Showing posts with label seed starts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seed starts. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Midwest Gardenign 2025: Planting, Watering, Recording and Heating a Greenhouse.

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So, it's Thursday March 27 and mildish outside but still a bit chilly, but perfect working in the greenhouse.

With a forecast of some warmer temps tonight and tomorrow I set the timer for the heater for Dusk to Dawn.  I began by re-arranging more shelves for the starts I will do today.

Besides heat and extra sun, the greenhouse needs water. Hopefully we can turn hoses on soon. Meanwhile, I'm schlepping water in the cart, three 5 gallon containers at a time with my little garden cart. YIKES that was a heavy pull. I do it at the end of the day so the water has time to warm up by the next day.


Before I do more planting, I want to show you how the new plants are doing from weeks ago. You can see a bit of green here, and a newly planted tray also.


The four railing planters with Veggies are doing great. Onions, radishes, lettuce and more radishes.


Here are some of my Dahlias beginning to sprout...YAY!


This tray of Romaine Lettuce that was planted last week, these will have to be transplanted.


I moved these to a top shelf...more Onions, Radishes and Spinach.


This is a top shelf---Dill is in the middle, and the other pots are Caladiums, and more Dahlias that take forever to come up. I'll be watering them tonight.


The Dinosauers are old sandbox toys, they come in handy to hold down the plastic lids when the windows are open.
 

This is a scribble log---I know what it says...all entered for 3/27. I also write on the seed packages, bags, where, when and how much I planted and the date.


My dirty work surface. These are bags of seeds squirreled away from plants last year, and sometimes the year before. I started an entire rectangular tray of Petite Marigolds, Red Zinnias, and Tall Marigolds from new/old, and older seeds.


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Seeds saved from RED/Dk PINK Zinnia blossoms last year. These I plant heavy because not every seed will be pollinated.


Last of my Popsicle sticks or Tongue depressors. I have two packs of 50 plastic sticks for when I begin transplanting. I use wax pencil or permanent marker to mark my plant trays.


These are Sunflower heads from the nicest sunflowers I had last year, in a clear doll bag...it almost looks like a watercolor. I may have to try that...love the beige and brown tones.


Until all the shelves are filled with plants...it's a bit chaotic. I clear the shelves with the best light first. This lower shelf area will be perfect for Coleus, eventually I can move the excess planters and pots to another storage shed. But, at this point I just don't know what I'm going to need to do all the transplanting that will begin the second week in April.


My soil bin is becoming depleted. This will be filled with some pots in the yard that have dirt with added peat moss and vermiculite. We are trying to not purchase too much packaged dirt. 

We may have a load delivered for the two big planters 4'x8'x2' that will go in the garden, and hopefully with an arched trellis between them.


More containers for planting...the bottom one has Nasturtiums, Cosmos, Zinnas/tall Marigolds. I try to move the lids to the plants first starting.


This long boot tray is perfect for putting large planters on...and is waiting for newly planted containers. I've planted a bunch of everything-mostly flowers today. 

Next week we will start the Squashes, large Sunflowers, and begin transplanting the overgrown plants from the kitchen.

WILL I HAVE ENOUGH ROOM?
That is always the question........


Next WEEK: We'll start on the clean up of the Veggie Garden...so Hubby can rototill here and there. I hope to clear the root crop areas and later get the new raised bed planters assembled, the bottoms covered with cardboard  and all the debris placed inside, too. 
Hubby said the compost pile may be ready for tilling, if we don't get too much rain. 
YAY!


How are Your Plants Starts Growing?


All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown.  








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Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Midwest Gardening: February


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oldnewgreenredo

The first week in February my hubby came home with new seeds and a few new grow trays. So many of our trays had disintegrated and were disposed of in Fall. One thing we didn't finish in Fall was the stripping of the greenhouse to replace the insulation.


oldnewgreenredo

 I did sort through everything last Fall, but hubby was occupied with other projects and the Greenhouse gutting just didn't get done. As soon as the weather breaks, we will take everything out except the sink, insulate with foam sheet insulation, and cover it with some sort of tight surface. 

oldnewgreenredo

If you remember last year we had mice which harbored wood ticks, and every time I went in there I ended up with ticks.....YUGH!

