Hardening off Seedlings Update- Hard Freeze decimates my warm weather plants

In my previous post labeled "Hardening Off Seedlings" dated April 17, 2012 I stated that I had a cold frame that I could store my seedlings for weeks if need be. Here is the picture of it;

The caption that accompanied this picture in that post was "I can keep then here for weeks if need be. I simply raise or lower the lid as needed." And that was true enough. What I didn't realize and what took a difficult learning experience to teach me was; just like with my frost blankets, frost and freeze if severe enough will damage plants if the plants are touching the underside of their protection. So in other words, for hard frost and freeze protection plants need to have an air buffer between them and the underside of whatever if protecting them from the cold, whether it's a frost blanket that needs to be held up above the plants to allow for the air buffer, or the lid of my cold frame, that needs to allow for an air space between the underside of the lid and the plants. As you can see in this picture especially if you enlarge it, the tomato and pepper plants in the middle back and right back respectively are darn near high enough to be up against the underside of the lid when the lid is closed.

A week after the picture above was taken we got a hard freeze. The tomato pepper plants were taller by then and were definitely up against the underside of the cold frame when I closed the lid that night. The outcome was not pretty;

All my hard work down the drain. Those tomato plants now all brown were 8 weeks old. The pepper plants to the right were 10 weeks old, the cucumbers in the front right were only 2 weeks old, and the melons in the front middle were about 3 weeks old

I believe that the tomatoes and peppers got hit because they were touching the underside of the lid, which is just 4 mil plastic, but who knows. The cold frame is not air tight, there a gaps between the boards, and considering that the cucumbers and melons got hit as well and they were no where near the underside of the lid indicates that the cold simply got into the cold frame in general. However it did, the result sucked.

 I lost almost all the cucumbers, most of the melons. The tomatoes all turned brown yet the thick stem of each tomato plant continued to look like it was alive, the peppers all lost the top most leaves yet still looked like they would survive.

So the lesson to be learned is this;

My pole barn is near my garden, near my cold frame. The barn has electricity, so I figured out how to run a long extension cord from the barn into the cold frame. In the cold frame I attached a series of three work lights to the extension cord, each one plugged into the other, each one equipped with a 100 watt incandescent light bulb. Now granted the threat of a hard freeze is over for the year, and the lesson I learned was costly as far as I am concerned. Allot of effort on my part to grow those now dead plants went down the drain. But I do believe that I know what to do next year to keep this from happening again. The three 100 watt lights will give off just enough heat to keep the inside of the cold frame from getting to the freezing point.

I ended up replanting the cucumbers and melons in my grow room, they are now only two weeks behind schedule, that is no big deal.


The peppers lived and were actually planted this weekend. Here is what they look like two weeks after nearly getting killed by frost;

I am lucky I did not lose my peppers. I would have been hard pressed to replace my peppers, I have ones that you can't by at the local nursery.

After the first rain we got last night

The tomato species that I had planted this year on the other hand are available at local nurseries. So as much as it goes against my grain, instead of starting over with seed, and being 8 weeks behind schedule, I opted to purchase tomato plants. I got the same kinds that I had lost, it's just that I did not grow them.

I have pictures of them, but first it is interesting to note that the tomato plants that got hit by the freeze are trying to make a come back. Look closely at the expanded versions of the pictures below and you will notice the new growth. So given time I think that these would have come back and survived, yet I was not willing to wait.

Note the new growth

This is two weeks after the freeze. So they did not die, and they might still produce viable tomato plants. I am not willing to wait to find out

Here are the purchased tomato plants, they also went in this weekend;

This is what my plants should have looked like. It just kills me to use purchased plants

And so the 2012 season progresses. So far as usual my learning has come at a high price. Yet that is the way it goes, nothing is free, nothing worth while comes easy.

End of March Garden Update

Well the seedlings are coming along nicely. It's the end of March, So were now two weeks from the 1st of the seedlings going into the ground. Now it's time to plant watermelons.Watermelons have a special place in my heart, so I have accumulated a fair amount of information on how to grow them from seed.

