Arrange your "mini-greenhouse" centered on the garage wall nearest your heated house. The heat loss from your house will benefit your greenhouse.

Good luck,

John

Brian,

I have started my tomatoes for three years now in my unheated garage and I live in a similiar zone as you. Not only do they thrive, they love it! They are hardier than you think. Go ahead and get them going and remember to keep the lights real close to the plants, like 1" or less. Any further and they begin to get lanky.

Also, don't forget to put a small fan blowing on them. Keeps the air moving, prevents fungi and also strengthens the plants so they are nice and study when you plant them out.

I'll be starting mine in the next week with a plant out date of last week of March or first week of April. The plants then would be about 4" tall and ready to go. A week or so before you plan to plant out, remember to harden them off by putting them in a safe place outside so they can adjust to the sun and outside temps.

I know most folks on here like to have their transplants much bigger than that, but with out longer growing season, the 4" plants will take off and grow quickly.

Have fun growing your own plants. You'll never go back to the garden center again!

Elaine

Cool,. thanks guys. I'm really looking forward to trying this out.
I figure I will either rig up a mini green house on my work bench, or possibly clear off one of my racks on my Gorilla rack and enclose it in plastic to hold the heat.

With the eclosed dome type kits, is the heating mat required, and how do you get the lights within an inch with there being a dome on top?

I am looking at one if these set ups

http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10101&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&mainPage=gateseedstarters

Thanks
Brian

Brian,

There is no need to spend good money on domes and things for tomatoes. I sow my seeds on some damp seed starting mix in a recycled plastic bowl like fast food salads come in with the plastic top, place in my electric oven with just the light on with the door cracked. I've found the light makes the oven cavity just the right warmth for sprouting. If you have a gas oven, check to see what temperature the pilot light keeps the cavity. Make sure you put a big sign on the oven controls so you don't forget and cook your sprouts!! I check everyday to see if I have sprouts. As soon as you see sprouts, you can't let them stay there, just pluck them gently out of the seed mix (tease them out with a fork) and plant in separate containers of your liking, like recycled (cleaned) 6 pack flower plastics or small styrofoam cups. Then they go immediately under my lights.

My set up is a wire rack shelving system that is long enough to hold two two-bulb fluorescent shop lights side by side. The wire allows me to use the chain and hooks that come with the lights to adjust the height of the lights to be just above the plants. As they grow, I move the lights up.

I don't use any additional heating or protection in the garage and I've had great success with my plants. We're about in the same zone and in California, so I imagine you'd have the same luck. Once they're sprouted, tomatoes do well with the cooler temps such as the garage.

You could probably set something up with your Gorilla rack and a couple shop lights. I use the cheap ones from Home Depot (less than 10.00).

Elaine

Here is a link that might be useful: Example of metal racking

Great Advise, thanks Elaine

I plan on using the same two, two bulb 4' florescent shop light, as I already have them :)

Is there any special type bulbs I should use, or are the standard soft white(or whatever I have) suffice?

Seeds ordered, now time to get inventive with sprouting supplies!

Chiming in on what Elaine's already said. I'm in the Los Altos/Mountain View region and I also start my tomatoes (and other veggies) in my unheated garage. They do just fine!

The heat mat is optional as well. I didn't have one last year and the tomatoes all came up, but I did have problems getting the hot peppers going. My boyfriend loves those, so I decided to purchase one this year, and they certainly do get things sprouted much faster. I'd recommend one if you're impatient like me, they aren't too expensive (about $23).

You can also make your seedlings stockier by blowing a fan on them for a little bit every once in a while. Alternatively, you can just brush your hands lightly over the seedlings when you check up on them.

The lights hanging from chains are nice because you can adjust the height when needed. Since I stagger my seed planting though I end up getting seedlings of different heights under one light (since that's all I have). I just stack some books, boxes or whatever underneath the shorter ones to get them a proper distance from the light.

And last but not least, since you're busy with your little girl (congratulations!) you can always try out wintersowing to save you some time. Trudi has a wonderful site that will tell you how to do this (wintersown.org) and you can send in an SASE and get a few tomato seeds to sample this year :)

If you are worried about the cold, and your garage is somewhat clean, you can do what I did. I cleaned out enough space for my wife to park her mini-van in the garage. The heat off the engine is enough to keep the garage warm. As an added bonus, as long as she is able to park in the garage, she's willing to overlook the shoplight setup I have for my seedlings.

