Have you been putting off growing plants of your own because
you don’t know how to really care for your seeds, start seeds or you don’t know
how to start seeds? Well, late winter and early spring are the seasons for
starting seeds in the greenhouse. You
should also know that you can start seeds in the greenhouse anytime of the
year. Because you control the greenhouse environment you can start tomatoes in
the fall and fresh tomatoes will sit on your table in the winter months when
you keep on working with them!
If it is really early say December or January, you can start
some seeds that take the longest to grow and be ready for transplanting such as
the: cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and similar long growing plants. These
plants take at least six weeks before you can transplant them into a larger
container for continued growing in the greenhouse.
The mix that you use to plant your seeds should be a mixture
of sand, loam, peat moss, or other materials that are well draining but
supporting for the roots to make a ‘stable’ appears on each seed. You can add perlite, or vermiculite to any
type of soil to loosen it up as needed. You can add shell to the bottom of
containers that don’t seem to be draining well as your transplants grow larger.
Plants that will require about eight weeks before you can
plant them in another container, otherwise known as transplanting; include the
tomato, pepper and the eggplant. Get
started on your tomato or pepper seeds as early as February and by May you can
plant them outdoors for a good growing season.
How are you going to plant the seeds in your greenhouse?
Starting with small seed containers or small peat pots, fill them about ¾ of
the way full with your soil mixture. Put the seed into the soil and cover
lightly with another small, very small amount of soil. Misting your soil and seeds will bring
germination about. It is equally as important to keep the soil mixture warm to
promote germination for many seed types as well, although some seeds to need
the cool temperatures to promote germination.
Covering your soil with a clear plastic will keep the
moisture in the soil until germination occurs. Even if the seed take ten days
to germinate the soil will be moist and preparing the seed for growth.
What is really amazing is that tomatoes can start
germination in as little as six days, and peppers will start germination in
just ten days. If you have a long growing season, in the summer outdoors or
winter in the greenhouse, you can grow any type of plant you want watching the
germination and then transplanting, as they get larger.
As your seeds start to grow into seedlings and then to
mature plants, you don’t want to transplant your plants outdoors until they are
at least six inches tall or taller. Plants that are a good dark green are
healthy and ready to be planted outdoors. If your plants are a little yellow
looking you might want to give then a few more days or weeks in the greenhouse
with extra sunlight and care before moving these plants outdoors.
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