Growing some tasty stuff

I really miss having these colorful babies in my kitchen. That, together with a very persistent gardening itch that has been bothering me since early December, made me give in.

Here's to my first Glog and starting seeds just a tad bit early.

My set up is not as neat or organized as what I've been seeing here, as I've collected quite some different shaped seed trays over the years and have plenty of mismatching pots to go with that. Everything is set up for this growing season in the garage windowsill, making the garage my current happy place now that it's out.

Experience has thought me it's best if I start closer to the end of January, beginning of February, but hey, there's no fun in doing everything by the book, right? I've organized my seeds, reorganized them again and now there's nothing left to do.

So I've started the germination of a few seeds (one of each kind, I'm trying to restrain myself...) with the help of the Deno method and I planted a few in soil. Put them on a heating mat to make sure they're comfortable.

Deno method, to see if these seeds are still viable: Brandleka, Turkish kill - unknown variety, Corbaci and a Mistery pepper. As well as some Cocona fruit and Leonotis leonurus.

In soil:

Now what do I do with the coming days?

 

[Ratatouille]

Just the external validation I needed.

 

[Nulle]

Have you tried looking for a used greenhouse?

I got very lucky at Gul og Gratis, which is an equivalent to Craig's List or Ebay.

This lady bought a 10 m2 greenhouse that she and her daughter wanted to use to sit in when the weather was bad. They hadn't put it up yet and now she was moving to a place without a garden so she wanted to sell. I saw the ad, contacted her and had mr. Nulle pick it up later that day for 700 kroner (about €90). All it needed were two new panes of glass.

 

[Ratatouille]

Really? That's an amazing bargain! I've been looking at used green houses as well, but have not found a good one yet for a price that would justify the swearing when transporting and assembling it.

I'm looking for a (maximum allowed) 18 m2 greenhouse. It'll take some time still saving up, so I take every opportunity to try and convince the allotment board that bigger is better.

In the meantime I have two polytunnels of about 15 m2 between the two of them. One I got for free recently, the other I bought on clearance. They suffice for the time being.

 

[Grass Snake]

Is there a way you can separate the seedlings from what hasn’t germinated? So you can let the plants breath but keep the heat and humidity up on the ones still trying hatch.

 

[Sulsa]

My seedling setup is in the garage and partly in the attic. Both areas are not heated and rather cold. I use heatmats, propagators and a sort of indoor poly tunnel (which all were free hand-me-downs) and a small fan. My growlights are led, so no extra heat from them. If I open the vents in the propagator, the temperature drops. With the heat and the cold, I get quite some condensation, even when I let the seedlings 'dry out' between watering. I haven't had mold issues (yet) with this set-up last year, but I am waiting for it to happen.

Do you guys think isolation might help? Like a styrofoam craft? I've been eyeballing grow tents, but am not keen on spending the money (that's for seeds and saving up for a proper greenhouse) or placing it in the garage next to the window and block out the light. (And investing in airflow or whatever those tents ask for.) Should I just suck it up and not overthink it?

You can see the moist on the leaves in the pic below.

And a bonus what-happened-here. Was it a helmet head that killed the cotyledon leaves?

I would take the dome off after germination! Such high humidity and temperature is a recipe for disaster.
Damping off is something that happens fast and without warning. I guess your headless seedling is the result of just this. Don't know how cold it gets in your garage and attic, but i keep mine in a unheated spare bedroom. Night time temperatures can drop to 15C or sometimes even lower, during the day the led lamps heat up the growcloset to about 18C max. They do just fine with these kind of temperatures and it prevents them from becoming too big or lanky...
Plant out is still months away so no need to speed things up!

 

[Ratatouille]

@Grass Snake Even on lower temp settings, the temperature difference is enough to form condensation. So I can't really take the dome off, but I can open the vents. Only when they've all sprouted. Yiur advice is solid, seperate those that have sprouted from those that have not. My planning unfortunately wasn't. I think I have to sit this one out.

@Sulsa Yes, a recipe for disaster. It's one of my favorites in my gardening cookbook apparently.

The garage can get cold. Not quite freezing, but definitely 7°C during the day. The attic is a bit warmer. Maybe 13°C at its lowest during the day? (Not even thinking about night time.) So taking the dome of, even after germination, will lead to ideal grow situations for lettuce. (I do open the vents after germination.) Unfortunately, the garage officially is the only place I am 'allowed' to grow my seedlings. I'm stretching boundaries already nibbling of space from where the kids do their gaming. I suggested the hallway even though it has drought and is still cold. I even suggested the loo. Mr. Ratat is not giving in yet. This weekend I'll see if I can team up with the twelve-year-old. Her room can be perfect for this. Maybe we can strike a deal?