Wait a minute, archerb, you mean a car can be parked in a garage? ;) I, for one, would like to see what that looks like!

lemonwater, I do the same when I have plants or containers of differing sizes. I just put something flat underneath the containers to make everything even under the lights. Also, I've found the top of the DVR box is nice and warm for starting my peppers. On those, I just put them on damp coffee filters and roll loosely up in a plastic bag. That way no wetness gets on the electronics. I also make sure I don't block any vents. I'm sure Directv didn't intend for it to be used that way, but why waste good energy? Also, the top of your hotwater heater is good too. As soon as they germinate, they get picked off into seed starting mix.

Brian, any fluorescent lights will do (the cheaper the better). But remember if they have been used for several years, they do lose brightness, so replace if necessary.

Hey, when you get your setup, make sure to post pictures. Everyone likes to see baby pictures (plants and humans!)

(Off to sow my peppers tonight!)

Elaine

Archerb, living in a house in California that was built in 1950, apparently the builders back then thought a "one car" garage was suffice. I like to say I have a one motorcycle garage, even though my wife would never let me get one LOL

Elaine, where in CenCal are you? I grew up in SLO and my folks live in Pismo. I love the area

Brian,

Our 1957 house came only with a two car carport, so we made it a two car garage, but with too much "stuff", I haven't seen a car in it in a while. We're in the central valley, Merced. Nowhere nearly as exciting as SLO or Pismo!

Elaine

Brian, once your seeds have germinated and are about 2" tall remove the dome and run your lights 12 hours a day. To keep your seedlings close to your lights just use styrofoam slabs to raise your seedlings to just below the light tubes. It comes in 2-3' squares and in different thicknesses. As the plants grow just remove a styrofoam slab to lower your plants plus it keeps your seedlings from getting cold feet. And you don't have to mess with your light. Styrofoam slabes are very inexpensive.

Brian:

I think I am the closest to you, in San Ramon. I made the mistake last year of buying the small grow kit with 12 inch bulb. I thought to myself, hey I am not growing anymore than 15 plants. Go to OSH and get yourself a grow light.

Yamagami's in San Jose area has great variety of tomatoes if you run into any problems.

Another question guys
If I go with the little Jiffy peat pellet flats I saw at Home depot for a few dollars....
I assume it wouldnt be advisable to try and germinate peppers along with the Tomatoes in the same flat as they have slight;y different germination rates?

I wouldn't use the peat pellets, just my opinion. The outside mesh part doesn't break down when transplanted & constricts the roots. I bought just the empty trays at Lowe's & potting mix there & use 3 or 4" plastic pots I got for free from a local nursery(I bleached them before I used them.) I use some Cowpots too, that I order online. I do use a heat mat in my garage with shop lights over it also. You can use plastic wrap over the tray just until they germinate, you don't really have to buy the plastic domes. I use a wire rack like mentioned above, but if you want to set it on your work bench, you can build a frame with 2x4's to sit at each end & over the flats with cup hooks to hold the shop light chains. My husband rigged that up for me 2 years ago, & then got me the wire rack last year---he wanted his table back! Good luck--- you will be addicted! It's so much fun growing your own.

I'm using the Jiffy Greenhouse this year and so far, I've had great success. Out of 30 pellets, 28 germinated and are now growing, compared to less than 50% of seeding mix and trays. The roots seem to poke through the netting without any problems from my experience. As soon as I see roots sticking out, I transplant them to peat pots (I plan on cutting a side out of the peat pots when they go into the ground). Even if the Jiffy Greenhouse netting does end up constricting root development, if you plant them deep enough when you transplant them, that shouldn't be a problem anyway. Still, I've read more than a few comments saying that the netting is bad, but all I can really go on is what I've experienced so far. Some people recommend removing the netting when transplanting. I didn't.

