GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

George Shirley · 05-01-2007, 05:37 PM posted to rec.gardens

wrote:
My girlfriend and I love gardening, but have only ever planted tomatos
and peppers from starts you buy at the hardware store, or even walmart,
in the fall. We're trying to go cheaper this year, and I have a henry
fields catalog here with tomato and pepper seeds.

First get you another catalog, I like Pinetree and/or Johnny's Seeds,
both have online catalogs. Had bad luck once with Fields.

Here's where it starts to sound kinda hokey. Could we save money by
trying to start our own tomato and pepper plants inside? I can get a
48" flourescent two-bulb fixture and two grow bulbs for around $30. I
know, it's not a greenhouse. Another issue, we're planning on putting
them in dixie cups to start them, is that an issue?
Certainly you can save money by starting your own. I have a steel shelf
unit in my office. Two of the shelves have 48 inch twin tube fluorescent
units and in those I have a "daylight" tube and a "kitchen and bath"
tube. Those two together duplicate actual sunlight and are much cheaper
than "grow" lights. I don't see dixie cups as a problem but be sure you
put them in some sort of tray that allows the water you put in/on the
cups to drain or you will get root rot quickly. Keep the light about one
inch above the plants as they grow. Feed them lightly with a liquid
fertilizer as needed. You should get enough warmth from the light
fixture to keep them going.

We're only planning on growing about a dozen tomato plants and maybe a
dozen bell pepper plants, but we have many friends and family who also
garden that we'd share our starts with.

How large can these starts get in the house under a growlight?
When we've had a late cold spell here in USDA zone 9b I've had the
seedlings get up to 8 to 12 inches tall before planting out. Ensure your
garden soil is at 70F before planting the seedlings in the ground.

Thanks!
Jason Kelly
Valley Center, KS

George