Do you grow vegetables from seed or starter plants ,What do you grow ?

[troutsqueezer]

I started my tomatoes and some flowers for the wife a couple of days ago in the greenhouse. I've got 8 different kinds of tomatoes this year. I plant 10 seeds of each variety every two weeks for six weeks and in the end I will have 120 plants in three stages of growth. This gives me backups along with some for the local garden club to sell.

This year I devised an easy way to raise and lower the lights.

 

[lakngulf]

This year I devised an easy way to raise and lower the lights.

Nice!!

 

[michael.white]

The fan is good to stiffen up the stems but if they are long and spindly they are not getting enough light. Regular florescent bulbs work well at 17-18 hrs/day, placed four inches above the plant.

You really don't even need the fan, just brush your hand across them a couple of times each day and they'll be fine.

It may have been the lighting then. I'll try that next year. Too many other projects this year

 

[forgeblast]

Ty cardoc. That sounds like a great pond.

 

[grnspot110]

I start tomatoes & marigolds in my 10' x 10' greenhouse.



Heat pad for four flats at a time. I don't start as early as some, but do use an old electric baseboard heater when needed.



I pump water from rain barrels behind the tool shed a few feet away.



grnspot

 

[crowbar032]

We have the leftovers from raising tobacco that have been adapted to veggies. Basic set-up is a 2x8 frame, lined with 8 mil black plastic, set on top of 1/2 inch styrofoam insulation with a waterbed heater on top. For the covering, we attached 1/2 inch PVC pipes to form hoops and then cover with a spun polyester cover (some people may know it as Remay canvas). The seeds are sown in styrofoam trays that have 200 "cells" in them that you fill with a soil mixture (think potting soil). Fill the frame with water, float the trays, turn the waterbed heater to high and watch your plants grow. Add liquid fertilizer as necessary/desired. The seeds are sown the first or second week of April and are big enough to plant around Mothers day or Memorial day at the latest. All weather dependant. A week or two before planting, we pull the canvas off to harden the plants. We start tomatos and marigolds this way with good success. Peppers and cabbage don't do quite as well, but we always end up with what we want. Extra bonus, no hole digging or carrying buckets of water either. Dad kept the tobacco setter when he stopped growing tobacco. Dad drives the MF 35 and I ride the setter. We've put out the whole garden before in under an hour (120 marigolds, 100 tomatos, 10 cabbage, 10 or so pepper).

I'm in Southeast Indiana close to Cincinnati Ohio so this may not work for colder climates. It's gotten into the 20's at night before and the plants don't appear to have suffered any damage.

 

[sseelhoff]

We do a little of both-seeds and plants.

Tomatoes and peppers from plants. Corn, zuchinni, melons, sunflowers and some others from seed. We also grow potatoes and onions from sets. Not sure what else we will grow this year.

 

[Grumpy Old Man]

I'll be starting some more seeds this week

 

[milkman636]

Blackberries and rasberries from transplants out of a patch started by my grandfather. Corn, beans, peas, carrots, and leaf lettuce from seeds.

Tomatoes, broccoli, melons, squash, and peppers are started by a local greenhouse. They do a nice job and everything I have bought from them thrives after planting. It's hard to beat.

We also swap produce with our neighbors for their red potatoes.

I am anxious for spring and the smell of fresh dirt.