the only gadgets I use are seedling trays, but if I lived in a cold climate I might invest in a heating mat. I dont think it's necessary to overcomplicate things, keep it simple and it usually works out fine

I do use bottom heat to maintain germination tempertures because my seed is grown in an unheated greenhouse. If you are growing your seed in normal household temperatures you really do not need a heating mat. If you are also growing from cuttings a heating mat is a must. Most gadgets are only convienences and not necesities. Al

>a squeeze- type sport water bottle for overhead irrigation once seedlings are sturdy enough to ha

...error in transmission...please excuse...-mrs nickleby

>a squeeze- type sport water bottle for overhead irrigation once seedlings are sturdy enough to handle overhead irrigation:(fertilizer applications/clear water flushes)

>proper fertilizer selection (low phosphorus; at least60%N in nitrate form;complete macro/and minors formulation) and appropriate application:(frequency/concentration) for seedling development dependent upon the environment you are working with; seedling stage of development; any minor modifications based upon the cultivar; and some considerations regarding the characteristics of your water) See: Kenneth Joergensen articles.......>>
http://www.suite101.com >>>can anyone provide a direct link??

>new cellpacks/containers(sowing/transplanting);new small pots

>a horticultural grade disinfectant for(larger)pot/flat cleaning(outdoors:not in the kitchen sink)

>heat pad optional dependent upon cultural notes

I use a moistened tooth pick to pick up individual small seeds and deposit them in the seed starting mix. I keep a small saucer handy to pour a few small seeds onto. I don't pour out too many seeds at a time in case I or someone else sneezes.

I keep another small saucer handy with a little water in it to dip the toothpick in and then I just touch the toothpick to a seed and it adheres to the tiny droplet of water on the end of the toothpick.

The dampened starting mix absorbs the droplet and the seed on contact. I keep a folded paper towel handy to wipe the tip of the toothpick if it needs it.

This saves the expense of buying one of those little rubber bulbs with interchangeable seed-holding tips to handle small seeds individually.

MM

Mrs Nickleby,

"See: Kenneth Joergensen articles...can anyone provide a direct link??"

Starting with Seeds, Part 1 and Starting with Seeds, Part 2.

MM

I would second two items mentioned above. A heating mat - I got the sort used for heating backs and joints from a thrift store**. I used bamboo kabob skewers in the manner MaineMan uses toothpicks for the handling of small seed.

**I used a cooking thermometer with a metal probe and a dial to monitor and adjust the temperature.

I find that a Tweezers are a useful tool when planting seeds and leveling the soil.

Ankrara's Hobby Corner

....a Christmas treat.Thank you Maine Man
one further comment...I am not over- exuberent with regards to fertilizers :I grow my plants on the lean side(ie watching media moisture).I use water flushes more often than fertilizers...

My favoite things are heating mat (I live in the north), needlenose pliers which I use for handling some seeds and a cheese shaker(like parmasean cheese)filled with vermiculite so when I put tiny seed on the surface just sprinkle with shaker and spritz with water.

This is a neat thread :-)
Best Wishes, Wendey

Hi Shellva,

My absolute favorite, can't live without seed growing thingy is vermiculite! I use it for everything! Sometimes with a handful of peat moss (for the acidic loving seedlings) or perlite (for the can't stand standing water ones ;) )

I forgot to mention an emery. A fingernail emery or wet-dry emery paper used in auto repair. I used it to speed up the germination of hard surfaced seed like morning glory. Just scratching the seed with the emery before soaking overnight, or planting for that matter, may take two or three days off the time until the first root breaks through. (I did a lot of expermintation with this sort of think when I had a hobby greenhouse.)

The cheese grater suggestion for sifting stuff like peat over the seed is a useful item too.

When I was starting out, the thing I couldn't have done it without was the helpful advice and encouragement of folks on GardenWeb! I've learned a lot from you all over the last few years. Thank you and Merry Christmas!

Deanna

Sorry, Michelle, I didn't answer your question directly.

