Questions from a newbie vegetable gardener

[scfr]

2 questions from a total newbie, for you experienced gardeners:

1. Starting Seeds Inside: I read that you should keep the temp 65-72 when starting seeds inside. We keep our house 60-63, so I'm concerned that I may not have any luck starting seeds inside. Do any of you have experience trying to start seeds inside at a lower temp? How did it work out?

2. Buying plants from a nursery: How much do you typically pay to buy little starter plants from a nursery? Types I'm thinking of are tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, and strawberries.

Thanks!

[pretty cheap jewelry]

We are the Del Monte of the west in the spring over here...

I have not started seeds inside very often, because we're in a warm area with 4 seasons of growing. But when I did, just put them on the kitchen window sill and they were fine. No tinkering with the temperature. Probably depends on what kind of plant, what season. Are you starting summer vegetables inside early?

We frequently use little starter packs and pay about 1.50 - 2.00 for a six pack (tomatoes, green peppers). The advantage of the starter plants for us is that the snails don't destroy the larger plants as they would tiny sprouts if they were seeds. We started cucumber from seed, and strawberries are bare root out here just about now (Jan). Much cheaper that way. In fact, we have done them as a bundle of probably 20 or 25 plants for around $5. (I live within a mile or two of strawberry farms though and it's much more cost effective to buy strawberries from the farm stands).

Happy gardening, get your canner ready :]

[Phantomfyre]

As a total newbie to this forum, it's nice to have a question I can answer! LOL.

1. We also keep the house very cool (62 day, 57 night - love the programmable thermostat!!!). Your biggest problem will be getting the seeds to germinate; actually growing in cooler temps will result in slower, but sturdier growth, which is good. I pre-sprout things like tomatoes, peppers and eggplant in moistened paper towels, rolled up with the *labeled* seeds inside a plastic baggie and placed in a warm spot, like the top of the refrigerator. After a few days, I begin checking them daily, looking at each seed for emergence of a root tip. As soon as I see this, I remove that seed and transfer it to moist potting soil *carefully* - don't break this little root tip, or it will die. I return the unsprouted seeds to the baggie, cover the planted sprout's container with plastic, and put it in the warm spot with the seeds until the seedling breaks the soil. Now it needs light more than warmth. I have never had luck using a windowsill - the days are still too short this time of year, and with all my houseplants and other things I'm over-wintering inside, window space is at a premium! So I use inexpensive flourescent shoplights. Don't waste your money on grow lights - plain old flourescents are fine, and they don't use much electricity. But the light has to be only a few inches above the plants - any farther, and the light diffuses too much to provide the seedlings with the light they need. I have a setup with some metal shelving, 4' shop lights on a timer (about 14 hours on, 10 off) hung on chains with s-hooks so I can adjust the height of the light fixtures as the plants grow. I also run a fan on the seedings for a little bit each day, or, when I pass them or check on them, I "pet" them - running a hand lightly over them to move them a little. This simulates wind, and results in sturdier, stockier plants. (Sounds crazy, I know, but I swear it works!) Keep them watered but not soggy. Too much warmth and moisture can promote a fungus that will kill them (called "damping off"). But they can't be allowed to completely dry out when they're really little, either. So you need to check them at least daily. I water them from the bottom, pouring water into a dish and letting the pots soak it up from the drainage holes. Let them soak for a little bit, then pour off the excess water so they don't drown. Once the temps outside warm up, you have to start "hardening them off," because these indoor-grown babies are very tender! They aren't used to full sunlight, wind, cold nighttime dew, etc., and they can sunburn, freeze or go into shock (really!) as a result. I begin transitioning them to outdoor life by putting them out on warm days in a mostly shady spot and bringing them back in at night. Gradually (over a period of at least a week or two) move them into sunnier and sunnier areas until they're in full sun, and if nighttime temps permit, leave them out overnight. Now they're ready to go in the garden.

Is all this worth it? For me, yes. I'm itching to start gardening this time of year, and playing with seeds is all I can do with the snow flying outside. Also, I can grow varieties and types of veggies/plants that I can't get at nurseries. (Various rare heirloom tomatoes, interesting hot peppers, pink, white and/or striped eggplants, Oriental veggies, kohlrabi, etc.)

Is it cost-effective? I can likely buy plants cheaper at a nursery, by the time I've included the amortized cost of my shelves and lights, electricity, potting soil, seeds, etc. But in the off-season, I use the shelving for other things, I recycle potting mix and use things like toilet paper rolls and egg cartons to start my seeds in, and I trade for seeds and save seeds from my garden for next year. And I try might selling extra seedlings at some point, which would really help justify it.

2. $1.50/pack. Probably more for strawberries, but I haven't bought them that way, so I don't know. Like PCJ said, bare-root strawberry plants via mail-order will be far less expensive and you'll have a greater selection of varieties to choose from. I've heard good things about Indiana Berry, Krohne Farms, and Norse Farms, but I've not used any of them yet myself. I plan to this year. I wouldn't buy cucumbers, zucchini, squash, watermelon, etc. as plants - they don't transplant very well, and they're easy to start from seed in the garden. Lettuce, peas and beans are easy, too. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts are things that come to mind that are best started indoors early or purchased as plants.

Hope this helps!
Diana, who's going to start a dozen varieties of heirloom tomatoes in the next few days! But who hasn't ordered any other seeds that I need yet because I can't decide on which varieties I really *need*...

[genmed]

I've been keeping my house pretty cold as well and so far the following seeds have germinated in the "regular time" with no problem:

brocolli
beans
arugula
cilantro
tomatillo

I've got about another week before the tomatoes and peppers should start.

[mom-from-missouri]

It will still work. But, no reason to start cucumbers from starter packs. They are fast to grow and hearty, so the plant packs are kind of a rip off..
For the other 3 you mentioned, starter packs are the way to go.
In my neck of the woods, prices range from a 4 pack for 99 cents to a 6 pack for 99 cents or even up to $2.49 a pack.

[shelbylovesmelby]

I wanted to say if you buy strawberries you may want to get some sort of bird netting as the birds are always after my neighbors strawberries.

Also maybe ask on a regional gardening board or the alike about places they'd recommend you buying your plants from. As we have a monthly flea market in the area & there is a nursery that comes to sell their plants. I don't recall what we paid for everything. But of my portion of the plants I had 12 tomatos (all 12-18in tall already!!!!!), 2 brocoli, 2 coliflour, & abt 10 small perrenials (abt 6in tall) for $23. I was very very pleased my aunt shared this with me & I've been telling everyone else ever since. I'm never going back to our local garden "chain store" to endure their lousy service!

BTW if you are looking for seeds now is the time to look lots of hardware stores, Wally world & some farm stores have the basic packets for .10