Sow indoors in late March or one month (no sooner!) before transplanting outdoors when the weather is frost-free, warm, and settled. Plant about 1/4" deep. Keep temperature 80-90°F (27-32°C) until germination. The seeds need constant warmth, again 80° to 90° for 5 to 10 days to germinate well. For seedless varieties this need is greater. Handle young plants carefully and never let the soil dry out. Grow seedlings at 75°F (24°C).  Once they are up and growing, fertilize the seedlings with diluted fish emulsion twice a week, using a 1/2 - 3/4 strength solution. Reduce water and temperature for a week before transplanting during the hardening off process.

After the threat of frost is over and only when the outside soil temperature is at least 60°F, transplant. To help heat overly cool soil, try using black mulch under the plants. Remove this prior to summer or add topping of hay/straw mulch to keep soil from getting too hot.

Even hardened melon seedlings are tender! Large melon seedlings transplant poorly. Do not disturb roots when transplanting, and water thoroughly.Transplant into hills or rows. Set transplants, 18" to 36" apart  apart in groups of 2-3 if planting in hills depending on how large your watermelons will become. They will require more space to grow the larger the species at maturity. Space hills 3'-4' apart each way. Set transplants 36" to 96" apart if planting in rows, again depending on species. Southern exposure and sweet, light, well-drained soil is ideal. Good soil moisture is important in early stages of growth and during pollination when fruits are setting. After this point do not water unless the soil is very dry and leaves begin to show signs of wilting in midday.

 After mid June add mulch, not before. Also melons do not need high nitrogen. You want to try to promote simultaneous fruiting on the same plant. If one fruit starts on a plant and then some time later another starts on the same plant, the 1st larger fruit will suck up all that plants nutrients, and the smaller 2nd fruit will suffer. So if two fruits set at the same time I allow both to grow, if two fruits start one behind the other, I pinch off the 2nd one. I also pinch off all but 2 melon per vine. Feed every 3 weeks with low nitrogen fertilizer. Again here I use a fish emulsion foliar. Foliar feeding is a technique of feeding plants by applying liquid fertilizer directly to their leaves. I add it when I water. More on how I do that when we reach that point later in the season. I have a wonderful tool that allows me to add liquid fertilizer during watering.

Cucumber Beetles: These things are "demon spawn" as far as I am concerned. They have decimated my Curcurbit crops before. They munch on the young seedlings, they suck the juice from the young plants. When the transplants first go into the garden, I have started to cover them with insect fabric. I use Agribon AG-15, 0.45 oz Frost Blanket (9'10" X 250'), this is a great product. It is a super lightweight fabric (0.45 oz/sq yd) and is especially designed to protect vegetable crops from insect pests. Made of spun bonded polypropylene fabric.  It lets 90% of the sunlight pass through. I keep the young seedlings covered until they begin to flower. At that point they are larger and have a chance to fend off the dreaded beetle's onslaughts. Once I remove the fabric, I then fall back on the only recourse that I have found that will keep the beetles at bay, Seven Insect spray. I know it's not organic, but I have tried all the organic sprays, the beetles just laugh at them. They have not worked for me. Seven is the only thing I have had success with.  

Some melon types, like Honeydew, Charentais, Canary, Spanish, and Crenshaw are overripe by the time the stem can be tugged from the fruit. These must be cut from the vine.

This year I planted:
Large Watermelon - AllSweet and Moon and Stars
Personal Size Watermelon - Burpees Snack Pack
Crenshaw - Burpees Hybred Crenshaw

Last year I had watermelon germination after only 3 days. We will see what happens this year.



Update on other seedlings:

Celery at 6 weeks

Another picture of celery

 

Peppers at one month

Tomatoes at one month

Cabbage at one month

Perennial Update:

Horseradish

Asparagus, it turns out asparagus is one of the earliest of spring crops. I did not know that. The date of this picture was around the 15th of March. This is one year after planting the crowns.

Strawberries, this is about one week after removing the winter hay protection. And it is one year after planting the crowns. I should see my first crop of strawberries this summer, can't wait.

Matted rows of strawberries

Garlic on the left, Shallots on the right. This was a very windy day, that is why they look blown over.