I've used the Bio Dome. It works fine, but I think it's money that's not necessary to spend. The bio-sponges would get pretty expensive buying every year if you think you'll be starting seeds every year. Growing mix in cell packs work just fine. And when you plant the plant in the ground, the bio sponge never goes away, and it can also tend to stick up a little bit out of the ground, and I don't like the way that looks.

I also don't like peat pots. When you plant them, they don't break down in the soil, and the roots don't readily grow through them. And getting the plant out of the peat pot is a hassle, compared to using a plastic pot where you just carefully dump the plant out.

I think it works best to start them in cell packs, and when they have a couple true leaves, transfer them to 3 inch pots. They have lots of room, then, to grow a healthy root system before they are planted outside. I like the square ones because they fit together in the flats better than round.

I don't buy special heating mats (too expensive), but I do use a heating blanket. It works fine, especially since I tend to have several flats of seeds going at once.

Hope that helps!

Deanna

Hi All,

Just dropped in from my usual forum haunts and saw this interesting thread.

I could not do without commercial seeding trays and domes. I use a "high top" style clear dome-- the kind I get is very robust and doesn't crack in the cold (I winter-sow quite a bit of stuff)

The tray bottoms I use are the kind without drainage holes. They have a tendancy to crack, especially when filled with 4" pots. I find that if you wrap some packing tape or duct tape around the outside perimeter just under the "lip" the extra reinforcement will make the tray last several years.

I, too, prefer to sow in cellpacks and thin or transplant into 4" pots. The larger seeds get started directly in 4" pots. Cellpacks and pots get washed every year-- rinse in a soapy bucket first, then just put 'em through the dishwasher and they're clean/sterile enough.

Another indispensable gadget I have is my "cheap bottom heat" box. I won't go into details here because there are other good threads showing how to use christmas lights to do propagation trays.

I suppose the most indispensable gadget is the clamp lamp. These are light sockets with a metal reflector and a "pincer" type clamp.
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Use them with the highest-power compact fluorescent bulb you can find, and you have cheap, cool, directional lighting to supplement whatever comes in naturally.

Growing medium... I tried several retail commercial types but they were too coarse and too expensive. The "sunshine mixes" used by the industry are excellent, but not readily available in my area. When you can find a nursery willing to bag and sell it, it is quite expensive. I found an agricultural supply place that sells me a yard "cube" of professional starting mix ("PGX" from Premier). This lasts for a couple of years and it is incredibly fine stuff. Not strictly organic (they put some fungicide in it) but I haven't found anything to beat the quality and uniformity of the material.

Chamomile flowers to make a nice natural fungicide infusion. You can get them loose at tea shops.

Liquid fish (2-3-0) and liquid kelp (0.1 -0.5 - 1.0) oragnic fertilizers. When the seedlings are big enough I start them on a half-strength (or less) mix of these two.

Hmmm, what other gadget would be considered indispensable... MY HUSBAND! He puts up with the mess and the chaos every year without complaining. Well maybe just a bit of complaining. In return I have eradicated all grass in the yard and any need to do yard maintenance. He is free to be the purely cerebral guy he is...

Please, I want to hear more about the 'cheap bottom heat Christmas light' thingy.....or where I can find info...curious person that I am.....

Me too. What is the Christmas light thingy?
Jerry

1--the soil. I use Jiffy-Mix to start my seeds. Stokes seeds (mail order) sells a 3-cu. ft bag for about $28 plus $5 shipping, which is pretty reasonable. I usually add a few seeds to my order, because Stokes charges a flat rate for shipping.

2--16-to-32 oz. plastic soft drink cups like you can get at fast food or mini-market joints. I use them as scoops, water holders, tool holders, just about everything. And I get to drink the soda in them before I recycle them, so I figure it's a pretty good deal. Now if I could just stop the other person I live with from throwing them out....

Lisa

MaineMan, thank you for the moistened tooth pick idea. Used it today and now it is my favorite too. :-))

My favorite seed starting tool is the bottomless paper plant band. They're cheap, effective, and allow you to transplant the seedling with no shock to the root system.

