Yeah watering from the bottom is generally better and a lot less work. You can just put a certain level of water directly into the bottom and keep it covered. Your technique is fine for now because you're having fun with a new hobby but watering all those cells twice a day gets tedious. Itll be several weeks before some of them are ready to be moved. I know we're all under house arrest but we all have other shit going on.
well fuck me. These really might be mutant plants. Tried as I could to fuck it up, and I'm still gonna have produce for days. Only a few days in and all 12 of my slicer cucumbers are 2-4 inches tall (varies). Same with all 12 of my pickling cucumbers. Because I figured, fuck it, I'm not gonna google and see how to properly plant these seeds, how deep to put them, how often to run the light or anything. I'm just gonna plant a whole fucking row of them and see what comes of it.... yeah turns out if you put it next to a window, plus having a grow light, plus a heat mat, plus 2-a-day watering, those fuckers turn up. Only thing I googled during the entire planting thing is that, with the exception of the larger seeds like cucumbers, plant 3 per starter pod thingy to account for germination rates. And also I ordered the cherry tomatoes last minute on amazon. And last night those fuckers decided to join the party. And entire row of them. 12 pods, all 36 fucking cherry tomato plants. I'm currently working the text machine trying to give some away.
What space does this safely heat for you? My tiny heater underperformed and the oil radiator we have isn't a good match for the area since I rely on timers and it has to be buttoned on after getting power again.
This is my space. It's enclosed with plastic (you don't see the front part that is hung when I'm not looking at stuff). It's on medium, and stuff is very warm. (This is also an older pic, lots of growth since then). I have 2 small computer fans that I had lying around running 24x7, one of them is right over the top of the heater, so that the air is always circulating... and it seems to do quite well. I'm very happy with it, and it's nice and waterproof so that the watering system doesn't screw it up, other than you get some calcium buildup on the surface.
Man the heat may I got this year has sprouted stuff much quicker than years past sans my super hots which usually takes forever. I’m trying tarragon for the first time and it’s sprouted in 3 days when the package says 11-13. I fucked up my peppers. Moistened my baggy too much and had all but one them dampen off. I had one little sprout make it to a peat pellet I was watering daily. Under the shop lights I forgot to water one day and the pellet dried out and killed the seedling. Womp. I think I’m going to go with potting soil in the future with the plastic trays and covers over peat pellets. Not the first time their wicking ability, both ways, has screwed me. Restarting the peppers now would just be for overwintering for next season. You will be up to your ears in cucumbers .
Yeah, the heat really does make a difference. It was also the main motivation behind me setting up the automatic misting every hour, because that heat really dries shit out in a hurry and as mentioned earlier, you miss one day and you can be fucked.
Woo! I got it all in the ground except the cauliflower (ran out of steam) and luffas, which will be planted in a different part of the yard. Tomatoes: 4 san marzanos, 1 beefsteak Peppers: 7 red mercury bells, 7 CA wonder bells, 5 jalapenos, 4 guajillo chile 4 cucumbers: 2 marketmore 76 and 2 boston pickling zuchinni and squash: 2 black beauty zuc, 1 dark green zuc, 1 early prolific yellow squash, 1 dixie hybrid squash I laid out my soaker hose and it's a wrap. I think I got 3 years use out of it before it started spraying really hard at the hose attachment part and flooding at the start of the line. So now I get to figure out some sort of irrigation system. I might hook up some irrigation hose to the sprinkler system and have it full automated and hands off.
Transplant when you have a few actual leaves, and the plant wants water often enough that the original small bit of soil won't do. Those there on your plants are the cotyledons but true leaves are on the way. Also, get your light source as close as possible to your tomatoes, or they are going to be leggy. You want short and stout! Edit: not stolon, cotyledon. Oops.
Woo! Sold $157 in plant starts and $25 in eggs today with an $18 sale reserved for next weekend. Just a few unsold plants left.
Nice! Do you keep track of your expenses for a write off as well? I did for years, was able to write off all sorts of things including depreciation on our little barn across the road.
No, I keep a tally for my own curiosity and to make sure I'm ahead. Do you have an LLC or something set up?
So my Brandywine tomatoes were looking pretty light green, so I fertilized them. I do believe I fucked them up in the process, and may have hit them a bit too hard. They're bad enough that I'm now starting a whole batch in case these ones don't pull through. Anyone have any insight into fertilizing seedlings?
What did you use? For small seedlings use a diluted amount liquid fertilizer like Miracle Grow. There is usually a measuring device that looks like a spoon with a big end and a small end. Use the small end in a gallon of water.
From my very limited knowledge of deductions, it sounds like you are writing off business expenses? So I think you would have to have some sort of business registered. Which actually would not be a bad thing since I would be able to write a few extra things. My sister works out of her home for her business and can write off a portion of her utilities and square footage of her house that she uses for her office. If I did that I could write off some utility cost. I'll have to do some investigating. Luckily my brother-in-law does our taxes and is a good CPA. He can help me out with these questions. Thanks for the idea.
Yep, exactly that... I used the water soluble Miracle Grow and diluted it to half the strength (1/4 tsp per 4L). Leaves curled up, edges burned, had to prune half of them off. The Beefsteaks survived and are coming back, it seems, but the Brandywines not so much. I was wondering more if there was something special you had to do for seedlings as opposed to full grown plants when it came to fertilizing.
Sounds like it was still to much. Cut it in half next time. Don't use it more once every 1 to 2 weeks.