I save foam from packaging and use it for insulation (under/sides/top). I use heat pads under everything. Basement temps are too chilly. I have LED grow lights…i need to move them lower. Things are just sprouting. I just used some basic seed starting mix from menards.
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Where in the setup do you guys put the thermostat controller? level with the mat under the trays or actually in the soil?
I am trying to start pawpaws and spice bush.
in the soil at the same depth as the seed, near the center of the flat since I want to measure the hottest part so I don’t go over temp anywhere
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Paw Paw resents transplanting.
I would direct seed.
Also
It prefers lower light intensity at the seedling stage.
I just use the cheap heat mats with no controller. It looks like it keeps the soil about 80F–which is probably too warm? I should probably have them on a timer.
All of my tomatoes/artichokes have popped and some onions are up.
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I don’t currently have the pipe at my house that will be their homes for a few years. I am going to try to be very careful with moving them once I find out which ones germinate (if any). I am not very optimistic since this is my first try, but we will see what happens! I appreciate the input.
I haven’t seen anyone mention this, but a few year ago I moved to a two phase approach. I start my seeds in an aeroponic setup, then move them to peat pots (I try to use 4" pots when i can, but will use 3" if i can’t get them for the right price). I then keep the peat pots on some shelving with lighting mounted to it. up until late year, I used T5 florescent lights (i was able to get the fixture and lights pretty cheap from Menards), but the cheap fixtures and bulbs started dying on my so I got some LEDs from Amazon that i have been trialing this year (pretty happy with them so far).
Here is one of my Aero Gardens, I have a few more depending on how much i want to start at a time:
I really like this approach as i have great germination rates, and i don’t loose sprouts to over/under watering like i seemed to do with seed trays. Also, 1 month after starting this, the young plants are ready to move to pots, and they have very long impressive roots already! I have had plants that were only 3" tall but had roots well over 18" long. The success and ease of this setup, offsets the initial cost for me. I know that some people won’t like it due to the high cost of the device.
Then here is a shelf of what I have started already:
Since i moved the shelf i haven’t gotten mylar set up around it yet, but i usually have three sides covered with mylar to reflect the light. The curl on some of the leaves is due to poor watering on my part, I have a bad habit of waiting a day too long to get more water onto these. The La Nina tricked me, we had been so warm in November and December that i started my chilis and peppers really early, but they have been really happy under these lights for 2 months already.
Depends on what you’re growing, that’s probably perfect for hot weather plants like peppers, tomatoes and cucurbits, but terrible for cold weather crops.
It might work for you but I have found that the type of roots you get with hydro / aeroponics aren’t very well suited for soil. When I tried it the plant would stall for a few weeks and especially struggle on warm days indicating poor root development. Its probably fine for tomatoes (and peppers?) who aren’t very sensitive to transplant shock, but was very apparent with cucubrits and herbs.
I start my tomatoes and peppers in small peat pots with seedling mix. They sit on a shelf by a window with southwest exposure. Temp is 70 to 75 degrees F. I spray several times daily. Good success and noticed today my Manzano peppers are sprouting. They have been my toughest challenge.
I have tomatoes pop up in three days, and have peppers popup in a week or so. But under exctly soil，moisture, heating mat condition, most of my peppers didn’t popup over a month, and still has no signs of any activity. I am talking about around 10 different varieties of peppers. My conclusion is, it is not you(or me), it’s seeds issue
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Pepper seed over 3 years old rarely germinate at a high enough level to be worth the effort. I am attempting to grow out just about every pepper variety that I have which means I planted several varieties that are 5 years or more old. It looks like 40% of them are no-shows with several more that produced just a few plants.
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Peppers are slower than the Tomatoes and they like it a little warmer.
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I’ve had old pepper and tomato seeds germinate really super late. Once I had a bunch of peppers come up after I had given up on them and replanted the cells already with another pepper. I didn’t know what is what when they both come up! But yes definitely pepper seeds don’t keep nearly as well as tomato seeds.
This has been my best year getting brassicas to grow from seed. It seems my secret is keeping them in an unheated garage on a heat mat under lights and then getting them outside ASAP. Also, mixing compost into the promix seems to help. There is no real science here, just trial and error. I could not get these guys to grow like this when I did them in my basement.
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I use seedling mix for my tomatoes
grow them in the square flats
10 by 20 inches.
on a heat mat.
I start them about March 15.
indoors
you will need some supplemental lights
A window isn’t enough.
I’m on the home stretch of 4200 peppers and 1200 tomatoes that we grow for local restaurants. This year we rebuilt our growing stands to accommodate a 50% increase in demand. We now have 3, four level, 8’ long light stands. We grow in 1020 perfed flats with a 98ct. plug insert with clear covers until 1st true leaves. For lighting we use a 50/50 blend of LED and fluorescent fixtures, 4000-6500K, that I buy from Menards when they are on sale. The reason for the mix in fixture type is the fluorescent fixtures emit enough heat that we don’t need bottom heat, frankly lowers the amount of heat needed in the house too! I try to have 10,000-15,000 lumens every 4’. We use a commercial soil mix, Sun-Gro Metro Mix360, it is a blend of peats, sand, washed bark, limestone, a nutrient charge, and wetting agent. I have used Miracle Grow and other seedling mixes and they develop an algae on the soil surface that prevent seedlings from emerging. We grow in these flats until we transplant into the garden. They will go outside starting in early May until the danger of frost is past.
Some important stuff: New seed. Order early! Both seed ready for the current year but also the best cultivars available. The new hybrids offer disease resistance that limits the use of fungicides and impressive yield and growth gains. Surfactant in the first watering: I dilute my fruit spray surfactant by a factor of 10 for first watering, this breaks the surface tension of the soil and seed coat. I get almost 100% tomato emergence in 3-4 days and peppers in 5-7 days.
We water when the soil surface changes from dark brown to a light brown and the flat feels quite light.
Enough of a break and back to seeding, ugh!
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How much growing area does that amount of plants take up? Do you grow mostly the same types or a big variety? That is impressive. If i had the room i’d try something like that. I’ve got about 40 tomatoes and that is too many for my space i have available. I’ll have to give some away.
My plants have already outgrown gallon pots. I still have weeks before they can go in the ground. Hoping it turns and stays warm for good and i can get an early start.
@chikn would love to see pictures if you’ve got them, that sounds like quite an operation. My tomato seeds germinated well this year but I’m on day 10 waiting for some pepper seeds. Still hopeful.
It takes 28’ long and 2’ wide, but there are 3 units. I need space to get in between the units. I also have a bench where I seed flats with a tweezers, that’s the most taxing to me. I figure 6 weeks from seed to transplant for a 3-4" tomato, about 8 wks. for similar peppers. I like to transplant a smaller plant in warmer soil along with good fertility and hybrid vigor, smaller plants usually outperform larger ones and I can transplant with a hoe and my foot rake!
@figjamjar I think 10 days would be at my patience but there are slower varieties esp. the super hots.