Help with seedlings

[JacksFlock]

Does anyone hear start seedlings early without the use of grow lights or heat mats? I want to start some seeds next month but our current house is small and we can afford extra use of electricity.
We have a south facing glassed in porch, but its really cold during the night.

Any suggestions?

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]

Hmmm..alot depends on where you are..what zone you live in.

 

[Dreaming of Chickens]

Not sure where you are, but I have mine on our front porch. I bought a "mini greenhouse". It's a black plastic divided container with a clear lid. The one I have you can put 72 separate seeds in. You are not supposed to put it in direct sunlight, but it should be some place warm. After the seeds sprout and more than half of them have their first leaves the lid should be removed. Mine kinda looks like this:

You could also recycle old plastic throw away containers and make your own like this:

They might do OK on that glass enclosed porch. Mine is not enclosed, but you may have colder temps than we do.

 

[me&thegals]

Our local Menards sell growing kits that fit on a windowsill. The kids get about 27-30 plants started in those each year on their windowsills--none of which are facing south.

 

[JacksFlock]

I'm zone 4-5.

In the past when I've started stuff, they seemed to get to leggy and don't do well after transplant.

 

[bittibuddha]

seedlings tend to get pale and "leggy" if they don't get enough light in the seedling phase. I've had that problem myself over the years too because I did not have the space or resources to have a grow-light system. Its very difficult to give the seedlings enough light without the use of some sort of lamp, as they usually need 18 hours a day of direct, intense, full-spectrum light to grow hardy.

That being said, I am going to try again without a fancy grow-light system. I will start seedlings indoors in the peat pellet trays (mine is Jiffy brand), using a heating pad underneath until they sprout, then placing the seed tray in a south-facing window during the day and putting a few regular task lamps in close proximity to the tray for the majority of the evening. I'll turn the lamps off when I go to bed and repeat the process the next day for a few weeks until they get to a reasonable size. I'll harden them off on the south-facing porch, sheltered from wind and the elements for a few more weeks until time to plant out in the garden.

The worst that could happen? I end up with pale, leggy seedlings again. It's all an experiment and I learn something every day when working in the garden.

Good luck!
Karen

 

[Beekissed]

Here's a sweet and short explanation for your leggy seedlings:

http://organicgardening.about.com/o...Prevent-Your-Seedlings-From-Getting-Leggy.htm

 

[moolie]

We're a zone 3-4 and need to use lights for our seedlings--we start tomatoes, peppers, squash/pumpkins, and brassicas like cauliflower and broccoli, plus herbs. They've always done really well, except once (about 17 years ago now) when all my tomatoes got "damping off" fungus and died--we bought tomato plants that year. Last year we had a bumper crop of tomatoes because I started 3 seeds in each pot and nearly all of them grew!

 

[hwillm1977]

We start most of our seedlings under a flourescent light... they seem to do fine, and it really doesn't take up that much room... we hang it from the dining room ceiling and the seedlings are on the top of the dresser that we use as a buffet. The light cost less than $20 brand new at a home improvement store, it's just a shop light. It's under 60W total so it really doesn't use that much electricity. We put it on a timer for about 14 hours of light a day.

Do you know when your last frost date is? We're in zone 4/5 too and I can't start seeds until late march for the ones that need 8 weeks to grow before going out. My mistake the first few years I tried gardening (I haven't been doing it that long) was getting too excited and starting things too early without having strong enough lights to support the bigger seedlings.