I am also going to start the kohlrabi seedlings indoor rather than direct sow. I keep forgetting they are not a root vegetable. Indoors at least, spring is happening. Outdoors, a lot of snow has melted but we are still getting single digit nighttime temperatures. Everyone around here is tired of winter and can’t wait for warmer weather.

Back to Gardening

 

 

I have been silent the past few weeks because I was so busy. I do seasonal tax prep and until April 15 it seems like I am a hostage, chained to the tax desk. And it gets crazy at the end.The tax desk becomes a confessional and Father Dave hears a lot of “bless me Father for I have sinned, I have not done my taxes for three (four, five, …) years.” And this year, April 15 was also a holiday in Massachusetts (you know, Patriots Day, Battle of Lexington Green, Battle of Old North Bridge, Red Sox Opening Day, and the Boston Marathon). A day that is normally a feel good day, a day of multiple celebrations, became a tragedy. We spent the day chained to our desks, listening to the radio and asking clients what they had heard.

 

All that is now behind me and I was able to spend my Wednesday gardening instead of doing taxes. In the morning I potted up my tomatoes and peppers, as I reported in the previous post. The afternoon was spent prepping the raised beds and setting out the lettuce and brassica starts, shown above. They are growing in 1 1/2 inch soil blocks made using Johnny's 512 Mix and I think they look particularly healthy, unlike the sickly starts I had last year using Burpee’s Seed Starting Mix made with coconut coir.

 

 

The raised beds were prepared by fluffing up the Mel’s Mix and adding compost. I also added some green sand, kelp meal, and blood meal to give the plants a boost and add micronutrients. The brassica starts looked particularly good.

 

 

Beedy’s Camden Kale.

 

 

Broccoli DiCiccio.

 

 

Broccoli Purple Peacock.

 

 

Collards Champion.

Potting-up Tomatoes and Peppers

 

 

Most of the tomato and pepper seedlings now have their first true leaves so it is time to pot them up into larger soil blocks. This is my first year using soil blocks and so far results have been good, using Johnny’s 512 mix for the blocks. Anything would be better than last year when I used Burpee’s seed starting mix made of coconut coir and perlite.

 

 

I got out my brand new, two inch soil blocker, lined  a 1020 tray with paper towels, and wetted some of the 512 mix in a bin.

 

 

 

Since my seedlings were started in 3/4 inch soil blocks, I installed the special adapters I purchased with the blocker that makes depressions in the soil block sized to receive the 3/4 inch blocks. These adapters are attached with a washer and screw that cuts into the plastic adapter. Given the difficulty I had installing them, they will probably remain in place and if I am not using 3/4 inch blocks, I will just fill in the hole with more of the mix and make my own depressions for seeds.

 

 

It took a while to fill the 1020 tray with blocks. I did this in the morning while it was still cold outside, before my visit to the garden. When I completed making the 2 inch blocks, I transferred the seedlings to the blocks, making sure there was no air gap around the 3/4 inch block to inhibit root growth. There was no need to water them in since the new blocks were quite wet from the block making process.

 

 

 

The tray of seedlings are now in their new home and looking a little puny in the larger soil block. I am hoping they will like it and I will have strong, vigorous transplants in another 6 weeks.

Garden Planting Schedule 2013

I finally have completed my 2013 planting schedule sufficiently to post on Google Drive and share. It is a modification of my spreadsheet from last year. I deleted the column for seed source because that information is in the Planting List.  Since I am using Square Foot Gardening, I have added two columns for number of squares allotted to the vegetable, and either seeds/plants per square or the number of plants I need to start indoors. Note that the file will be changing as I tweak the schedule.  I print off a copy of this spreadsheet and take it to the garden with me, along with the plot plan. The biggest hurdle remaining is completing the plot plan and figuring out where to allocate all of these vegetables I hope to plant.

 

One of the challenges I have is figuring out what to do with the new and uncommon plants I am trying. I am going to treat fava beans just like peas and plant them in late March. Kohlrabi will be started and transplanted on the same dates as other cabbage family plants like kale and collards. I also figured an August planting date for fall harvest of Kohlrabi. Then there are the Asian greens like Tatsoi, Fun Jen, and Hon Tsai Tai. Most of these can be grown in early spring and late summer/fall, but I have no experience with them.

 

We are having a snowy but not awful Sunday, perfect for thinking about gardening. I finally got my Copra and Rossa Lunga di Tropea onion seeds planted in pots today and nestled on the heat mat. I outsmarted myself flipping particular seed varieties back and forth between my Fedco and Pinetree orders and succeeded in not ordering the Red Wing onion seeds I need to plant today while double ordering the fava beans. Oh well, I ordered a packet from Pinetree and will just have to wait for them to arrive. I hope I like fava beans.

 

I decided to try seed blocks for seed starting this year and ordered 3/4”, 1.5” and 2” soil block makers. I also ordered a 20 quart bag of Johnny’s 512 mix, which cost me $12 plus $6 dollars for shipping. A $20 box of dirt! But I wanted to see what the real thing was like before I try mixing my own. Some use the Vermont Composting’s Fort Vee Mix, which is carried by a local hydroponic supplier, so I may also try that when my supply of 512 runs out. I also used the 512 for the onion seeds since it has compost and some fertilizer and the onions will be in the pot for a long time.