Seeds not sprouting.

Hoggar Fri Apr 15, 2011 3:27 pm

Hi all I'm having sprouting issues with my Spinach,
I'm on my second batch of seeds and have only
two sprouts out of eight.

I put them about halfway down into the sprouting pod
and keep them in the tray to keep them warm.

Seeds not sprouting. 04-2

Glendale-gardener Fri Apr 15, 2011 3:53 pm

I'd wait for someone to back me up but is that a little deep for spinach?

middlemamma Fri Apr 15, 2011 3:55 pm

I agree...a little too deep would be my guess.

kjenkins82 Fri Apr 15, 2011 4:22 pm

Keeping them warm could be part of the problem, too. I think ideal for spinach is 50s or 60s and germination rates drop as the temp goes up.

quiltbea Fri Apr 15, 2011 4:57 pm

They should only be planted a half inch deep, not halfway down the pot.
The soil must also be kept moist, not wet, but moist thru the whole germination process.
Good luck.

**camprn** Fri Apr 15, 2011 5:00 pm

If you don't have snow on the ground and your garden is ready go ahead and direct sow it into the garden. Seeds not sprouting. 311672

middlemamma Fri Apr 15, 2011 5:02 pm

camprn wrote:If you don't have snow on the ground and your garden is ready go ahead and direct sow it into the garden.

+1 I ALWAYS have better luck this way...direct seeding is my favorite!

Hoggar Sat Apr 16, 2011 10:00 pm

Thanks for the Info all.

Today was a beautiful day so I topped off my boxes and planted another
batch of Spinach as instructed, I also transplanted my bell peppers,
Cucumbers, Carrots, Watermelon, leaf lettuce & planted Peas. I still have
Tomatoes and a few things to go into my other box but I'm going to wait
a bit and see how the first one holds up. Its Domed with clear plastic and
I think its sealed up well.

I have come up with a Unique grid and as soon as I have it working the
way I want I will post pictures with a parts list with measurements.

Seeds not sprouting. South-Box

middlemamma Sat Apr 16, 2011 10:06 pm

Hoggar wrote:I have come up with a Unique grid and as soon as I have it working the
way I want I will post pictures with a parts list with measurements.

TEASE!

quiltbea Sun Apr 17, 2011 12:39 am

I'm surprised you can transplant melons, cukes and peppers outdoors in Utah. You must be in a warmer zone than 5.

I can't wait to see your grid.

Hoggar Wed Apr 20, 2011 11:03 am

According to the US National Arboretum Plant Hardiness Zone Map
I'm in zone 7a not sure what that means but my plants are doing
well and my soil temperature is around 20°F warmer than the
temperature outside my plastic cover so yesterday when the high
was in the 40s my plants were comfy in the 60s.

BackyardBirdGardner Wed Apr 20, 2011 12:05 pm

Summing up spinach sprouting...

Consult page 252-3 of the book. That chart says it all. Spinach does better up to about 65*, then it starts to lose it's % of germination. However, you want to push it as close to 60* as you can because you speed up the germination time. I don't want to stick my spinach in 40* soil and wait 23 days for it to come up. I would rather start them inside, in vermiculite, and get them to 7 days....then, take them immediately outside.

Starting in peat never did much for me, either. Spinach has a surprisingly long taproot for the size of plant. I suppose this is why Mel doesn't recommend transplanting it. However, in vermiculite, you can simply lift the sprout right out with a little help from a pencil underneath.

Remember to try and keep the planting depth at 1/2", but if you plant in vermiculite, it's so loose, you have more margin for error.

bill_clancy Wed Apr 20, 2011 1:02 pm

I'm having the same problem in Monterey Calif. I'll sow some outdoors to see.

**Furbalsmom** Thu Apr 21, 2011 8:23 pm

bill,

you've been a member for a couple of months, and I don't think we have had a chance to welcome you properly.

I have had good success with starting in vermiculite then transplanting directly into the Mel's Mix. With our cool soil, the results were much faster than direct seeding into the garden.

Please keep us posted on your progress.

Hoggar Fri Apr 22, 2011 12:27 pm

Thanks for the welcome Furbalsmom.

I mixed my MM my self and I'm using Ferry Morse Jiffy Peat Pellets to sprout
my seeds. I bought a couple of bags MM to top off my 4 X 4 boxes and use
for potting stuff that can't take the weather yet and needs more growing
space. Ive been putting a 5 gal bucket of hot water in my dome at night
to keep the temperatures up. I have 2 squares that are empty so I set the
bucket in one of those spaces.

