Starting Tomato, Cucumber, Watermelon, and Pepper Seedlings
Yesterday, April 7, 2008 , I planted my first seeds of the year. If you’ve never started your own plants from seed before, you’ve got to try it - it’s amazingly simple! Here’s what I did.
First I collected my supplies:
- A plastic starter tray complete with transplanting inserts (72 cells)
- Some potting soil
- Plastic labels (plastic margarine container lids cut into strips)
- And yes, seeds
Then I filled the cells with the potting soil and lightly patted them down. Each cell then received a finger poke in the center. My daughter and I then dropped two seeds in each little hole. (The weaker of the two seedlings will get pinched out after they’ve sprouted.)
Here’s what I planted:
Peppers
- Blushing Beauty
- Early Prolific
- Fat ‘N’ Sassy
Tomatoes
- Oxheart
- T & T Monster
- Brandywine
- Betterboy
- Sugary
- Sweet Baby Girl
- Sweet Cluster
Cucumbers
- Summer Dance
- Improved Long Green
- National Pickling
- Diva
Watermelons
- Sweet Beauty
- New Queen
- Canada Early
Of course, I wanted to plant a few more varieties, but I was slow to get my seed order in. So I still wait for Lemon Boy and Big Beef tomatoes, Jade Star and Sweet Favorite watermelons, and Atlantic Giant pumpkins.
Then I covered up my little seeds with soil, dampened the soil with water from a spray bottle on ‘mist’ setting, placed a clear plastic lids on the tray, and placed them all under two florescent lights I had set up. (That gives me four bulbs/tubes set about six inches above the soil.)
So now we wait. I only started planting my seedlings indoors last year (as opposed to directly sowing them in the ground), so I’m still working on perfecting the art. Last year a lot of plants were leggy, but I think I’ve figured out the reasons why - but that’s for another post.
As for now, my question for you is: When do you start your seedlings? Lemme know!
Update: April 12, 2008
Here’s what things look like after five days. Several cucumbers are a solid inch tall already, the tomatoes have just started to appear (you can see them in the background, and a few watermelons have popped out of the dirt. I’m always amazed at how fast these things sprout!
Update: April 21, 2008
I got my other seeds (see above) shortly after my last update. Here’s a couple of pictures of what everything looks like now.
April 8th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
I’d really like to hear how your watermelons turn out later in the year.
I started some seeds already in February. I’ve got some good sized purple cone flower, sweet basil (already “harvested” some when I pinched back the plants), and parsely. I also have some yarrow seedlings started from seedheads a neighbor gave me. I just took the six healthiest and put them in pots today. Last week I started some liatris bulbs and a couple bags of daylily roots.
I’ve run out of room under my lights and I still haven’t started the vegetables! We’ll probably buy some more bulbs and attached them to some of the wood shelving in the basement.
April 9th, 2008 at 12:01 am
I’ll be sure to keep you posted on those watermelons. Last year I got two or three softball-sized watermelons that never got ripe. But the year before that I got two basketball-sized melons that were delicious!
My trouble is lack of space too. I don’t have a basement, but I do have two little kids who love digging. There’s only so much space at a height above three feet!
April 24th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
I will post current pics of my plants later today…I started my watermelons and pumpkins last week and they are growing! I’m very interested in how and where you plant your watermelons….as my father claims they just can’t be effectively grown here….( I would love to have a great crop to prove him wrong…lol) A tip for pumpkins…. we plant in peat pots as the roots are easy to disturb….(that is also from my father) How are things growing now???
April 24th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
The watermelons I’ve grown have been in my hoop-style greenhouse (cold frame). I can’t say how ‘effectively’ they grew, but the two melons I got in 2006 sure tasted good!
The watermelons I planted in 2006 were originally in peat pots that I transplanted into my greenhouse in the last week of April. Of the six seeds I sowed, only one actually survived long enough to produce. The ones that didn’t produce were planted in peat pots on April 7th, transplanted into the greenhouse on the 29th. Both were watered on automated soaker hoses. No fertilizer.
Things are growing pretty good now - though I’ve had to re-seed a few things.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
I only had 2 come up out of 5 and I hope they make it……hmmmm, I need a hot bed or cold frame…..off the south of the house! Ps….only 3 more weeks until garden time!!!! I hope the weather stays nice!
May 2nd, 2008 at 5:19 am
It is so goo to see that your plants are growing well. My tomato seedling which are 20 days old started to grow well till now. All the leaves are becoming lifeless and dull. Not sure what the problem. I am getting worried. Any suggestions?
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:10 am
Hmmmm, perhaps you can further explain what they look like. Are they turning color? Drooping? Leaves curling? Or even better if you can, email me a picture and I’ll write a post about it! (dave@albertahomegardening.com)
May 15th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Thanks for the great pictures and information. I live in Zone 0/North of 60 and have no chance of ever moving my plants outside the house. I planted my tomatoes and peppers in mid-February. If you thought your plants were leggy, imagine if they were planted on a window sill in the arctic when there was only 8 hours of daylight. But they are all flowering now and I’m anxious to see if they’ll produce ripe fruit. (Now we have 20 hours of daylight, and I have to make an effort to give them enough hours of darkness).
Next year I’m not sure if I will wait or not, but I may build a shelf greenhouse to provide more light. Cheers, great blog!