Wind blown shallots

Wind blown garlic

 Winter Rye Cover Crop:

Winter Rye cover crop. This is destined to be tilled into soil.

80's in the Middle of March!

Week of March 12th and we hit 80° twice, unbelievable weather. Were not supposed to see this kind of heat for another 45 days. Should be planting peas, potatoes, and onions, but I haven't even tilled the garden yet. My seed potatoes and onions aren't even scheduled to arrive for another two weeks. Still have too many non-garden chores I am trying to finish up before full on garden season begins. So this "Late-May" type weather is killing me. I'm simply not ready for it yet. What makes it worse, is that I am convinced that we will not see frost again this year. If I was ready, I could have vegetables in the ground a whole month early. Wouldn't that be grand. But alias I am not ready, and everything in due time.

The garden itself is definitely showing signs of life. I have uncovered the Garlic and Shallots as well as the Strawberry patch. The hay I used to protect them all winter was beginning to deteriorate underneath, so I felt it was import to get it off the plants before they to began to suffer from the hay rotting on top of them. The garlic and shallots seemed no worse for the ware, but the strawberries were beginning to be adversely affected. They lost about 10% of their previous fall growth. As this is my first year with them, I do not know if this is normal, or if using straw instead of hay would have been a better choice.

Strawberry Patch with winter hay protection

Garlic and Shallots with winter hay protection removed. Remember, if you are going to grow garlic and shallots, although you grow them as annuals, they must be planted in the fall. Over the winter months the ground freezes and then thaws over and over. They require this freezing and thawing to "bulb".

Shallots

Garlic

Horseradish will reproduce for thirty or more years. It can be planted in the fall or spring. The initial root you plant is about 8" or so long and about as thick as a pencil. I planted mine last spring, so the following are what they look like after one year.

Erosion over the winter exposed the tops of my horseradish. That allowed me to see how they are doing which is great. I covered them all after inspection, as I do not think it is a good idea to allow the tops to be exposed long term.

I actually dug a small piece up and made cocktail sauce with it. It was wonderful. I plan my first major harvest this fall.

Winter Wheat cover crop in main garden. I will till this in when it reaches about 8" high in another two weeks. This help add structure to the dirt

Seedling Progress

Seedlings are doing well, have all but melon, cucumber and pumpkin going. The following are pictures of my current seedlings:

Celery right as it was beginning to germinate back in early February. One of the harder vegetables to get good germination from. They're finicky, my strategy for them is to put the seeds in the freezer four weeks before I plan to plant them. This is called, stratification, it simulates "winter" for the seeds. Celery seeds seem to respond to this method. When I am ready to plant, I allow the seeds to come to room temperature, and I soak them in water overnight. After, I strain them with a coffee filter, then make sure that when I plant the seeds, I do not allow them to go below the surface of the soil medium. Celery seeds absolutely need light to germinate. Then as always, I cover with plastic wrap until most or at least some have germinated. The plastic wrap provides a sufficiently humid environment for the seeds to germinate. Then I remove the plastic wrap and just let them do their thing.

Celery now at 4 weeks. All they need  now is sufficient water and plant food. As ancestral Celery were marsh plants modern Celery needs to be kept constantly damp. Note I said damp, not wet. They are also heavy feeders, needing rich soil more so than most other vegetables. In another week, I will begin to mix a little fish emulsion into the water. I have found that as a plant food, fish emulsion works for me.

Leeks planted back in early February, at the same time as the celery. Now four weeks later, they need only water and a hair cut once a week. I keep them trimmed to 4" to 5" until it's time to transplant for two reasons, one I need them to fit under my lights, two I believe that doing so, results in a healthier, thicker leek.

After this weeks hair cut.

Cabbage at only one week. One of the easier vegetables to grow from seed. Just plant and water. Cover with plastic wrap until they germinate.

One week old tomato seedlings. Not 100% germination yet, but getting there.

