Saturday, February 16, 2013

Working in the greenhouse

Pam transplanting Lupines
Blue Fescue pelleted seed
Pam and I hustled in the greenhouse today. Pam was on the transplants and I was on seeding. Pam transplanted Lupines, Dill, Cumin, Cat Grass, Oregano, and a couple of other varieties. I seeded Hollyhock, Blue Fescue, Globe Thistle, Agastache, Delphiniums, Bronze Fennel and Violas along with a few others. We worked for two hours and at the end of it - I was burned out! Picking those seeds off your hand and dropping them one by one into the cell trays was tedious work.

Pam watering the newly seeded trays
To best sow seeds if you are going to is to get a soilless mix. Don't fool around with "potting soil" especially if it has real soil in it. Garden soil can contain pathogens and diseases that can wipe out your newly seeded crop. You do have to have a lot of light and if you are sowing indoors, I'd recommend that you set up a couple of fluorescent shop lights over your seedlings, preferably on chains so you can move them up as the plants grow. You can use any kind of container - just as long as it has drainage holes in the bottom. As for water, I'm not picky about watering from the bottom or misting the seeds, I just water them with the nozzle set to shower, like all the other plants. A few seeds wash into other flats, but not enough to make a fuss.

We then went to check on the flats at Vicki's greenhouse and watered some of the greens that were coming up. Everything is so slow in this cold that I think I'll sow some more seeds tomorrow and maybe bring a few over to my greenhouse for a little extra bottom heat.

1 comment:

  1. I always get the question what do you do when your nursery is closed. It is asked like I must get bored sitting around eating bonbons. I spent yesterday in my garage/potting shed standing at the the potting table for seven hours potting snowdrops with the propane heater going full blast. At the end the bonbons seemed preferable.

    P.S. You will get a lot more comments if you get rid of word verification. I rarely comment on a blog that has it.

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