A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2007 I've started my seeds who else

Thyme, Oregano, and Brussels Sprouts.



The rest of my Herbs.

wtg amigatec it's looking good to me. I wish mine were flurishing like that. I just have a couple of sprouts. But I'll get there one way or another lol.

Ok....you all are getting me in the mood to start planting something early... Have to restrain myself, I know from experience what happens if I start to early LOL and I have a calendar of events all planned out for seed starting of all of my plants, so I HAVE TO STICK TO THE SCHEDULE, or I won't have enough space to keep everything until I transplant outdoors.

Is your schedule really big or can you post it? I would so like to know what other peoples plans are. Last year I was just getting started without the benefit of anyones guidance and the results were minimal I guess you could say lol. I'm alittle worried because Loz mentioned that she lost most of her inside starts the one year she did a whole lot of them. I'm thinking I may be headed for disappointment and so of course I'm now going to worry that to death.

So far the larkspur haven't shown up in the egg carton I thought I planted them in. But in the regular Malva I have two different kinds of sprouts comming up. So either there were a lot of volunteers in that little bit of soil or I planted two different things in the same carton.

Some more of the Malva have come up and today I planted a bunch of the miniature snapdragon. I love those little things. If enough survive my attempt at growing them I think I'm going to do them in clumps where I stake the center one and then let the outside ones fall down. That will add more height and interest I think. I also think that if this works my bulb bed is going to be spectacular lol. Not that I'm excited or anything.

Tammy..Here is how I figured out my schedule: First I downloaded a seed Starting chart here it is for veggies only and printed out 4 copies of the blank chart. The instructions are on the chart:
Calculate (your) set out date using Frost Free date for your zone, and then it gives a guide line of how many days to add to that for safe to set out guidelines. Then you subtract weeks from sowing for each set out date and you have your seed starting schedule. I had always just done this same sort of thing on paper and had a rough guide line, and that works, but sometimes you get more going then you have room for and in my limited space I need to be able to have the proper light space available at the right times. Ok now you are totally confused I am sure, but once you look at the chart you will see what I mean. I also printed out some calendar pages and added each start time and set out time to the calendar pages for quick reference. Most of my seeds will be germinated at around 70 degrees unless they require something different, but most things will sprout at that temp. So as my ticker indicates...The first start date will be March 3 for me...so the end of February I will clean and sterilize everything and get all my lights and etc set up. I calculate I am in zone 6b-7a...so I go with the 6b since I am on the line of the two zones to be safe.

Tomatoes Start: Mar 3-17 & Mar 10-24 This will give me a set out date of April 28-May 5
peppers Start: Mar 10-24 This will give set out date May 5
Melons Start: Mar 27-April 3 with set out date May 10-24
Cukes start: Mar 31-April 17 with set out date April 28-May 5
Squash start: April 8-15 & April 17-24 with set out date of April 30-May 14
The rest of my veggies will be direct sowed. All of the flowers will be worked in around veggie start times as will the herbs also.

That's really cool. I have a chart from the gift I was given for christmas. So I've been doing pretty much the same thing except not giving 2 week safety margine for the frost. I'll know better next year. I've been sterilizing my pots and tools as I go. that way I don't have a whole bunch to do all at one time. I am easily overwhelmed lol. Thank you for taking the time to explain your system to me. That's going to help alot when I talk to Jenny.

Well I finally did it. I planted the par-cel. It's a hybred between parsley and celery. We'll see how it does as a houseplant. I have a couple of seeds left of it so I'm going to add it to my seed exchange list. I have some other things to add also.

That will be interesting to see how your par-cel turns out..Be sure to keep us updated on that.

Will do comfrey. I'm looking forward to that one myself. It's suppose to look like parsley but taste like celery. That would be cool.

I thought I had already mentioned that I planted a yellow onion the other day; but, I don't see the post. Oh well, I did plant one. I hope to grow it indoors and have it flower. Then I'll have seeds to start some much later in the year. I would love to have onions in my garden. I love onions.

Do you have a pregnant onion? Seems like I remember someone saying they had one growing??? My mom says she has one and has offered me one, so when I go to visit her in February I will come back home not only African violets, but a pregnant onion also.