All kidding aside, I am stuck with a cold seedling area that can't be heated in a normal way without going bankrupt. (Our house was build in 1400-something.) In order to create heat for germination, I have to use a heatmat in a closed confinement by putting a dome over it. Growlights are in the garage as well, but do almost nothing heatwise. And that's were I'm at at the moment.

I guess what I'm saying is, I'm looking for hamf-assed tips for my not-ideal, but still rocking-it situation.

What is the lowest temp I can savely use without fucking it up, after germination?

 

[Sulsa]

Everything above 12C would be allright, lower temps will stunt the growth too much.
I would go for the attic and maybe build or improvise a bigger growspace. It's quite easy to build some sort of tent or big box to house your plants. You could also try to use the heatmat more as a space heater instead as a soilwarmer, this way the overall temperature in your growspace will rise just enough and moving the heat away from the soil will reduce the evaporation of the moisture in the pots and thus reduce the humidity in your growspace.

 

[Nulle]

Mr. Ratat is not giving in yet.

It always better to ask forgiveness than permission . It's my tried and true method when dealing with Mr. Nulle - well, mostly

 

[Ratatouille]

@Nulle That's how I got a small seedling station in the attic going. It's pushing the limit, but hey, what are limits for, right?

@Sulsa Thanks. I am bound to the garage when I want something more permanent though. And apparently, a grow tent is permanent, according to my better half. I'll do some thinking for next season. A grow tent will for sure get the neighbors thinking about what I'm growing. Like your tip for the heatmat, I'll be implementing that this weekend.

 

[Ratatouille]

I think I just saw some newly sprouted pepper seeds. But I'm not celebrating till I am 110% sure this time.

 

[Simcows]

Ratatouille, would a small space heater with fan work for you? In Canada I can find small ones that have 3 (or more) settings - off, on with heat, on without heat so you can use it all year. The more expensive ones will have various heat settings but if you can find a place to put it far enough away your seedlings should stay warmer and not as damp

 

[Ratatouille]

Right now. I have sprouted some peppers for sure. Sowed the seeds last Sunday and a lot of them are showing of their pointy little cotyledons like there's no tomorrow. Yay!

I'm especially curious about the Zébrange pepper in this batch as I've never grew that one before.

Some of the question mark definitely-not-pappers seem to be forming new leaves after I transplanted them to their own little pot, so I guess they're happy as well.

 

[Ratatouille]

Ratatouille, would a small space heater with fan work for you?

Great tip, thanks. I have been thinking about that a little. I need to be sure the electrical group can take all I have running ATM. Heat mats, grow lights, fans etc. I'll do some research to be sure but it sounds like something I might try to install next season. I wonder of it'll go well with one of then fancy cannabis growing tents.

I do have a little petroleum heater in the garage, but I only use that mainly for myself when working here. It's placed under the main seedling tray, so when it's on, it does a good job in heating up their space. A proper, safe heater would be a nice addition.

 

[Downriver]

(Our house was build in 1400-something.)

I know buildings this old (and older) are commonplace in Europe, but it just boggles my mind. We have nothing like that here in the U.S.

Pretty cool!

 

[Ratatouille]

The attic gang has expanded. Dedo De Moca Peach, Aribibi Gusano and Aji Orchid popped up.

Might have roasted a few babies in the garage by underwatering them. My head is everywhere these days, except where it should be. I guess it's a good thing I 'over seeded'.

 

[ahayastani]

I guess what I'm saying is, I'm looking for hamf-assed tips for my not-ideal, but still rocking-it situation

Move to Curaçao or thereabouts?

 

[Ratatouille]

It wasn't so much underwatering, it was more unintentional scorching. My new (giveaway) seed tray and the accompanying pots are made of metal. The combination with a heat mat isn't ideal...

I've isolated the bottom now. Go styrofoam! And we'll see what happens.

All my other babies seem happy or happy-ish. Apart from Rocoto. He and I are not in the same page.

My seed tray for seeds that won't be needing a heating mat:

Compared to the seed tray from plastic, seeds sown at the same time as the seeds in the tray above:

Lazy teen Rocoto, slouching in his soil bed at noon, pretending he doesn't care:

 

[Tinkerbelle]

my rocoto hasn't even shown his ugly head yet *sigh*

 

[Ratatouille]

Have you picked your nemesis, your archenemy of this pepper season yet? I'm not fully convinced, but getting there and almost sure it'll be the rocoto.

 

[Tinkerbelle]

could be rocoto