Tomatoes that appeared in their 200-cell trays only a couple of weeks ago are already competing hard (using the old let-my-leaves-overlap-yours tactic) with their neighbors, fighting for a place under the fluorescent sun. A month ago, every seedling looked like a little miracle to be celebrated. Today, they’re an insistent, unrelenting horde, pressing for better conditions NOW. The timing pressure is starting to mount, with the greenhouse to finish and field preparation (aka sod-busting) ongoing. The calendar is getting ready to flip a page, and the 15-day temperature forecast is pointing UP. At this point, after the long wait of winter, and the slow ease into spring, everything suddenly moves so FAST. Remain calm! :)
Series: Starting seeds
The tools and methods I use to start seeds indoors, to grow seedlings for transplant.
Seedlings continue to grow…
Seedling production is on about the same schedule as last year, except there are a few new things on the go: celery, onions, leek, celeriac. The three grow racks aren’t yet full (and there’s a fourth to build), but all that will change in a couple of days, when peppers and eggplant start. This is also when gambling on the weather begins, which at this point affects when I choose to start certain crops. Already, based on the 15-day forecast, it looks like a much colder March ahead than in the last couple of years, and with all the snow cover, a quick thaw towards the end of the month will still mean a few extra days of drying out time. And then there’s April to “consider”—it’s all basically pure guessing, colored by a little wishful thinking. IF there’s gonna be cold and snow for a good part of April, early transplanting will be delayed. So, starting some things in a couple of days, or in a week, or in two weeks, could make a fair bit of difference. If I have to hold things for an extra 2-3 weeks, there won’t be room under the lights as I start more, and out in the greenhouse, given real sun, growth will be quicker and the seedlings will get crowded. And so on, tons of little calculations and gambles… Nothing is THAT critical, but a little more work here, a little crop slowdown there, it all adds up. I enjoy this, juggling increments in the face of the weather, but it could drive some people into quite a state! :)
Getting busy
Hot peppers, and tomatoes behind. They’re some of the last set of seedlings, a bit of an experiment to see how late I can start ’em without slowing down later growth in the field. Outdoors, it’s been warm, gray and drizzling for two days now, things are starting to emerge, crops and weeds both, and it’s already time for a second planting of spinach and mesclun. Inside, the last several hundred seedlings are ready to be potted up and moved out to the greenhouse. We’re right at the point when things suddenly start to get intensely busy!
Grow racks at night
Plant racks, light stands…I usually call ’em grow racks. They’re filling up now.
Pushed to capacity, the three racks can hold a total of 36 trays, 12 each, or four trays per shelf. So, depending on the size of the plug sheet—I use 38s, 72s, 128s, 200s—I can start between 1,368 and 7,200 seedlings.
Sounds super-efficient. HOWEVER, it comes down to the light. With four trays per double fluorescent fixture, the light is pretty stretched, and a lot of rotating is in order.
Also, most of the fixtures are the old standard T-12 type, where the light is stronger towards the middle of the tube. You can clearly see the difference in growth if you leave trays in the same position for a few days. The newer T-8 type lights more evenly from end to end and uses less power, but I don’t feel like replacing all the fixtures (a couple in there are already T-8).
It’s an ongoing experiment to see which size plug sheet to best start in for each crop, given the light situation. That in turn determines if or how often I need to pot up to larger quarters before it’s time to transplant into the field.
All in all, I’ll get around 2,500 seedlings off the racks this year.
1440 onions
I’m sure I’ve taken this photo before, but somehow, it’s still new—the first transplants of the season! This is the look of 1,440 onions, starting out. These are 72-cell plug sheets, and the plan is to multi-plant four onions in each spot. Do a little multiplication—5 trays, 72 cells, 4 onions per—and the results are clear. Whether things will turn out exactly like this, perfect bushels of Red Globe red and Utah sweet Spanish, is anybody’s guess, but I’m quite confident we will get…something! :)
All the usual tools and methods for this tiny farm are back for another run. There are still at least a couple of years left on the roll of donated food-grade plastic wrap that I use (and re-use for the season) to hold moisture and increase heat, just until the tiny seedlings emerge. To check temperatures in this new seedling room, on the lowest shelf of the light rack, where it’s coldest, is one of the minimum/maximum digital recording thermometers. And of course, there are the trusty, home-built light racks themselves, with an assortment of T-12 and T-8 fixtures and Cool White fluorescent tubes, providing the bare minimum of heat and light to get things started.
I’m always up for trying new approaches and new gear, but a lot of the time, if it gets the job done and you’re already having fun, what more could you need?!
To the greenhouse
Tomato, eggplant and pepper seedlings heading out from the Milkhouse (seedling room) to the unheated hoophouse for some real sunlight and a taste of the harsher field conditions, before transplant time in a couple of weeks. The small riding mower does double duty, mowing the paths and ferrying around seedlings, tools, harvests.
Seedlings away!
Things can change suddenly on the tiny farm. I picked today to move the majority of seedlings to the greenhouse. Although this was MUCH later than hoped for earlier this year, it’s all about the (recently COLD) weather, and I didn’t want to spend much on heat. But you can’t wait forever. There’ll probably be at least a couple of freezing nights in the next two weeks, but it IS getting to mid-May, and these guys will be out in the field, one way or another, before the end of the month. So, it’s out of the Milkhouse and onto the trailer behind the little John Deere riding mower for a little trip…
The greenhouse tables are now just about full, and that’s with a fourth one added a week or so ago. Plus, there are a few more trays of plug sheets on the ground off to the right. Lots more seedlings than ever before… On the closest table, there’s the (excellent) digital min-max thermometer/hygrometer, recording critical highs and lows, right after the fact! New this year are those red and green plastic pots (with cukes, squash, pumpkins, melons)—I decided to stop using the 3″ peat pots and try soil blocks, BUT, I didn’t feel like learning about block making right in the rush, so I used the last of the peat and then dipped into the collection of plastic pots I’ve been given over the years. (I’ll get the soil block maker in the summer, so I can play around with it first…)
It’s always a little…sad when bright, cheerful gear goes dark and empty… There are still a few trays of really young tomatoes, brassicas, and a couple of other late-started things, but the grow rack days are just about over for the year. We’ll soon be stowing the lights and chains, and presto, instant rolling racks for harvest bins. Transplants for late spring and summer will get started in the greenhouse…
And so, the seedling greenhouse gets tucked in for its first full-house night of the season. Boy, imagine if something WENT WRONG in there… :)