Tomatoes:

Cover the seeds, they germinate better in the dark. Keep the soil temp as close as possible to 80° for prompt germination. Keep as near as possible to 60° after germination. Chilling to induce early bloom often works well, but it must be done early, when the first true leaves are opening up and the plant is only about 1 1/2" tall. Night temperatures of 50°-55° for two to three weeks are usually effective. Do not set out before reasonably sure that it is past the last frost. Bury tomato plants parallel to the soil surface, right up to the top tuft of leaves. dig a long shallow trench, not a deep hole, that is too cold for roots. Need an ample supply of potash and phosphorus. Dig in rock phosphorus and bone meal before transplanting. Avoid too much Nitrogen. Add Nitrogen at bloom by adding diluted fish emulsion. After mid June add mulch, not before. For staked plants prune suckers that appear in the leaf axils. Do not smoke around tomato plants. Try to use black mulch under plants. Remove prior to summer or add topping of hay/straw mulch to keep soil from getting too hot.

Tobacco Mosaic Virus- Do not plant Tomato and Pepper seedlings in the same bed. Spray seedlings with skim milk to lowers the PH on the surface of the leaves so they are less susceptible to mildew and viral infections.

Tomatoes are subject to Tobacco Mosaic Virus just like Peppers. Adhere to the preventative measures set forth in the previous post entitled Peppers and Tobacco Mosaic Virus.

Peppers after two weeks. I think that peppers are one of the hardest seeds to get to germinate. I still don't have 100% germination. I hope in another week, the remaining seeds will germinate.

Pepper seedlings, I added this just because I thought it was a cool picture.

So that is it for now, I have melons, cucumber and pumpkin to plant in coming weeks. The 1st of the seedlings will go into dirt a month from now. 

Peppers and Tobacco Mosaic Virus

Today it's time to plant my pepper seeds. That presents an issue for me, as unfortunately in addition to being an avid gardener, I am also an avid smoker. So for me planting peppers, is a surgical procedure. I prepare for it like a surgeon prepares for surgery.

I learned the hard way last year, I planted Jalapenos and Cayenne Peppers. Without knowing any better, I also smoked while I did it and I smoked in my grow room while I nurtured my growing seedlings. I don't do that anymore. What happened was that my peppers grew fabulously for about 5 weeks, to about two inches, then got spots, withered and died. I was so disappointed and confused. I thought I did everything I could to grow them properly. Thus began my education about Tobacco Mosaic Virus.

I will not begin to try and describe the virus, there are bunches of sites on the web that do a much better job of describing the virus than I could. I will simply describe the preventative measures I learned to take. They are as follows:

• When planting, wash hands with soap and water thoroughly and then rinse in skim milk (Skim milk kills the virus) before touching planting medium or seeds. Something about the Ph level of skim milk. This is well documented on the Internet.
• Absolutely no smoking in grow room, ever.
• Thoroughly wash hands and rinse in skim milk prior to watering pepper seedlings.
• Thoroughly wash hands and rinse in skim milk prior to transplanting pepper seedlings.
• Thoroughly wash hands and rinse in skim milk prior to touching pepper plants as they grow.
• Thoroughly wash hands and rinse in skim milk prior to harvesting peppers.

So last year after my peppers died, and I figured out it was Tobacco Mosaic Virus that killed them, and after learning the preventative measures mentioned above, I replanted my peppers a second time. I followed the rules meticulously and without exception and successfully grew healthy peppers to fruition.

So needless to say, if you are a gardener and a smoker like me, and want to grow peppers, be advised.

I planted the following peppers this year:

• Jalapenos (Mildly Hot)
• Cayenne (Hot)
• Chiltepin (Very Hot)
• Pequin (Very Hot)
• Green, Red, Yellow and Orange Sweet Peppers

NOTE: Tomato plants are just as vulnerable to Tobacco Mosaic Virus as peppers. Follow all the same precautions with them as with peppers.

Peppers:

Sow seed in shallow flats, 4 seeds/in., 1/4" deep, in late March or about 8 weeks prior to transplanting outdoors. If possible, maintain soil temperatures 80-90°F (27-32°C). Pepper seeds germinate very slowly in cooler soil. When the first true leaves just show, transplant 2-3" apart in flats or 2" cell-type containers. (The use of 2" or larger cells will produce larger plants with better-developed root systems.) Grow plants at approx. 70°F day and 60°F nights.