However, I did read a site that sells pepper seeds that says that growing in the Jiffy pellets is not recommended and they will not honor any warranty claims from seeds that did not germinate using peat pellets. The site claims that the pellets simply don't work for pepper seeds. I have no idea if this is true, but it is something you may want to research. I'm planning on growing only one or two pepper plants, so starting them from seed is kind of a waste for me.

I've used Jiffy 7's for the last 4 years and never had any problem germinating and growing my tomato seedlings in them. The part about having to remove the net and roots binding in them is simply not true. Last year I transplanted my seedlings in jiffy's to 4" CowPots using "Light Warrior" potting soil from Fox Farms with excellent results. I did hear of problems with pepper seedlings grown in CowPots though. Ami

I'm south of you in SLO, and I'm thinking of putting my seedlings inside in front of a south facing window on colder days and taking them outside on warm days (highs have been in the 70's). Why are grow lights needed if the sun is shining?

The sun isn't shining 16-18 hours a day in very many place on the earth.

"The sun isn't shining 16-18 hours a day in very many place on the earth."

I'm not trying to be difficult, I'm just trying to understand. The volunteers that are popping up all over my yard don't seem to have a problem with the lack of light nor do the tomato plants that I've been growing indoors in front of a window all winter. They are producing maters. So what gives?

I lived in SLO till I was 8, and my folks live in Pismo. I LOVE the area, but in you have a much more temperate climate than I do 249 miles North in the Bay Area. We have 30's at night and 50's-60's day(thought we have been having some freakishly warm weather lately :)
Direct sowing for me simply isnt an option as I wouldnt see a ripe fruit till September or so.

I'm jealouse that you can direct sow, sprout and grow in you Southern window.
I dont even have a Southern facing window :(

But....my little garage setup is almost complete, and my seeds should be arriving any day.

I will bo posting pics of what I have come up with all your help

bdobs,

I figured that since you were in the East Bay (as opposed to the SF side), that you were a little warmer. I'm not actually going to direct sow because we still have colder nights and some cold days (relatively speaking, of course), but rather bring the plants inside and outside in accordance with the daytime temps. Bummer about the lack of a south facing window! That is really what I was thinking about instead of grow lights. Although I have all of these volunteers popping up, I wouldn't have planted outside at this time. Perhaps the freakishly warm winter (80 degrees on Sunday and high 70's for the next few days) has something to do with it. Good luck with your maters!

bdobs:

I could have shared my seeds with you. I have what I feel are extremely popular seeds, including:

Kellog's Breakfast, although I am dying for some KBX.
Caspian Pink
Aunt Rubie's German Green
Julia Child
San Marzano Redorta
Chocolate stripe
Orange Strawberry
Aunt Gertie's Gold (My favorite)
Brandywine Pink
Cherokee Purple

Last year, I started the seeds much too late. I started this year a week before Superbowl. They are germinating quite nicely now.

Seems no one respond to your question about light, so I will try. I went to Lowe's and bought a light fixture using 34 Watt T8 bulbs. The T8 bulbs uses less energy, less risk of burning the seeds, and here's the kicker, have better ouput (lumens). Buy the one that says "Sunlight". The "cheaper" fixture from Lowe's worked better because the bulbs was not so close to each other. I want more coverage, not intensity for the seedlings. It cost me about $30.

Good luck with your endeavor.

JohnnyTomatoSeed

Thanks for your reply!
I went with the $9 HD lights, as I already had one. They are the bigger "older" shoplights. I may upgrade for next year to the more efficient T8's.
I sure wish I would have tried to buy some of your seeds as I hate the waiting game for the seeds from the retailers.

I went with the bulbs titled "daylight", I assume those are the same as the sunlight ones???

Where are you located? I figure I will hopefully get my seeds sometime this week,which should put my planting date somewhere in early April. I figure that should be a safer time in my parts.

bdobs:

I don't mean you need to buy it from me. I am willing to share them with you. Hopefully, if I like some of the new varieties, I will keep the seeds. I actually oversowed my seeds this time, thinking maybe only 70% will germinate, but they all did. I have like 20 Kellogs Breakfast right now and pondering if I should "kill" some of them or find containers, then give them away. If you are still interesting in any of the varieties I have, you are welcome to my extras.

I am just a noobie myself, but definitely learning lots here.

