On March 4th, one month ago, I planted 24 square feet (4x6 foot area of raised bed) with Nelson carrots on 1.5 inch hexagonal spacing which used approximately 1536 pelletized seed (24 square feet x 64 seeds per foot). Two days later, on March 6th, I planted a 4x4 foot area on 1.5 inch hexagonal spacing and a 4x4 foot area on 2 inch hexagonal spacing. The first planting has germinated well (at least the 90% rate stated by Johnny's Select) and is now putting out their second set of leaves, (first set of true leaves.) The second plantings are farther behind probably because they weren't under a protective mini tunnel as the first crop was. I planted these seeds all by hand which was very tedious. But I do have some ideas about how to speed this up. There is a pelletized carrot seed plate available from Johnnys Select seeds for the Earthway seeder but with the short runs in my raised beds I don't think it would work well. It also can't accurately do hexagonal spacing. This six row precision seeder might work better but is also very expensive. Another idea is to build a device similar to this homemade vacuum seeder but designed for outdoor use. I actually built a small prototype of this type device and it seemed to work but it caused my shopvac to overheat and I also didn't like the idea of dragging a small noisy vacuum machine around the garden. :( The best idea I've come up with so far is a specialized device available for precision planting a whole flat of cell packs at once. I can't find the web site now but the operating principle if pretty simple. I think the method this device uses has good potential for adaptation to outdoor biointensive planting. Basically it's just a piece of flat plastic with precision drilled holes laid against another piece of flat plastic with offset holes. You scatter the seeds over the top plate and only one seed fits in each hole. You then tilt the tray slightly to slide the remaining seeds to one end, place the planter over a seed flat and then slide the bottom panel over a little bit and the seeds all drop through into the cell pack units. I've been thinking about how to adapt this idea for planting pelletized carrot seed but I haven't figured out what the best material to use would be. Plexiglass seems like the obvious choice but it also seems to crack readily when I try to drill it. Perhaps I just need a specialized bit? Any other suggestions for construction materials for this device are welcome!

$17? $20? Per square foot? Are you sure that's not the value of what you grow in that space? Or else someone is buying all their plants in the gallon size and planting them in pure purchased potting soil. The best reason to grow your own is to get better food, not necessarily to save money. But, darn, where do those figures come from? My son is starting from scratch this year and so far has $6,000 in plants, fencing, raised beds, and irrigation. But that is for 13,500 square foot of deer and varmit proof growing area. That's (what? math isn't my best skill) about 25 cents per square foot in fencing and permanent assets that should be prorated over the life of the garden and the life of the fruit trees. Veggies seeds aren't cheap, but there are less expensive ways to get them besides off the rack, and a package should be good for a couple of years. It's not the cost of veggies from the market. If you have home grown, you will eat more veggies than you would have bought, and you will eat veggies INSTEAD of other purchased groceries. Note: my policy is to only grow stuff that is expensive to buy, or else tastes much better home grown. I grow blueberries, not potatoes. Also tomatoes, because I don't like the pink rubber balls from the market.

I live in Long Beach. We do get coastal breezes. But because of our proximity to Palos Verdes Peninsula, the large "hill" blocks the northwesterly sea breezes, so many times Long Beach can reach into the 90s in the summer while south in Huntington Beach or north in Redondo Beach, the temps will be in the 70s. But for the most part, temps keep moderate year round. I'm luck to have a large yard and big enough for several large greenhouses. If do prefer the coast. San Diego county is beautiful. Take a drive down to Quail Botanical Gardens in Northern San Diego county. Vista is nice. Capistrano is nice too. The O.C. is nice, but you will find a lot of track homes. Large homes, yes, but not very big yards. Fullerton is nice. The old part of the city. But it does get warm in the summer. Not too bad. If you go north, try Ventura County. Ventura or Carpinteria. Forget Santa Barbara or Goleta unless you have big bucks. The housing market has slumped. But not to a point where you can buy a house along the coast for less than a million. (Though you will find some nice homes in the $800K) Hard hit areas where homes have been foreclosed will be the outlying suburbs (tract homes) in Corona, Riverside and much of Inland Empire where many new homes were defaulted on. I for one hate these types of neighborhoods. Cookie cutter homes (large) but no yard. And basically but up against near desert. I would avoid Porter Ranch and Santa Clarita. Right now the area is ablaze. Planned neighborhoods, fancy tract homes, and small yards. But again, fire hazard areas. Also we have a bad drought, so you will be limited in watering. And if you do choose to live in a dry area, well, you will have to change your plantings to reflect more native plants, grasses, and cacti. San Bernardino County is up in the foothills. The base of the mountain. Fallbrook is nice, but gets hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Good for fruit that need winter chill. Again, if you want to grow more exotics, more tropicals, then you need to move to the coast. Mornings will have marine overcast. Which is nice. And will burn away to sunny, mild days. You will have more micro-climates too. Here in Long Beach, I grow mainly orchids. But also pineapple, plumeria and hawaiian tea bushes.

i was wondering.. if your xmas present.. was protected from cold on delivery ... if not.. there might be some transport shock ... then you immediately transplanted it.. more shock ... and now.. you are wanting to fertilize a .. most likely.. rather stressed plant ... and i dont prefer to encourage such ... its also a rather large plant... and i wonder if its getting enough light ... are you supplying any light???? .. you state a grow light ... but i am thinking .. based on the size of the plant... that it is not enough .... and probably not close enough to the leaves to be of value ....so throw in a reduced light shock .... could we see a pic of the whole set up???? you are on the verge.. of loving this thing to death .... you need to get the basics right.. so we can get it settled down ... get it over all of its shocks .... good luck ken ps: thats the color of my bedroom walls... lol ...