COLD TREATMENT: Exposing the seedlings to controlled cold treatments can increase the number of flowers and fruits. When the third true leaf appears, grow the plants at a minimum night temp. of 53-55°F (12-13°C) for 4 weeks. The plants should receive full sunlight. After 4 weeks adjust temp. to 70°F (21°C) day and night. Feed at this point with diluted solution every two weeks at this point, at transplanting and at flowering. If this technique is used, peppers should be seeded 1-2 weeks earlier than usual.

TRANSPLANTING: Before transplanting, be sure that the soil temperature is at least 65°F. Transplant out after frost when the soil is warm and weather is settled. Ideal seedlings have buds, but no open flowers. Set plants 12-18" apart in rows 24-36" apart, or 2 rows on poly/paper mulch, 18" between plants. Water-in transplants using a high phosphorus solution. Do not smoke around pepper plants. Try to use black mulch under plants. Remove prior to summer or add topping of hay/straw mulch to keep soil from getting too hot.

NEVER TOUCH PLANTS OR SEEDS IF YOU HAVE USED OR TOUCHED ANY FORM OF TOBACCO UNTIL YOU HAVE THOROUGHLY CLEANED YOUR HANDS.  TMV- Do not plant Tomato and Pepper seedlings in the same bed. Spray seedlings with skim milk to lowers the PH on the surface of the leaves so they are less susceptible to mildew and viral infections.

Garden - 2012 Planting Schedule and VISIO Garden Diagram

I thought it might be fun to share just how anal I am with planning my garden. To do so, I just need to post my Planting Schedule Spreadsheet, which is much more than a simple planting schedule. I've also included a .PDF of my MS VISIO Garden Diagram.

When I started my garden originally last year, I proactively spent months educating myself on how to grow vegetables, both from starting seed indoors and from direct sow methods. I researched the whole gamut of the garden process, from seed choice, seeding methods, fertilization, cultivation, soil development and on and on. I chose the Excel spreadsheet as the repository mechanism for my research, and I compiled a huge amount of information which I want to share with those interested. I also created a tab on the spreadsheet for my planting schedule which although you don't have to go as in depth as I did, any serious gardener will need to develop. I believe it's pretty impressive if I do say so my self.

I also thought it would be fun to show a  picture of just how big my planting schedule is when I print it out and tape it to my grow room wall. The picture is nowhere near good enough to read anything in the spreadsheet, that is why I have attached the actual file below, I just wanted to show how big it got. Here is the picture:

2012 Planting Schedule

The link to my garden spreadsheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Al28JLKdG9s-dHNMSk1uYUNBYjVDek8tM2d1SF9lV0E&output=html

The link to my 2012 MS Garden VISIO:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lGVjfS6eVB8WmEWcE7RdwTf43UpLtcqVQOc9Ganaygg/edit

Garden - The beginning of the 2012 season

Well it’s that time again, I am so excited, it’s February 11^th 2012. That means the first seeds of the season get planted today. 
 

As background, I live on 8 acres, and have two vegetable gardens. The main garden is for my annual vegetable crops, it’s 3,700 square feet, and its design is loosely based on the English Garden design of blocks of plantings, separated by access paths. I have a three year rotation plan developed for this garden. But to be honest, last year was the 1^st year of my gardens. I have a 2^nd garden for my perennial crops, i.e. strawberries, horseradish, and asparagus. It’s just over 1,500 square feet. I am especially excited that this, my 2^nd year for the strawberries, I will see my 1^st strawberries this summer, can’t wait.

Needless to say, the scale of my garden endeavor is ambitious, since I tend it myself without help. Last spring to get the gardens established, for weeks and weeks, I spent at least 4+ hours every workday evening and on Friday and Saturday, 12 hour shifts were the norm. On a few of the initial weekends, to get everything done, numerous 18 hour shifts on the weekends were required and at least one 24 hour stint. But after the initial work to establish the gardens, and after all the seedlings were in, things settled down, those extreme demands of my time were not required.

