I already have a good little batch of tomatoes going from my initial seed starting last Wednesday (posted on Thursday). After they sprout a bit in the mini greenhouse (with heat mat) I pop the peat pellets into 4-cell trays and under the fluorescent light setup in my little "solarium" area. I actually had the first 4 pellets under the light after only 48 hours on the heat mat.
It's been quite cool and cloudy lately so I have a space heater on the chair in front to keep the temperature reasonable.
Under the fluorescent light, I have the tray of tomatoes (seen below) as well as a pot in which I have started some parsley seeds. They usually take FOREVER to germinate, so they'll be there a while. And I've got an empty tray waiting to be filled up on the right side.
The majority of what is shown on the tray are the Park Seeds Heirloom Rainbow Blend which includes a mix of Aunt Ruby's German Green, Dixie Golden Giant, Black from Tula, Brandywine Red, Big Rainbow, and Cherokee Purple. I planted 3 rows of 6 peat pellets ... and 14 of the 18 are already well on their way (some have more than one seed sprouting - I have promised myself that I really will pinch out the "weakest" ones and keep only the strongest seedling rather than trying to keep them all).
Top row L to R: 4 pellets of generic GIANT "Tomato Leader" tomatoes - a seed pack my mom brought me from Arizona a few years ago; a 4 cell pack with thyme seeds; 12 pellets of the Heirloom Rainbow Blend.
Bottom row L to R: two styrofoam trays of mixed lettuce greens (I can't remember what it's called), 2 pellets of San Marzano tomatoes; the last 2 pellets of the Heirloom Rainbow Blend.
And I had a surprise when checking the rest of the seeds still in the mini greenhouse - one of the Stokes Super Red Pimiento Peppers has started to sprout. Very exciting as peppers usually take a super long time to germinate.
In addition to my initial seeds started which I outlined in the post a few days ago, I have also started some sage and rosemary plus some other pepper varieties. I think all I'll do in the next week or two will be a few more herbs. I don't want to get too much started now - considering the current weather situation, it might be a long time before anything gets into the ground (it's dropping to -11 degrees Celsius overnight with a nasty windchill to make it even worse).
Looks like you are well on your way - it really is exciting when those first (second, third...) seedlings come up! I'm not starting my tomatoes for another few weeks - I don't have a nice sunny spot to put them in if they got too large for the grow lights, so I just pot them up once before they go outside.
ReplyDeleteI've had some very crowded rooms in past years so looking forward to moving things into the greenhouse this year. I always tell myself I'll start them later next year, then I end up doing it early again. Oh well, seems to work for me.
DeleteSo you grow rosemary from seed? I've never tried that. I might have to if I lose the last of my not really hardy here rosemary.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how to grow things from cuttings (never actually tried) so seeds it is. It is really hard to germinate - last year I only got 10 or so plants out of 100 seeds. But it's still cheaper than buying new plants every year (they don't overwinter here at all - too cold).
DeleteNice to see seeds sprouting. Have to get to mine. I usually start the peppers, particularly the hot ones, well before the tomatoes because they take so long to germinate and hog a spot on the heat mat.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why I always start the tomatoes at the same time as peppers. I know they don't take as long (you are right, they take a lot of space) but I just seem to do the same thing year after year! I'll learn my lesson eventually. But I do have the space and I get a nice headstart on tomatoes - I just have to do several transplants before I can get them in the ground.
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