I live in San Ramon but go to Concord quite often, so I can actually drop it off or meet you somewhere. I gave my extras to my neighbors last year, but I rather give them to someone who would appreciate it rather than neighbors who don't listen, buy small home depot cages, plant too close, water everyday, then wonder why their plants are not as big as mine. sorry, venting a bit. lol.

Here a link to the light debate. I am not hard core like some of the folks there. I think they recommend "daylight", but I think I remember that the "sunlight" put out more lumiens.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg0911475116731.html?33

I made a small rectangular prism frame from inexpensive lumber. The box is wide enough to accomodate standard shop lights. I put three of them in it, with hooks at the top of the box to hold the chains, which I adjust as the plants grow. Lastly, I covered the entire box with clear plastic, the kind sold at fabric shops for a buck a yard. The plastic is stapled on except for the front which functions as a moveable flap. The entire outfit sits in the garage on an old folding table I bought at a garage sale for $3. I think the project came in under $75. I starts the seeds in the kitchen, and after germinaton they are potted and moved into the grow box. I use seed starting mix which I buy in a great big sack and lasts two or three planting seasons. Any good garden center carries them. The small sacks are a really poor value. Tomato plants will eventually be moved into self watering containers made from 2 liter soda bottles. You can google these as soda bottle self watering planters. Here in Athens nights can dip into the teens, so on those occasions I simply leave the lights going all night into the next day. On the whole, I tend to leave the lights on for about 14 hours (7 am - 9pm.) By the time Mid-March roles around, the seedlings are almost 3 weeks old, and I can tote them outdoors on temperate days. By early April, I can usually leave them out for a week or two for hardening. I've been at this for about 5 years and have had no trouble with my tomatoes, garden annuals, peppers, egg plants, and herbs. I've tried compressed pellets as well as peat pots, but found that watering can be an issue with them. The self watering containers, on the other hand, make watering a non-issue and gives me that warm giddy feeling that I'm recycling. Hope this helps....

I also start my seeds in an unheated (but insulated, finished) garage, but I find the heat from the house and the sun coming through the windows on the garage door keep the garage at a cool but safe temperature. I has gotten down to the teens the last two nights here and according to the thermometer I have set up in the garage, it is still about 48 degrees this morning when I left for work. Maybe if we had a lasting cold spell, I would worry about it dropping too low, but it is not too common for the temp to drop below 20 around these parts.

I start my seeds in the top shelf of a closet. If you're married, you may not get away with this. : ) I have four inexpensive shop lights mounted to the ceiling of the closet on adjustable chains. I also have a small fan for circulation and hardening. The conditions are so ideal that I often get germination in three or four days and seedlings are ready for transplanting after 5 weeks.

You can get a 4 foot fluorescent light setup, some grow bulbs and a heat mat and the starts should be fine in the garage.

Here is a link that might be useful: Win Free Garden Stuff

I also use my oven for sprouting seeds. It is an old fashioned one that uses a pilot light, and if I leave the door cracked just a bit the temperature is just about right for sprouting things like tomato or pepper seeds. But as soon as the first seed sprouts I take them our an put them under a florescent shop light I have hanging above one of my bedroom shelves.

Well...
I have 144 seeds of 9 varieties in 72 peat pellets germinating.
Hopefuly in a week or so sprouts will come, then its off to my little "whitehouse" rig in the garage

Update guys
Things are going great. Thanks for all your help.
Here they are last Friday 17 says from sowing the seeds

{{gwi:31513}}

oops, thought this was in another forum. Sorry about the duplicate pics in the tomato forum.
But thanks again anyways :)

Brian

I use peat pellets for tomatoes, peppers and herbs and they work fine. I do tear the netting off when I move them to a pot but that's personal preference. I've not had any problem using peat pots. Last year was my first year of starting all the plants from seeds, think I have twice as many peppers this year, more sweet in addition to the hots and super hots, definitely more tomatoes too.

So Brian,
Did you ever get the Glamos Tomato Cages from Wal-Mart? If not what about the Panacea heavy duty Cage at Lowes for 4.58?

George

I am still "waiting" on Walmart. We have spoken three times now and he is still trying to get them for me. One supplier couldnt get them, but another one says they can.
Soooo...no, not yet :)

Brian