Starting seed

OK, CC & Jimmy, what exactly needs the indoors start? I havent' started seeds indoors in over 15 years. And I would need a grow light, etc. I used to do tomatoes and peppers, before nurseries got onto the heirloom bandwagon.

HELP! Greens? When? February is when I used to do the tomatoes/peppers....

Scorpio Rising wrote:OK, CC & Jimmy, what exactly needs the indoors start?  I havent' started seeds indoors in over 15 years.  And I would need a grow light, etc.  I used to do tomatoes and peppers, before nurseries got onto the heirloom bandwagon.  

HELP!  Greens?  When?  February is when I used to do the tomatoes/peppers....

Starting my spring seeds is dependent on my wifes desire for trips. It varies from year to year, sometimes I leave them to care for themselves...
I start all the common plants in my basement, 2 years with good success. kohlrabi and romaine are probably  2 different plants, maybe ?
As far as grow lights, I use plain old daylights and they do nicely for me....no need to buy lights already made up if your a little handy...I made some, so they can't be that hard to do. Went from 12s to 8s they do great.

Yeah, me not so handy...esp. with electric things! OK, so do you guys start everything from seeds like that? Or just the stuff that loves heat (tomatoes, peppers, romaine, basil) What do you direct sow? I only did tomatoes, peppers, basil transplants, eveything else was direct sow seeds (squash, beans, carrots, Swiss chard, beets, potatoes, radishes).

Sanderson, I truthful don't consider myself talented at all. In my younger days I would stand on a rubber mat using rubber gloves just to change a lightbulb...LOL..
Anyone who can read, have the determination to do something has the ability if necessity is there.
Basic electricity is extremely simple once you get past the fundamentals. Being scared as I was is the issue.
I probably would feel the same way had I not had a great career in a electrical generating station, it was not only electrical, but many other trades.
I considered myself fortunate in that I worked with 300+ people from all walks of life that put together knew just about everything there was to know.
Electricity, isn't anything to mess with. I know enough to get me into trouble, just been lucky so far....

Look at your pictures, you have skills of organization, cleanliness, and many others I bet.
Being here on this forum has taught me so much that if I had to live my life over, I believe I would go into agriculture, it is soooo interesting, the whole scope of it.
And please...LOL....do not forget, I've only been at this for 3 seasons
I'm ready to turn 80, so give me about 15 to 20 years and I may be able to explain much more...

My spring seeding is done in a SE-facing window in our dining room area.  Nothing fancy - just repurposed containers to hold either peat cups or solo/yogurt/whatever cups once they outgrow the peat.  DH bought me a couple of small shelving units that sit on the desk we have there.  

I'm going to try spinach, lettuce & carrots inside this winter to see how they do.  I'll be using ice cream & butter buckets for that.  Still sitting in that window.

DH had said something last year about building me a seed-starting shelving unit on wheels with grow lights that would stay in the garage...  Hasn't happened yet and I'm not sure if we have the room anyway, lol!

I follow the package directions.  If it says "direct sow," that's what I do.  If it says "either," I'll usually start inside.

SR,  I have a box bay window which faces southwest and I pretty much just follow the schedule in the back of the ANSFG book for seed starting times:
 
Over the years I've added notes in the margin to fine tune the seed starting for my yard, which is quite different than the rest of the neighborhood.

Two winters ago we had no sun for a very long time so I put the little peppers, basil & tomatoes under an under the cabinet kitchen florescent until the sun came back out.

CC

I'm impressed with all of your systems, I have absolutely no room in the house at all for seed starting, so I start them in my greenhouse with natural daylight.  Of course, we're blessed with a really long growing season so I can get away with that.  

The hardest season of all for us to get seed started is actually the late summer planting for fall and winter growing.  I started lettuce 3 or 4 times and the heat got to most of them...

Audrey, and some of us wish we had a nice, big greenhouse like you have!   I don't have a nice south-facing window for seed starting so I use the formal dining room, as we don't need the area anymore.  It's easier for us to go to Sacramento where all of my kids and families live than for them to pack up all the baby stuff.  Ken's sons live in Las Vegas and Texas so he goes to visit them.  How in the heck did our combined families get so large!

sanderson wrote:Audrey, and some of us wish we had a nice, big greenhouse like you have!   I don't have a nice south-facing window for seed starting so I use the formal dining room, as we don't need the area anymore.  It's easier for us to go to Sacramento where all of my kids and families live than for them to pack up all the baby stuff.  Ken's sons live in Las Vegas and Texas so he goes to visit them.  How in the heck did our combined families get so large!

I also have a small home with no room to really grow seedlings.   But I am fortunate to have a nice greenhouse business nearby that supplies me with decent transplants.

Thanks, everybody for the info and advice, I haven't started seeds indoors since the '90s.....yes, been a while. When I did, I think from your pics, I used a flourescent light and my seedlings were leggy and pale, but I think I didn't have the light close enough to the little guys....need adjustable height on light.

And really good to know what you start inside, vs. what to buy transplants of. Back in the day, it was really hard to find any heirloom ANYTHING, so I started my tomatoes indoors first.

Thanks again, and keep the experiences coming if you have them!