Donn, where do you get these bands?
Wendey

Wendey..I get them from Monarch.

Here is a link that might be useful: Monarch

Thanks Donn, Those are really cool!! It says they are 96% biodegradeable, What has been your experience?
Wendey

96% is just about right. All that's left is the very fine film that the outside of the band is treated with. It's some sort of poly, that helps hold moisture in the band. Some things, like lettuces and other leaf veggies, spend very little time in the bands. I slide them out, and plant them, and then re-use the bands. Others get planted right in the band. The bands will last a good year, in outdoor conditions.

I just got a case of 1.75" square x 6" deep bands the other day. They're on the "Specials" page of the website. 2,200 bands for $56. The freight is high, though. $32 to ship one case to Long Island. I cut them down to 3" depth, so I get 4,400 of them for .02 each. Not too bad. You need to find flats to put them in, and the flat's bottom needs to be mesh, so the plants in the bottomless bands will air prune. I built some, and then broke down and bought a case of 50 used 4" deep trays from Monarch. They were on the "specials" page, too, but I see they are only showing the 6" deep trays now.

My definate must have is a papertowel tube (or something similar) old newspapers and plastic plant trays (the flats you get free when you purchase a bunch of plants). I cut the newspaper into appropriate sized strips, roll them around the papertowel roll, and leaving a bit of the newspaper hanging below the end of the roll, I push the end of the newspaper into the roll. Then pull off and drop into my garbage bag which I then fill with hundreds of little newspaper pots to start my plants in. It is cheap and easy and it is also very environmentally friendly.

I also could not live without seed trades and those wonderful people who do the seeds for SASE....I am never without seeds to start and when I do find a seed that I have been looking for there is no better feeling of finally finding it and giving it life.

Shop lights and a fan, along with the flat trays. Everything else is mostly negotiable :-)

You need bottom heat. Just because a room is 72 does not mean the moist soil reaches this temp. didn't feel like spending a fortune on a thermoststically controlled heat pad. Went to Walgreens and bought a heat blanket. I believe it's 3ft x 4ft. If you want smaller go with a heating pad. Got to play with the settings to get what you want there fore

i bought a cheap digital kitchen thermometer used for measuring a varity of cooking processes. Stick it in the seed medium. Amazing how fast things germinate at 75-80.

Biggest problem I've had over the years is damping off. Fine line between drying out and too much moisture. Camomile tea, Hydrogen Peroxide solution, various fungicides help. The pros use commercial anti damp off. Circulating air via small fan also helps. Two schools on whether to cover or not with clear plastic. The professional green houses don't

I don't have much trouble with getting them started but they get too leggy and don't make it. Or they get molded. I do have a small greenhouse but it would not stay warm enough at night for the seeds to survive. If I put a heating mat in there, that would solve it. I saw someone's seeds with a regular size heating mat and light and they were doing great. I've looked on Gardener's Supply and one warming mat and a light someone could rig up would not be that expensive.
On that legginess problem, should I start them later, any advice greatly appreciated.

Carla

Carla, on legginess, put the plants closer to the light, like one inch away. (That's simplifying it).

Gadgets...a wide bottle brush for cleaning cell paks, a pencil to make holes for transplants, a spoon to dig out the seedlings which have to be separated. Plastic cups to hold things and scoop things. Plastic wrap to cover each seed pak (removed immediately upon germination), finely milled sphagnum moss sprinkled over soil to prevent fungus...

Park's Seed Condo with extra light fixtures attached, each fixture contains one cool white and one full spectrum tube, extra chains and 's' hooks, notebook with seed germination requirements for plants listed by # of weeks before last frost they should be planted, timer for lights.

Foam kneeling pad for obvious reasons.

Just dropped by for a visit and noticed the two earlier posts in response to my "christmas light bottom heat gadget". Here are the details...

The following "light-bulb-in-a-box" system for bottom heat is a cheap and simple way to get bottom heat that is adjustable and inexpensive. The heat source is a string of christmas lights placed inside a box to heat the air within.

