In article ,
Nad R wrote:

"Steve Peek" wrote:
"Billy" wrote in message
...
In article ,
The Cook wrote:

I went out to the greenhouse today and got busy starting some seeds. I
planted 3 kinds of onions, shallots, kohlrobi, 2 kinds of turnips,
cabbage, broccoli, beets and swiss chard.

I decided to go ahead and start them in the greenhouse since we are
already heating it to keep some citrus alive.

I transplanted some volunteer potatoes yesterday to a new bed. It took
about an hour to prep and transplant. It's not as cold here as it is in
most of the country, but my fingers still hurt like hell afterwards. I
got 3 new germinating trays so I don't need to sterilize them with
chlorine before I use them. When I reuse them, they will get sterilized
first. Now all I need to do is sterilize some soil and I'm ready.

In the past, I've just filled the germinating cells with wet potting
soil, and then poked little holes in the potting mix to put my seeds
into. This year, I will pass some of the potting soil through a
strainer, and use this fine potting soil to sprinkle over seeds laid on
top of the wet soil in the germination cells. I hope this helps with
germination and pricking-out.
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_vN0--mHug
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyE5wjc4XOw

Billy, what process do you use to sterilize soil? I've got some beautiful
leaf mold, but it's full of weed seeds.

I asked him that same question a few years back... His response...A
toaster oven.
It is after all a simple but effective solution. Far better that pouring
boiling water over the soil like I use to do.

Yeah, a toaster oven set to 200F for 30 min. Potting soil is in a metal
bowl. A germination tray hold about a half gallon of soil (1.9 L). It
takes a temp of 181F (83C) for 20 min. to sterilize. The extra time is
for the temp to penetrate the soil.

Thanks for helping out Dan. Way to go Nad.
--
- Billy
"When you give food to the poor, they call you a saint. When you ask why the poor have no food, they call you a communist."
-Archbishop Helder Camara
http://peace.mennolink.org/articles/...acegroups.html
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth...130964689.html