Using Slow Cooker To Germinate Seeds

I was studying how to germinate pepper seeds fast and I stumbled upon this genius gal who cracked the code accidentally....   Yes, I tried it, and yes it's amazing.  My pepper seeds, which I am told take weeks and weeks to germinate, germinated in 4 days.

Germinate Seeds in Paper Towels and Ziploc Bags? OMG YES!

Today is Wednesday, January 30th, 2013.  On Sunday night, I got the wild idea (after Mark inspired me with his research and R&D, of course) to germinate a bunch of seeds in wet paper towels in ziploc bags.  With the exception of cucumber seeds (which promise to germinate in 3 days), all of the seeds require seven or more days to germinate, so I didn't have any concern about making it to next weekend before I had to worry about the seeds and plant them.

WRONG!  In one day, the cucumber seeds were taking off and had to be planted.  No prob, had that covered.  The rest could wait....   or maybe not.....   I checked tonight, and all of the lettuce seeds (regardless of whether I had them in the cold by a window or on a heating pad) had germinated and were ready to be planted.

The Lettuce, Red Sails, promised to only germinate in 40 to 60 degrees fahrenheit....    Wrong again!  I exposed them to 85 degrees and they exploded in three days.

Same with Collards....  supposed to germinate in 8-12 days in 65 degrees (85 is way too hot), but they shot open like rockets in 85 degrees in three days.

What does this tell me?  I'm never germinating in peat pellets again!  Everything will germinate in bags, and then get moved to some soil (or hydroponic system heh heh).

I'm very excited about this warm, humid environment, and what it does to seeds!  How much time I've wasted waiting for freakin seeds to germinate!!!   Never again!

CFL Vegetable Grow Lighting

I was about to buy more cheap 4' shop fixtures to accomodate the amazing explosion of spinach from our indoor garden, and Mark was wise enough to initiate "CFL Experiment #1".

This is a key factor.  Mark has been using a cheap light meter off of eBay to measure the "Lux" at the plant.  He's determined a logarithmic relationship such that if you reposition the light, the light amount available EXPLODED.  The CFLs give you more Lux and Lumens at the leaf thank the 4' shop lights.  These plants are getting more light for less bucks... they're just REACHING for the lights.  We are amazed at the results.  The CFL bulbs are available at the grocery store, and the clamp on light fixtures (clamp removed) were 7 or 8 bucks at our local hardware store.

Mark is on the verge of something huge....   CFLs kick butt!

Spinach Explosion

There have been amazing surprises with the fluorescent light racks.  I had some peat pellets that had been neglected, and that refused to germinate in the cold temperatures we've had this winter.

Once they got under the fluorescent lights, they went insane.  At first, based on the way the looked, I had thought they were bulb fennel (which I'm not that excited about, but it was a fun test).  So I tested a leaf... and OMG.... IT'S SPINACH.  Mark and I LOVE spinach.  So, we now have 20 or more spinach plants in fully happy vegetative mode.  Weeeeeeeeeeee!

Romaine

Mark rescued this romaine plant from the back of the rack...  it's SO happy under the fluorescent lights!

Spinach

Magic spinach.

Grow Rack!

There comes a time in every gardener's learning and evolution, I'm sure, when the concept of an indoor fluorescent fixture rack system goes from being a "nice to have" idea to something that you can't live without.  I'm there!

After a month of frustrating temperatures in an 8b zone that promised temperatures of 35-ish in December (OK, I know they're averages, but 15-20 almost every night?  Come on!), I'm ready to germinate seedlings that don't die within 48 hours because I've subjected them to bitter cold (hee hee ok, 15 to 20 degrees F is not bitter, Noel, but I like the term).

Walmart rack - 50 bucks
Walmart fluorescent fixtures - 12 bucks each x 4 = 48 bucks
Total:  $100 for seedlings that don't die....   it seems reasonable, right?

Lettuce and Cardoon, growing in the warmth and light.

Spinach and kale in peat pellets in a mini greenhouse.

Carrots on the left, spinach on the right.

I expect the seeds to germinate quickly and grow quickly under the low-output light, especially since they're primarily greens.

New Raised Bed!

Here's a first cut at my plans for filling the new raised bed with vegetables this spring (thank you Mark!!!):


                                                                8 feet                                           
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Cucumber (over west trellis)          Melon (over west trellis)    Watermelon (over trellis)
                                                                                                                                  
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Carrots?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   1' sections

Basil?

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Tomatoes?

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Lancaster, CA - Spring Planting Study for 2013

It's time to start planning the Spring 2013 vegetable garden!

I have set up a "grow rack", a simple steel rack shelving system with 4' fluorescent light fixtures for starting seeds indoors.  Contrary to my original assuption, I'm going to need to start seeds indoors...  it's just too cold outside.

Now that we've established that basic fact, the first step is to plan when to plant seeds indoors, and when to plant seeds outdoors.  The planting date for seeds is calculated based on the last Spring frost date for your climate zone.  I'm going to first determine the last frost date for 93536. 

This handy map tells me that the last frost date for Lancaster, CA is April 11 - April 20.  Since I'm looking for an average frost date, and I've killed enough seedlings this year to want to be a bit conservative, I'm going with April 20 as the last spring frost date for 2013.

Now I simply count back weeks to determine the correct planting date for each vegetable seed item.

February 23 - 8 weeks before last frost
March 2 - 7 weeks before last frost
March 9 - 6 weeks before last frost
March 16 - 5 weeks before last frost
March 23 - 4 weeks before last frost
March 30 - 3 weeks before last frost
April 6 - 2 weeks before last frost
April 13 - 1 week before last frost
April 20 - Last Frost

See why I need to start planning now?  : )

Here are the setback amount of weeks I've gathered from various sources (of vegetables I want to plant and grow this spring):

When to plant outdoors:
Beets, Radishes:  2 wks
Onion:  2 wks
Carrots - 2 wks
Peas - 3 to 4 wks
Kale, Chard, Collards - 4 wks
Squash, melon, cucumbers:  when soil temperature is 60 degrees

When to plant indoors:
Tomato:  4-6 weeks
Lettuce:  4-6 weeks
Peppers:  6-8 weeks
Basil:  6 weeks
Cole crops (cabbage, kale, kohlrabi, collards, broccoli):  6-8 wks

I'm also going to refer to the Tucson spring planting calendar for another point of reference, as most of Tucson is zone 8b also (South Tucson is zone 9a and warmer).

Growing Vegetables in the Winter - What I've Learned

When I approached having a winter garden this year, I made some assumptions based on what I knew and what I read, but the reality of winter here in Lancaster, CA was different than I expected in many cases. Lancaster, CA is zone 8b, which really only speaks to the high and low average temperatures throughout the year and not the variability.

The low temperature for the last week has been forecasted in the mid to upper twenties, but the actual temperatures were much lower than average:

Low temperatures:
1/1/13  18 degrees
1/2/13  14 degrees
1/3/13  19 degrees

Needless to say, the carrots are not germinating and the lettuce and spinach is in a state of suspended animation....   Not dead, just not getting bigger!

Some things I've learned this year:

1. Actual low temperatures can be much lower than average low temperatures

2. Carrots don't germinate at 15 degrees

3. Although lettuce and spinach can grow in very cold temperatures, they do not flourish and they grow much slower than they would over 40 degrees.

4.  An indoor plant rack with fluorescent lights is a good idea!

Sleeping American Goldfinch

Did you ever wonder how a tiny bird stays warm at night while sleeping? 
This picture says it all.   Fluff your feathers!  Many thanks to loosends for the perfect photo.