There is a platform inside the box that supports the cellpaks or flats. The box can be wooden or sturdy cardboard about 12" x 18" x 18". Cut a few holes in each side a few inches from the bottom. These are for ventilation so the box doesn't overheat.

Now for the heat source. Find a string of christmas lights. I tried using a 20-watt light bulb in a "trouble light" housing, but it tended to create a hot spot. Christmas lights help keep the heat evenly distributed.

Put an insulating, heat-proof liner on the bottom of the box. The idea is to keep the bulb(s) from touching the bottom of the box. You could use an old plate or a ceramic trivet-- so long as it does not conduct heat well and it keeps the box bottom from heating up.

Now make the platform on which the seed trays rest. Cut a piece of cardboard to fit snugly inside the box just trace the bottom and trim it up to fit. Leave a small gap between the edge of your platform and the box wall-- for ventilation and to allow "finger access" to remove the platform. The setup I'm using these days is a glass cutting board that happened to fix the box.

Support the platform with your choice of heat-proof "risers". Try a mason jar in each corner. Empty cans or old glass tumblers would also work. There should be several inches between the top of the bulb(s) and the platform. On top of the platform put a waterproof cover.

Set the seedling trays on the platform. Now measure and monitor how hot the seeding mix gets. Use a meat thermometer set to just below the surface of the mix. To decrease the temperature, cut more holes, raise the platform, unscrew a few of the Christmas light bulbs, pull a section of the lights out of the box.

For seeds that need light to germinate, get a clamp lamp (see the photo in my post above) and use a compact fluorescent bulbÂ-or two, depending on how many trays are underneath. Rig up the clamps so the light is a few inches from the tops of your trays.

That's about it. Cheap and easy. Here are some photos:

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For this setup I used a wooden crate that held wine bottles. I screwed in some 6" x 1/2" boards to make the overhead "beam" to which the lamps are suspended.
The photo above shows the glass platform-- actually a cutting board that happened to fit pretty well-- and the mason jars supporting it.

Heating mats for sure. Commerical flats and cellpaks as I give a lot of plants away, but I re-use the paks and flats that stay with me. I have a couple of clear plastic lids for the flats that are germinating and cycle the plants out of those heated covered flats when they sprout.
Overhead light was easy - cheap shelving, and I strung a florescent light over each shelf - adjustable using twine over the cool ends of the light.
Also - No-damp, vermiculite, and masking tape and indelible markers for labelling. Larger pots (4") for planting on into and germinating perennials over winter outside in - these have all be given to me by friends and neighbours.

I didn't see any mention of ground Cinnamon (the spice).

I sprinkle it over any green slime/mold that appears on my soil. Stops it in it's tracks and have never seen any harm from it.

John

Another gadget I couldn't live without is the PotMaker. I make my own pots with newspaper and when ready, just plant them in the ground and they dissolve. Be sure to use black and white news only as the colored paper could be toxic to plants. For anyone that's interested I found mine at Burpee. Just go to the site and search for PotMaker.

I agree a zillion times on the heat mats! I have 12 of them and need more of them. I do like the idea of using a heating blanket, never thought of that, it would be perfect size for starting flats of Caladiums this year, as last year I didnt have enough heat mats for them and it took forever for them to sprout. Lights are also vital for me, I have way way way too many of them in our home, occupying 4 different "grow rooms".

Other gizmos, I use a large turkey baster for watering individual plants. The baster seems to let out just the right flow of water, as the watering cans seem to spill water into individual plants that dont need watered. This can be time consuming, but necessary until flats are all drying out at the same time. I bottom water all seedlings until they have been transplanted.

I also use, well it isnt a gadget but it is a technique really, a gallon water jug where I mix my fertilizer at HALF STRENGTH with water, and I will use equal portions of this (as needed) with WARM water, which gives me a 1/4 strenght fertilizer for all seedlings/plants that get watered. As you know, you should never water with cold water, but if you mix a batch of fertilizer and then dont need to use it all right away (say, a gallon amount), it gets cold in its container. So, I allow the gallon jug to get cold and then just mix with warm water, whatever amount I think I may need. I just use a second water jug and mix equal parts. No fertilizer waste!

