I started some seeds in a different manner..

[kansasterri]

Yesterday I took some of those cheap, semi-disposable tupperware type containers and I put the jiffy peat pellets in them. I watered them, put the seeds in them, sealed and "burped" them, and I set them on the hot air register.

I usually have a lot of trouble starting my own seeds, as they get too cool and germination is poor. I likely would do better with a heating pad, but I never could see paying for one for just a few seedlings and so I usually just buy the plants. Excepting the cost of vegetable plants out here have skyrocketed in the last few years. Everything has gone yuppie, with handsome green pots with ONE sweet corn plant, or one OTHER vegetable plant, all ready to transplant to your garden, for $2.35 each. Nope. Not gonna happen! I see no point in paying $2.35 for each and every individual vegetable plant!

So, instead I have drafted my hot air register and some inexpensive tupperware to keep the seedlings from drying out. The tupperware is stacked 3 deep, and they are carefully placed to allow the hot air to touch each and every pot. As a bonus, I have a wider selection of varieties than when I bought the plants!

Best of all, the cats cannot eat the plants or roll in them. Seriously! I did try to use the hot air register before, but without the tupperware pots! The cats had a BLAST playing with the soft dirt and eating the small plants! They have the lawn to play in, of course, but it is COLD out there! They would rather play with the inside plants than the outside plants!

I have planted kale, asparagus, and broccoli. If this works, then I will transplant the seedlings to pots and then use the tupperware to plant watermelons and okra.

Hopefully the seeds will be up in a day or two.

[Penny]

Sounds like a great idea, keep us posted on how they do.

[Garden Happy]

If they don't penny it may be to hot and burn the germinating seeds. Try on top of the fridge if this don't work.

[Compost Pharmer]

Please let us know how well your seeds germinate in the peat pellets. I stopped using them because I had less then 30% germination rate. I started buying the peat pots from Walmart and add my own potting soil. So far, 100% germination. You will be surprised how much better and faster the seeds will germinate with heat from the bottom. I bought a heating pad, but the problem is it only stays on for 2 hours. Every time I walk by, if it is off, I turn it back on, but not the hottest setting.
I have one of those domed trays that will hold 72 pellets. But I never plant that many at one time.
It sits on top of the heating pad. I, also, decided that the price for individual plants is outrageous,so the last 2 years I have been starting the veggies from seed. That way I have plants ready to plant out when the soil is warm enough, usually the middle to end of March. My first batch of veggies are now about 4 inches tall, and looking real healthy.

[mogarden]

A sometimes overlooked source of heat is light bulbs. I'm talking about incandescent bulbs, the ones with a filament. They are being replaced now by florecents (sp)since they give off as much heat as light. I just start a few plants at a time so for me an 8-watt nite-lite bulb gives off enough heat to warm a 3-inch pot of soil. When they sprout they go under the light and another pot goes onto the heat. I use a wire basket propped up on blocks on 2 sides with the bulb underneath, the pot over it. Works good, it's cheap and I still have it left from last year so no extra expense.

[kansasterri]

The kale and the broccoli are sprouting, so I moved them to a window for some light. I will put them back on the hot air register tonight!

No signs of life from the asparagus at this time.

[jerseycub]

Feb 12, 2013 16:21:19 GMT -6 Compost Pharmer said:

Please let us know how well your seeds germinate in the peat pellets. I stopped using them because I had less then 30% germination rate. I started buying the peat pots from Walmart and add my own potting soil. So far, 100% germination. You will be surprised how much better and faster the seeds will germinate with heat from the bottom. I bought a heating pad, but the problem is it only stays on for 2 hours. Every time I walk by, if it is off, I turn it back on, but not the hottest setting.
I have one of those domed trays that will hold 72 pellets. But I never plant that many at one time.
It sits on top of the heating pad. I, also, decided that the price for individual plants is outrageous,so the last 2 years I have been starting the veggies from seed. That way I have plants ready to plant out when the soil is warm enough, usually the middle to end of March. My first batch of veggies are now about 4 inches tall, and looking real healthy.

I don't use peat pellets for the same reason, I use a mix made for starting seed and a 1-1-1 organic mix that is produced for better root growth, after there are true leaves on the seedlings. I would say if kansasterri likes to grow her own verities of plants it may be worth buying a heat mat and one grow light to start things with better success. If you are planting at least 100 plants it would be worth looking into. And that could be a mix of flowers and vegetables, for both garden and landscape.

[Compost Pharmer]

I agree with JC. I bought my heating pad at WalMart for about $14. Its not the biggest, but big enough so the entire domed container fits on top of it. I built myself a grow lights stand. I bought a 2 shelf wire stand at Home Depot, along with 2, 2 foot grow lights and wired it all together. It seems to make a big difference. The plants are not 'leggy, but rather look like they were bought.

[kansasterri]

The cabbage family seedlings are up and looking fine.

We shall have to wait and see if they get enough light and/or escape damping off! I am much encouraged because they germinated so quickly, but the weather has become overcast and so, while I put them on the windowsill during the day, not as much light is coming through the windows.