Episode-2374- All About Starting Seeds
Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()
Today we talk about starting seeds in a variety of ways but mostly from the stand point of starting them indoors to get plants ready to be put out after danger of frost. This is an area where a lot of people struggle and frankly a lot of mistakes are made.
Today I put out a video on facebook and one on instagram. I am going to include a response to many of the concerns and issues people brought up on those platforms.
Join Me Today To Discuss…
- Understanding how seeds germinate in the wild (this answers so many questions)
- Setting up your seed starting systems
- How much do you want/need to start
- Indoors, garage, outdoors. green house
- Lights (LED, T5, T8, Natural)
- Heating (mats, space heating, etc)
- Determining your starting dates
- Determine last frost date
- Plan at least one week later
- Count backwards based on time to “set out”
- Trouble shooting and issues brought up on social media today
- Slow / Low germination
- Leggy
- Poor color
- Mold, slime, dampening off, etc.
- Keeping things warm
- Humidity Domes
- Should the soil be sterile – best potting mix
- Trouble with peppers
- Storing seeds
- Moss, gnats, mites and mold
- Using solo cups
- Timers
- Getting screwed by your last frost date
- Topping seedlings for bushier plants
- The cost benefit analysis of starting vs. buying seedlings
- Planting up
- Doing your starting outdoors
- Being too ambitious, doing too much/many the first time
- Final thoughts
Resources for today’s show…
- Join the Members Brigade
- Join Our Forum
- Walking To Freedom
- TspAz.com
- The Granddaddy’s Gun Club
- Bullhead Fishing Forum – A new little site I started
- Grow Tent I am Using for Seed Starting
- Calculate Your Frost Dates
- 600 Watt Grow Light I am Also Using
- 45 Watt Kingbow Lights
- FlowerHouse Pop Up Green House Products
- Using a fish tank as a mini green house
- Dealing with Leggy Seedlings Video
- Ruby’s Shoes on SongFacts
- Ruby’s Shoes – Lori McKenna
Sponsors of the Day
Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show. Also remember you can call in your questions and comments to 866-65-THINK (866-658-4465) and you might hear yourself on the air.
Want Every Episode of TSP Ever Produced?
Remember in addition to discounts to over 40 vendors who supply stuff you are likely buying anyway, tons of free ebooks and video content, MSB Members also get every edition of The Survival Podcast ever produced in convenient zip files in blocks of 24. More info on the MSB can be found here.
Love these seed-starting episodes, really love then when the weather is as crappy outside as it is today.
One thing I did not hear that would be a good way to start seeds. Make your own containers. Find a video on YouTube about wrapping newspaper around an old bottle and making a small container. Pop it in the soil when you transplant and BOOM, done. The newspaper degrades away.
My seeds are beginning to sprout from the https://aggressivelyorganic.com/ kit I mentioned a bit ago. I will report back with updates as the process continues.
Thanks for devoting a show to this skill, Jack. Good to get a refresher before starting seeds again this year.
Last year, I switched to spraying the plastic trays I set my pots in with Neem Oil before use to combat mold and gnats. Also had a tower fan running to move air throughout the room. Seemed to work pretty well, but what are your thoughts on Neem Oil?
Also, as someone who works in the lighting industry, I’ve noticed a trend away from multi color full spectrum grow lights towards units with a 2-3+ different CCT white LEDs instead. (2700k-5000k+) Lumen output and efficiency/ efficacy are also rapidly increasing. I love my Kingbo 45W lights, but the other day I had my hands on a unit twice the width of one Kingbo with higher lumen ouptut and only pushing 72W. UL is introducing a horticulture light performance standard soon as well.
Lots of good info in this episode. I’ll add a couple of things I’ve learned over the years in regards to starting pepper seeds (especially the finicky super-hots). They germinate best at about 85F. Below 75 and above 95 and it will be slow going.
Heat mats are almost a necessity to get good germ rates but I learned several years ago that they need to be thermostatically controlled. I discovered that the soil temp on my heat mats was well over 100F when the T5 lights were on, and the seeds wouldn’t germinate.
For the really hard to germinate seeds, I place them between dampened paper towels in zip bags and put them on the mats. I pull the towels out every day or two to check for sprouting. When I see the tiny root appear, I use a tweezers to pick the seed out and place it into a starter mix – root down of course.
Oh, and the last frost date is kind of meaningless for peppers and tomatoes. I don’t put those out until nighttime temps stay in the 50s and soil temps are in the 60s. The plants will just go backwards if it’s below that.
I’m a long time listener and have been a supporting member in the past. This episode really helped me with my spring efforts, I’m fortunate enough to live in Texas and for the reason almost every gardening podcast with Jacks observations and experiences are zone appropriate for me. I really appreciate everything he does.
Listening starting at 1:29:40 in this episode, I was compelled to renew my supporting member subscription that had been expired for a few months. Who else in mass media, social media, or any other public space with a large audience has such a substantive opinion of the sum of the infinitesimals that make up this world and the vision to actually realize and articulate that opinion other than Jack Spirko? And if anyone else does have that calculated opinion can they work past their own agenda to declare it? I haven’t found them yet.
For this reason I renewed my subscription.
Wow thanks for your kind words. Now I have to go listen to what I said.