I also use valve action markers in different colors that I use to right on my pots, so I know what is in them. I dont actually right out the whole name, such as Petunia 'Tidal Wave Silver', but I will simply write a small TWS on the pot, so I know what it is without using tags, because tags can (and do!) fall out. In the off season, after I scrub my pots, I use a black valve action permanant marker and mark over these labels so that the next season they are ready to go.

I also have jillions of pie plates, muffin tins, and pot pie tins which I use for sowing seeds. These are the perfect depth for planting almost all seeds. Though, I am now beginning to use more commercial plug trays, I still use lots of the muffin tins for planting up to 25 seeds.

I also use cut up sections of plug trays for "jimmying" up the different containers to reach the light. For instance, right now I have several containers with impatiens seedlings and several with petunia seedlings, which are about an inch difference in height. I jimmy up the petunia seedlings in the flat so that they are the same height as the Impatiens, and all plants are the same distance from the lights. My plants almost touch the lights!

I also use little tiny baby toothbrushes for scrubbing plug trays and bottle brushes for cell packs and pots.

My husband designed some "free standing" grow light racks for me for when my plants have outgrown the shelves. We drape several chains over a table and hang the lights under the table, and I can keep growing on my plants when they are quite tall. I can raise the lights up to two feet if I wanted to! Most plants dont get that tall though before getting hardened off, but the height is nice for getting containers going early. Anyone can build this, just get a good old sturdy table.

I also do the wet toothpick trick! Works great for "smashing" pellets also. I like to smash my pelleted seed so that they all germinate at about the same time. Another thing to do with the toothpick--if any of you are like me and want to conserve every single seed that germinates, I get frustrated when I have a container of ready-to-transplant seedlings and I look closely and see several seedlings that had just sprouted. Especially with seed that was expensive, like impatiens! What I do is, I keep an eye on the flats and I will use a toothpick to remove some of those tiny germinated seedlings from the container, and move them one by one into a new container. Since they have just germinated, there is only a very tiny root system, so you dont hurt it at all by moving it. If I did not move them, they would get ruined when I transplant the larger seedlings to cell packs.

I also keep an eye out for ungerminated seeds,in particular with impatiens or seeds that I spent a lot of money on. I dont quite understand why they dont all germinate at the same time, but it happens all the time! I will use a toothpick to pick up the seeds, put them in a new container and back under the domes for germinating. This also keeps me from losing those baby seedlings I mentioned before. Tedious? Sure! But I strive to get everything I canfrom what I spend on seeds!

Anyway, those were my gadgets! Neat post!

I use rain water from my rain barrels to water all seedlings and plants before transplanting outside. I put it in gallon milk jugs and keep it next to my light stand so it can warm to room temp.
I also use a fan..a real must for strong sturdy plants and preventing damp-off.
Of course a timer for the lights.
I use cheap popcycle sticks and permanent marker for labeling. For newly planted seeds I break the sticks in half.
Happy Gardening..............Tom

I use a lot of the peat pellets in the trays and I use a white out pen to label each row on the outside of the tray. A-L long ways and 1-6 up both sides. Then I use a popsicle stick and sharpy to put the name of the seed and then the rows I put those seeds.

ex. Impatiens A-C, 1-6. That means I have seeds in the first three rows, all six pellets. Now wasn't that as clear as potting soil??? LOL

In my germination log I also put the location of the seeds.

I have used quite a few of the tricks I've learned on this forum and have learned a few more just now.

This is a great thread.

Cindy

I'm a peat pellet freak. I start each plant by putting one in a clear plastic glass and "inflating" it. I use a sharpie to write on the cup what's in it. Then I stick them in a tray under flourescent lights in the basement, and eventually harden off. Most of my veggies go from here, right into the ground. (I use a bulb planter for the hole). Cheap, easy, efficient.........My planting method, NOT ME!!!!!!!!!