We've already treated the greenhouse with sulphur bombs, and will continue until we make the greenhouse tighter and rodent free. So, I dodged in there yesterday, grabbed only what I needed to do some transplanting and planting.

oldnewgreenredo

Of course, like all Midwest gardeners with their noses pressed upon the windows, and hoping that the gray/brown/iced landscape will subside into Spring, we begin to plan. We plant indoors and cross our fingers we have guessed the proper time to begin planting. Weather forecasts have proposed (fickly) perhaps that last frost date this year will be April 15---almost full month earlier than normal.


oldnewgreenredo

I have my garden planner in order, and sent off a seed order for over $50.00. 

I'm getting READY for

MIDWEST GARDENING 2023!

oldnewgreenredo

Unfortunately when you live in a small house the kitchen table becomes your work space. It's too cold on the porch---and besides, normally the light is the best in the kitchen.

Tools I use are two teaspoons, a scoop to fill the pots (inside the bag) a bowl to mix water and soil, scissors to cut my skewers in half to make labels, a permanent pen, my tray and of course pots. Those, we save from buying plants. 

oldnewgreenredo

OUTSIDE is not really ready for gardening, rain followed with freezing rain, followed with ICE!

oldnewgreenredo

February 22nd, and this is on again/off again day of icing.

oldnewgreenredo

I'm keeping an eye on my neighbor's monster tree---and all it's dead limbs---huge limbs hanging over our yard, large enough to kill anyone of us and our cars.

Anyway, back to the main course.

oldnewgreenredo

Ages ago, I did a post on covering my Oster chopper accessories container which I kept on the counter. Well the chopper died and parts weren't available, and I thought that it would make a grand seed container!

oldnewgreenredo

Today, it's holding much of my seeds for the Spring. These are seeds we are planting in the ground as well as starting in trays now, and in March. It's the perfect size!

oldnewgreenredo

We have a SouthEast exposure kitchen with two huge windows, adequate to start veggies and flowers in Winter. I also have a bunch of bulbs Hubby came home with---that I will plant by the weekend in another post.

oldnewgreenredo

February 1st or so, we started Carnival Peppers, Sweet peppers and Broccoli. We also have tomatoes started later that aren't ready for transplanting yet. Normally they take forever to come up--but we had warm sun in the windows and moderate temps outside...so they really got big in three weeks.

oldnewgreenredo

All our containers and pots of dirt were put in  put into the compost pile with leaves and garden waste, so we have a couple of fresh bags of starter soil, and potting soil in the house. 

I filled my containers with dry potting soil and stirred lots of water in them. I worked on a large baking tray, we purchase these at a restaurant supply store. I also use boot trays that have been purchased on sale for long containers and inexpensive cookie sheets from the $$ store to place the transplanted pots on. They contain the extra overflow from the pots, and also add moisture to the air.

I also mix a bowl of wet soil to spread around the plants as I place the seedlings deep as possible inside the containers. Roots will grow along the buried stems giving the plants a healthy start.

oldnewgreenredo

I've transplanted one or two in each pot to see which will do the best. So I have ten pots of red/green peppers and 10 of Carnival/mixed peppers. We will give some away to friends. 

oldnewgreenredo

The worst part of transplanting is the 'Planticide'---the sacrificing of all the weak plants and transplanting only the seedlings with the strongest stems.

oldnewgreenredo

After two days in the pots  are doing very well.

oldnewgreenredo

These big trays hold 20 of these pots and space along the side which I will use for bulbs in bigger pots. Space will become an issue.

oldnwgreenredo

The East window is set up for the Broccoli starts because it is a bit cooler here. The sun disappears but there is still great light. We will set up some grow lights for cloudy days like today to supplement light. 

Young plants need at least 12 hours of light to grow strong. We also run our ceiling fan on low to encourage thick stems.

oldnewgreenredo

I have a thick vinyl tablecloth covering my furniture.  We will add some plastic shelving to this cabinet, when more plants are started.

What I have planted and date so far for 2023.