As for seedlings, I start a large majority of my annual crops from seed indoors. I built a 4 shelf grow station that any illegal plant grower would be envious of. Complete with 4 bulb 48” grow lights and heat mats on every shelf, all on timers. Complete temperature and light control. With it I produced hundreds of healthy vigorous seedlings last year. It works exceptionally well. I just wish I had a second one. I have developed a comprehensive indoor seed planting schedule that starts…oh yea, it starts today with my early crops, reaches a fever pitch around April, where I am wondering where I can find room on the grow shelf under the lights for just one more group of seeds, and ends well into the middle to end of the summer when I am sprouting my fall vegetables. I absolutely love this thing.

The best thing since bagels, my grow station

One this size from the Internet is nearly $1,000 with everything I have. I built it for less than $600

Another thing I love is ©Root Trainers, they rock. ©Root Trainer Tinus 350-4, are the perfect size, tall and deep allowing for and in fact encouraging long root structure (hence the name), but the most special thing about them is that they open like a book. In fact they come in “books” each with 4 cells, each book opens up to allow easier transplanting. The books are held in a frame, that hold ten books, that means each frame holds 40 seedlings. As far as I am concerned, they are one of the secrets to my seedling success. They are very hard to find to purchase, I do not even believe they are available in the States, except the smaller one that I find worthless, I have seen those on the Internet. But I have little to no use for those; I find that the ©Root Trainer Model Tinus 350-4 is the best one for my needs. This is the one whose availability to purchase I spent so much effort finding. I found them on numerous UK web sites, with big notices on their pages stating that they will not ship outside of the UK. That sucks I thought. I eventually found them available for me to purchase on only one web site for a Canadian company. I highly, highly recommend this product, there is nothing like it and I would not use any other seedling starting container while I can get my hands on these;

http://www.beaverplastics.com/Agriculture/rootTrainers.html

They are not cheap, they run about $20 per complete set of 40 each cells (one complete frame setup), at the time I bought them, that included the shipping cost. Did I mention that although they are somewhat fragile, as long as you are careful with them they should last a long time. I bought 20 of them!


Now for the bad news, although the salesman I was dealing with never specifically stated it, the impression I got when I purchased my ©Root Trainers from this company was that they were a wholesaler, not a retailer. I had to wait months from my initial contact with this company to receive them. They basically said I would have to wait until the next time they ran the “Tinus” run and they would make a few extra just for me. I think I might have initially contacted them in August, and I finally received them in the mail in January the following year just in time to use. I might be wrong and you may not have any issue whatsoever getting them to sell some to you, but I wanted to relay my experience just in case. If not from these people, I don’t know where you might find them for purchase. Enough said, so good luck if you do try to get these; they are definitely worth the effort.

©Root Trainer Tinus 350-4

I cover with plastic wrap to hold in humidity

I can fit 4 per shelf, that;s 160 each seedlings, times 4 shelves, I can grow 640 seedlings simultaneously

So now on to the growing medium, it is a given, to grow seedling indoors, a soil-less medium is what you need to use. Do not even think about regular soil. That won’t work. Even potting soil is undesirable. You need a quality soil-less medium specifically designed to grow seedling from seed. I have only ever used Pro-Mix BX, 3.8CF Compressed Item Number: SO-PMBX, and like all the materials I want to use, this is also hard to come by. Luckily for me, my local ACE Hardware store special orders it for me. It comes in big 3 cubic foot bales, and I went through 3 of them last year. This stuff is great and again, I highly recommend it if you can find it. But unlike the ©Root Trainers there are many other quality soil-less options available.

But I digress, I planted my 1^st seeds of the season this weekend, I planted 60 cells worth of Celery, and 56 cells worth of Leeks. Both start out on the same shelf, on this shelf my heat mat is set to 72°, and does a good job of keeping the soil in any ©Root Trainer set on it at about 68° - 70° depending on the ambient room temp. The warmer I keep the room the less work the mat needs to do to maintain that soil temperate. FYI- the heat mat is only capable of raising the temperature of the soil-less medium 20° above the ambient room temperature.