**Furbalsmom** Fri Apr 22, 2011 1:11 pm

Hoggar,

The plastic dome and hot water buckets sound like they are giving you a better environment than would normally be expected in your area for those warm weather plants.

Our high temperatures are in the upper 40s to mid 50s right now, so still a bit cool for me to get warm season plants outside. Plus our soil stays pretty cool for another month or so. I may try covered hoops this fall or next spring, still getting my table tops set up with hoops and trellises.

Hoggar Thu Apr 28, 2011 5:24 pm

We got snow this week and are expecting more on Friday and Saturday
So I have placed a small space heater in my dome to keep the temperatures
more even and above freezing. It is set on its lowest setting so it only comes
on at night or when the temps drop below 40 in the dome.

I haven't had a chance to finish up my grid yet but its basically an all PVC
grid with micro sprinklers at the junctions. that connects to the hose to
water the whole box at once on a timer.

Hoggar Sun May 22, 2011 9:08 pm

Ok so I finished my Watering grids I have one for each 4 X4 box and there
connected to each other with a short section of hose then connected to
the faucet and a battery powered timer. I'm still not happy with the micro
spray heads, there spray pattern is not consistent or uniform. I have tried
two different types and will keep experimenting until I'm happy with the
output. Right now my gardens are covered with plastic to keep the rain
out.

So here is the recipe for the grids if any one is interested.

I bought 1/2" PVC tubing and cut it into

18 10-3/4" lengths
6 9-1/4" lengths
I used
9 X cross connectors Seeds not sprouting. Cross.5sm

2 X 90° Elbows Seeds not sprouting. Pvc-fitting-406-regular-90-sxs

1 x 13/4" FHT Swivel x 1/2" Slip Spigot. Seeds not sprouting. Pvc-hose-fitting-3quarterswivel-5slip

for each grid.

**Furbalsmom** Mon May 23, 2011 12:31 am

Hoggar, I like the design of your Watering Grids. At least with the current rain you don't need the grids immediately and it gives you a chance to fine tune your sprayers. Hope you find just the right one soon.

Hoggar Mon May 23, 2011 2:05 pm

Thanks for the kudos Ill keep you updated as I make progress in finding just the right nozzles.

Unmutual Mon May 23, 2011 3:54 pm

Home Depot should give you stock options, because I'm going out tomorrow to get some PVC pipe and connectors! I like that setup a lot.

Hoggar Tue Nov 01, 2011 6:20 pm

Unmutual sorry I dropped the ball on this.
Hope you got some thing together for your garden.

Ill wright up the finished parts list next week and post it along with a link in here.

Hoggar Tue Apr 03, 2012 3:52 pm

Here is the link to the full HOW TO post.

https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t11301-pvc-watering-grid#109726

Chopper Tue Apr 03, 2012 4:47 pm

Hoggar wrote:Ok so I finished my Watering grids I have one for each 4 X4 box and there
connected to each other with a short section of hose then connected to
the faucet and a battery powered timer. I'm still not happy with the micro
spray heads, there spray pattern is not consistent or uniform. I have tried
two different types and will keep experimenting until I'm happy with the
output. Right now my gardens are covered with plastic to keep the rain
out.

So here is the recipe for the grids if any one is interested.

I bought 1/2" PVC tubing and cut it into

18 10-3/4" lengths
6 9-1/4" lengths
I used
9 X cross connectors

2 X 90° Elbows

1 x 13/4" FHT Swivel x 1/2" Slip Spigot.

for each grid.

Like so many cooks, you left out the most important ingredient - the sprayers. And are you putting them in on each corner? Do you have to use some sort of caulking? I am not a natural at this obviously.

Hoggar Tue Apr 17, 2012 11:33 pm

Sorry about that Chopper, After testing several different heads
I used the full round micro low volume sprinkler head heads
with out the Flow Adjuster. I drill and tap the four corner
connectors then screw in the heads.
Seeds not sprouting. 61034_128

I'm planning on changing the design this summer to a center
mounted micro manifold like the setup here.

make the center a 5 way connector (see pictures) and install
a drip manifold to use soaker tubing. For less water in the air
and more on the ground. I plan to refit one of my units in the
next few days Ill be posting pictures in the original thread.

PVC 5 way.__________Orbit 4-Port Adjustable Manifold.
Seeds not sprouting. PVC5way1inch

.......

Orbit 1/4" x 50' Soaker Tubing.
Seeds not sprouting. 018171015051xl

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