Vegetables:

Broccoli  on 2/1 transplanted 2/20
Yellow Honey Gold tomatoes 2/7 
Yellow Pear tomatoes 2/7
Carnival Peppers 2/7 transplanted 2/20
Japanese eggplant 2/20
San Marzano Tomatoes 2/20
Best Boy Tomatoes 2/20


FLOWERS:

Green Zinnias, old package and harvested seeds 2/21
Black Eyed Susans, harvested seeds 2/21
Cherry SF seeds (2022) 2/21
Autumn SF seeds (2022) 2/21

I plant old seeds early to see if they are viable. If they don't come up in two weeks, I will plant same or similar with new seeds. 

NOTE: 
Seeds have become so expensive and so few in a package, harvesting and sharing with friends is really a good way to try and make a savings while gardening. Reusing old containers is excellent for the environment, and recycling plastics is also good when they are no longer viable. 

Some greenhouses take back containers and trays, be sure to ask rather than throwing them away to live forever in landfills.

OUR Goals: will be to move into the newly insulated Greenhouse with heat by March 10---but this will all depend on if we can get the new insulation in there! April 15th isn't that far away---we won't plant peppers or tomatoes in the ground, but many seedswill be ready to go into the ground then. I hope to get lettuce started next week if we can find a place to do it!

HOW ARE YOUR GARDENING PLANS DOING?

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I will be sharing at these fine Parties!






All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown. Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle

Sandi


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Monday, July 6, 2020

Midwest Gardening: Decorative Plantings in Pots and Planters

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If you have been following my Midwest Gardening posts, you know that we started lots of flowers/plants from seeds and bulbs. July 2, I took lots of photos of the yard, pots, and gardens. I'll try and show what's working well in pots, and what isn't. 

oldnewgreenredo

The new pots out at the street get the HOT sun and wind all day. So far, they are doing pretty well. I did purchase a grass and the papyrus looking plant (left pot) and some succulent looking fern.  I'm disappointed the dark red spikey Cordyline in the right pot hasn't done much. I expected it to get larger, but it has been very hot. We did use drought resistant potting soil mixed with our compost dirt, in these pots and in the mailbox planter.

oldnewgreenredo

I stuck some Zinnia starts from seed in here, and they have been quite happy and a nice pop of color. 

oldnewgreenredo

The mailbox planter, I used less plants here this year. The purchased Salvia has done nothing. The small marigolds I chose a shorter version this year, and they are also quite small, though full of blooms. The Vinca vines(transplanted from ground cover) is finally starting to droop...so those were free. The wave petunias are stilted also. We are faithfully watering, but the sun has been fierce out here this year with the reduced pollution??? I'm not sure why this planter is slow this year.

oldnewgreenredo

Because I used seed start flowers, my garage walkway pots aren't in full bloom yet. They get sun for about 6 hours a day, so I always put Sweet potato vines in here. Bachelor Buttons are the grey spikey plants. I think those are bush sunflowers coming from seed starts. LOL, I can't remember.

oldnewgreenredo

There are three pots along the garage walkway. I alternate sweet potato vines (lime or purple) in these pots. The tall plants are tall marigolds from my plant starts.

oldnewgreenredo

The West shady side has two pots. Still waiting for their seed starts to begin blossoming. The rose on the trellis has been slow this year after being froze.

oldnewgreenredo

This pot is spilling over from the sweet potato vine. Wow, the conditions have been perfect for them early this year, hot and wet. I'm moving this into the flower beds with the perennials, as it was being swallowed by some Giant Hosta. 

oldnewgreenredo

This hanging pot with Mandevilla, the rope broke and then fell. In one night the potato vine in front was totally chewed off along with the Caladium. The beauty of pots is you can move them around. This one is safe now in a raised area and after a week, it's recovering! (Ps whatever ate it, didn't touch the Mandevilla) 
oldnewgreenredo

This large focal pot has lots going on---and everything is very happy, even in this very hot spot! Mandevilla, lime and purple Potato Vine, and a wave petunia. 