The following are my notes for starting both these seeds:

Celery –

Stratifying helps these temperamental seeds. To stratify, put in the freezer for several weeks at least. Then soak the seeds overnight in room temperature water to break their dormant stage. Some say to soak them in water that has just been brought to boiling, if you do this you are an idiot. How would you like boiling water to be pored over you. Water that is at or near 212°, cannot be good for the embryo of a seed. They are best started indoors, as the seeds need a consistent temperature at or above 59 degrees (germination temperature - no less than 55°, no greater than 70°). Celery seeds are very small and need light to germinate. Sow them by scattering them on the top of the soil. At most gently pat the seeds to ensure good soil contact, but I do not even do that, I simply mist the seeds gently with an atomizer. This works well for me. Do not allow the seeds to be covered by the growing medium, Put plastic wrap over the top to keep the humidity up. Keep the seeds moist and they should germinate within about three weeks. Last year mine germinated in 7 days. Once they are 2"-3" tall, they love to be fed a weak dilution of fish emulsion every week or two. Celery seedlings should have five or six leaves before they are ready to be planted out. I start mine a full 12 weeks before I plan to transplant. Transplant them to the garden when ambient temperatures are reliably above 55 degrees F. Steady and plentiful supply of moisture, more than most vegetables, heavy feeder, add a little compost with transplant, provide liquid feedings every two weeks.

2-17-2012:
90% Celery seed germination, considering that most literature states 14-21 days to germinate celery seeds, which can be quite finicky, I say 90% germination after only 7 days is "success". Now granted, I had to use a magnifying glass to see that I have germination, each one I saw, was a seed just sending out an initial tendril into the soil-less mix, but nonetheless, germination it is. In 7 days! 

 

Initial germination. You have to look close to see the seedlings

 2-25-2012:
All seeds germinated, great success. Simply a matter of maintenance now.

Two weeks later

3-10-2012:
One month after planting celery....

Growing Celery from seed is not hard, you just have to do it right

 

This was done right

 Leeks –

For best germination, seeds should be sown under cover. What this means is simply; after doing everything like normal, i.e. plants seeds in ©Root Trainer cells and covering with plastic wrap to hold in humidity, lay something over the top of the ©Root Trainers to keep the light from the seed. I did this last year; I also simple planted the seed deep enough (1/4”) that I did not need to cover with anything, as the soil medium itself shielded the seed from the grow light. Once they are 2"-3" tall, they love to be fed a weak dilution of fish emulsion every week or two. Once the seedlings are four inches tall, keep the tops trimmed to three inches, this will help the plants to be stockier and sturdier at transplant time. Use sharp, clean scissors for this once-a-week "haircut". At seven weeks, the seedlings should be about the diameter of a knitting needle. Harden them off during their eighth week, before transplanting them to the garden. As a note, last spring was very, very wet and I couldn't get my transplants out on time. Just speaking for the leek seedlings, they held up in the Root Trainers well into the 12th week without any negative results. 

Saw my first leek seeds germinate today (2-15-2012), that's germination in 5 days. Pretty good!
2-17-2012 Update: 7 days now since seeding, have about 70% germination. Failed to take a picture of these, would have been very hard to see anyway.


2-25-2012:

After two weeks of growth

3-10-2012:
One month after planting leeks. Now one thing to note, I do not let my leek seedlings grow unchecked, as they will get too tall too fast. So I cut them with siccors, keeping them no more than 4-6 inches until they are transplanted. This makes them easier to manage under the grow lights as well as promoting a stockier leek in the end.

One months growth

Vichyssoise to be! Yea, I know you don't know what that is, look it up.

So as I said, I am excited and anxious for spring. There is much to do between now and then, and I hope that since I now have established the perennial garden so do not have to do that piece this year, that I will not have so grueling of a schedule to get everything up and “growing”.  But I know that is a relative statement or rather a naive hope, since no matter what, having a garden on the scale that I do, without help, is without a doubt, a lot or work. But also a tremendous point of satisfaction. Not to mention, a crap load of harvest…

Some pictures from last years garden;

August 2011 Main Garden

August 2011 corn crop

August 2011 strawberry patch

September 2011 strawberry patch

September 2011 watermelon patch

2011 biggest Black Diamond Watermelon