I started 6 varieties of tomatoes (EARLY, EARLY) and 2 varieties of onion seeds on New Years day. By Sunday morning when I left for New England, half the tomatoes were up as well as one of the onion varieties.

WTG Terry.

Nope mine isn't a pregnant onion it's a plain old grocery store bought yellow onion. But it just kept on growing in the bag and it didn't get soft so I thought what the heck. Anything that wants to grow that badly should be given a chance. Am I wonkers?

I have another nine days before my next planting frenzy lol. Then it's just trying to keep the seedlings alive until it's time to harden them off on the way to the garden.

Looks like you guys have got things together. And I'm jealous. I still don't have the energy to get started. My yard is still full of leaves. It's good to know that WalMart has out seeds. Maybe I'll get there this weekend.

I finally got all of my seeds ordered, I figured I better get that done while I still have time to wait for them to arrive. I used 4 florescent lights last year and it really wasn't enough, so I am adding 2 more lights...I know I will still need more for my plants I plan on starting. The big chore is to dig the lights out, I stored them in a shed and then put a bunch of boxes in there and now I will have to rearrange the shed to get to my lights.

I'm thinking about getting 4 foot full spectrum bulbs for my lights this year. Does anyone know how much they cost? Cindy??

I have a lot of seeds left over, but I'll still have to order some more.

Bestofour, I still have some leaves and garden cleanup chores to do also, but I'm now getting the upper hand.

Well I have more seeds than land but I have some people that are willing to let me plant in their ground so I'm in good shape for the most part. I don't know about 4 foot full spectrum lights. But I hope you find the information you are looking for. What kinds of seeds are you all planning on buying?

TK, I wish you lived close to me. You could plant your seeds in my yard. I didn't make it to WalMart. I can only do a little at a time. I don't want to overdo it and get sick again. No way!! You've been so busy. You're gonna be ready for the first spring day for sure.

It's better to go slowly when you are recovering. Relapses are worse than the first time around. I hope to be ready. I also hope that I will have enough compost that I can start the new flowerbeds as soon as the cold weather passes. Not that we've had much of it so far but some. I've removed the clay from about half of a tier that I want to plant for next year. Now I just have to work on widening and deepening it. I like the beds to be at least 18 inches deep and it's about 12 inches right now. After I do this one there is one more lower down that I hope to be able to brick in to raise to the correct height for the last tier. It's going to be so great. I look forward to the new years garden with great hope.

I lucked out and found my lights, I had moved them before putting all of those boxes in my shed, But I will be one light short, so when I go to Wal Mart this week I will get me another one. I was disappointed though we went to Home Depot and they had these cute fence sections (last fall) which I had planned to get to edge my new flower bed with, But they didn't have them anymore, so it looks like I will be hauling rocks.

Cool on getting the lights out of the shed. I always love it when a project ends up being easier than I anticipate. Sorry they didn't have the edging that you were planning to use. Maybe they will have it a little later in the year. What do you think?

Well I am hoping that it is just too early on the little fence edging I wanted, and if I start hauling rocks now even if I get the fence later I can use the rocks else where. I just ordered and got it in the mail Saturday a new book it is called "The Medicine Wheel Garden" It is based on The American Indian medicine wheel. On the back of the book it says: "It was an ancient way of creating scared space and calling forth the healing energies of nature." The front cover says: "Creating Scared Space for Healing, Celebration, and Tranquillity." I want to make one of these, the plants are all healing plants of course and will require rocks to line the paths and around the wheel shape. I haven't had enough time to read and study the book yet, but it is on the top of the list for things to do.

That sounds like a lovely way to use garden space. I would still like a knot garden on a miniature scale one of these days. But right now I'll just be glad to have a garden full of flowers this year. I'm so easy to please.

The thing I like about this medicine wheel garden is that it all healing plants, So I can have a separate space just for them. I have started reading the book and I can see this not something I am just going to be able to go out and make in one season, So I will lay out the circle and work on one section at a time. The sections are laid out in color schemes, so decideding which color to start with first will be another problem. I'll do a seed search in my boxes and see which color I have the most of.