The box planter above is filled with marigolds and zinnias and more purple. I have some giant sunflowers and bush sunflowers growing inside the railing.



oldnewgreenredo

I do love the red, lime, and purples....!


Up on the porch a have a pot of Nasturtiums from seed going crazy. I had no idea how large these got as it's my first time growing them. Next year I will start them in small pots in the greenhouse, so I can transplant just a few here and there.

oldnewgreenredo
When cleaning the craft room, I donated my baskets, and let Goodwill store them. If I need a basket they are all cheap there. I did take some outside, this one had a florist's liner which I drilled holes in. 
oldnewgreenredo
It's filled with Alyssum, Caladiums and Nasturtiums. Again, I had no idea how huge they would get. My Caladiums all grown from bulbs are varied sizes, which I will sort and label for next year. One of the down sides of buying bargain multi-packs, it's hard to tell what you are getting. Considering one Caladium plant is at least $6.99 a bag of bulbs for $6.99 is very cost effective if you have the patience and space to start them in February.

The back yard is spilling with planters and pots of everything. It is cooler back here because of shade trees. A blessing and a curse with all the leaf/wingy dingys falling all the time. Silver Maples are very messy trees.
oldnewgreenredo

I bought lots of Impatiens to go with my seed plant starts.  I use railing pots along the vegetable garden to encourage pollinators. We are going to place these into the vegetable garden now, to encourage pollinators. 
oldnewgreenredo

 A 'crazy' close neighbor has a beehive now, with no water source or flowers in his yard, totally against our county codes here, so our yard is swarming with honey bees. Since I am deathly allergic, my time outside is limited now. But, I do love my flowers. 
Bees love the marigolds so I will continue do trays of seed starts of those.

oldnewgreenredo
Moving the flowers away from our seating areas should help. 
I found some of these tropical Mandevilla (with waxy leaves and red flowers) labeled tropical???quite reasonable for $3.99 and have used them everywhere. I hope to keep some in the house over winter. So far they flower constantly.

oldnewgreenredo

These large colorful pots without flowers will be fine around our seating areas. Plus we have pots of peppermint as bee deterrent to place around the deck.
oldnewgreenredo

The pots under our roof extension are really taking off. Impatiens and all the Coleus grown from seed are a colorful and total shady happy solution. I have a few Impatiens in there also, but I think the plants are plenty of color. I will try some potted ferns here next year.

oldnewgreenredo

The white Caladiums are startling. I will be labeling all the corms when I dig them up for storage this fall by leaf size and color. Downside, the dusty pots sides occur with every rain or when we put the sprinkler on here. I may whitewash these pots next year so it doesn't show. Or we may add pea gravel over the paver base. This is the first year for this 'new area' of total shade and our paver base path--so it is still a project in progress.

oldnewgreenredo

These smaller pots seem to keep the leaf size under control, or maybe it was the dirt? 

oldnewgreenredo

I even tried a mixture in a hanging pot. Turns out those are Giant Coleus...they were so small when I planted them it was hard to tell.
NOTE TO SELF: Come up with a better labeling solution for seeding trays.

This wall pot is happy here in almost total shade. Ceramic wall pots tend to boil  plants, so I have stayed away from them, but this one is so pretty.

oldnewgreenredo

Here an elephant ear(small bulb) and some small Caladiums ended up in a small pot. Again, I will be labeling everything ...lol. Small bulb Elephant Ear, is still huge!

oldnewgreenredo

These are the last pots of Caladiums that are so slow. I have to figure out where to put these and in what...LOL. Maybe on Monday after the holiday. 

oldnewgreenredo

Stargazer lilies...getting ready to bloom in these pots. They need to go in the ground along our north fence when it is completed. So many projects, so little time! 

PS, all my Hosta grown from sprig starts last year are thriving in the ground. Definitely worth coddling those assorted bags of starts. 12 assorted Hosta for $5.99 at a big box hardware store, not sure which one.

Happy JULY Gardening! Hope this helps give you some ideas or tips on pots and planters.


Thank you for any and all comments.
Finally I am able to reply to comments by using Chrome. So all you Mac users who have upgraded to Catalina---this might help the glitches on Safari  and Blogger!
















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