Organic Gardening Part 1

[pch.shot]

Up here in the north, spring is a very welcome sight.
I just finished shoveling a path through the snow to one of my favorite spots,
the gardening shed. It's time to get started for the grow season!!
I like to start my own plants indoors for transplanting outdoors,
when the weather warms up. Here is one way to do it.

What you will need:
1 four foot florescent shop light fixture with two 33 watt bulbs
2 large screw hooks
4 S hooks
4 one foot length light chain
1 extension cord
1 24 hour electrical timer
1 sheet of thick plastic
2 four foot by one foot shelves
Duct tape

Peat Pellets
Seedling flats with clear plastic lids
Seeds
Organic liquid fertilizer
Tweezers
Small plate

Setting up your grow environment:
You want to select a warm spot in the basement(near the furnace is good).
Mount your shelving to the wall, leaving about a foot and a half between the shelves.
Screw your screw hooks into the bottom of the top shelf(one at each end), and using your S hooks and chain, mount your light fixture.

Planting:
Place the peat pellets in the seedling flats and add just enough water to make them moist, not soaking wet(waiting for them to expand).
Empty your seeds onto the plate, and using your tweezers, drop two seeds in each peat pellet.
Place the plastic lid on top of the seedling flat and set it on the bottom shelf under your grow lights.
***Seeds will take from 3 days to weeks, depending on how warm it is and the type of plant(i.e. tomatoes about 3 days, mint, over 2 weeks).

When the seeds germinate, remove the plastic lid, plug your grow light in and turn it on, setting your timer for at least 12 hours of light per day.
Wrap your plastic around the shelving, attaching it with your duct tape, leaving the front loose so you can access the seedling flats.


Caring for your plants:
Keep the plants moist, not soaking wet.
Two weeks after germination, fertilize your plants every other week, following the instructions on the bottle(too much fertilizer is as bad as too much water).
As the plants grow, move the grow light up, using the chains.
When the plants are three to four inches high they should be moved outdoors, for about a week, to harden off.

***You want to start your plants 2 months before the last killing frost(i.e. if your last killing frost is May 23 you would start your plants March 23).

Advantages of growing your own:
a)You know the grow environment(most nurseries use pesticides, herbicides and artificial fertilizers).
b)You can plant when the plants are ready(plants from nurseries are usually past their time(i.e.if a tomato plant has a flower on it, it is past it's time).
c)If you have children, get them involved. It will tweak a life long interest in gardening. From starting the plants from seed, watching them grow, eating the fruits to composting the spent plants.

Happy Gardening!!

more to come....... pch

[LeadFingers]

From one "Farmer Juan" to another
Things to consider...
1) Never set a Nursery tray (the tray containing many small pots of starts) directly on the concrete.
The concrete will suck the heat out of the tray and kill most of the starts

2) Pick your fertilizer carefully for whatever stage your plant is in.

3) If using anything other than well water, let it sit for a few days before using.
This lets certain gasses evaporate and other little nasties dissolve.

4) keep a close eye on your plants for bugs.
SaverSoap should be your first choice, but never before 3 weeks old

5) Use a "Grow light" not a standard fluorescent.
This gives the proper spectrum baby plants need.
Keep it 4" to 6" above the plants
You WILL notice a huge difference.

6) while in the trays, let the lights run 24/7
Fluorescents are cheap to run & the baby plants will soak it up.

7) After 2 to 4 weeks, when you move them from the nursery trays to bigger pots,
Change the lights from fluorescent to an even mixture of "high pressure sodium" and "mercury halide"
AND set this to run 18 hours a day.
This is the best possible spectrum (closest to the tropical sun)
and with 6 hours of rest/darkness a day they grow better.

8) Keep these lights 12" to 18" above the plants.
lower then 12" you burn the plants, higher than 18" you loose effective light.

9) If you have a year around garden and don't move the plants outside,
Change the timer in the lights to 12 hours a day when they start to flower or bear fruit.
Since they are shifting to the bloom mode they require more rest/darkness

10) When you change the timer or transplant them outside, switch to a different type of fertilizer.
From a general grow mixture to a bloom or a plant specific mixture

11) When you change the timer or transplant them outside, whether they show signs of bugs or not
spritz them down with SaverSoap (and the walls & shelves)

12) For nastier bugs use "Malathion" (make sure its WELL VENTILATED or it will mess you up)
DO NOT eat any fruit or herbs for 4 days after spraying.
after 4 days the toxins have dissipated & they are "food safe"

Ya I know the Malathion kinda takes away the organic part,
but it's the closest you can get to organic for those really nasty infestations.

[pch.shot]

Nice entry!!! We may just start something here.pch

[deate]

Looking at the two above avatars, there's no way I'm buying the whole "tomatoes...mint "thing...

[pch.shot]

It is, remember, "Grow Your Own"!!! pch

[deate]

It is, remember, "Grow Your Own"!!! pch

Maybe if you'd said Basil I might have bought it...But if you will excuse me now, I have to go scrape the "Organic Fertilizer" off my boots that I picked up while feeding my cows this morning

[cowboy]

What are they talking about..lights, fertilizer, seed?
Image 1 not much in the circle..only the coyote walking down the road
image 2 just a little water..nothing else,,
Downtown Phoenix

[mt_deb]

What are they talking about..lights, fertilizer, seed?
Image 1 not much in the circle..only the coyote walking down the road
image 2 just a little water..nothing else,,
Downtown Phoenix

I miss Phoenix SO much ..................Thanks for the pictures Cowboy.

[cowboy]

Np..Came back 3 years ago, after 13 years in Cal....grown too big..not the same..