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2011's Seed Starting Station

I have high expectations for this year’s container garden.

Expanding on last year’s success, this year’s production goal has been increased to “25 pounds of food”; a fifteen pound increase from last year’s achievement of ten pounds.

Unlike last year where I ended up using some nursery bought tomato and sweet pepper starts (in addition to a variety of my own seed starts), This time around I’ve decided to start all of my own plants from seed.

Building upon my other successes and lessons-learned (I didn’t fail- I just learned what didn’t work) of last year, plus a lot of knowledge acquired from various sources, I’ve made some seemingly significant improvements to my seed-germinating system.

I say seemingly, because, while I’m off to a great start with the salad blends, kale and several varieties of tomato, none of the other seed varieties have germinated yet.

I thought I was making a major improvement over last year’s seed-germinating system (discussed here) by upgrading to larger starter pots which I started in a well-ventilated and well lit environment.

This setup resolved several of last year’s challenges- mildew, dry-out and overheating, to name a few, but presented a new, unexpected situation; slow germination.  I believe this is an environmental factor.

I have the shelf setup in the basement, where it maintains a temperature in the mid-sixties.  Last year’s starts germinated very quickly, thanks in part to a 70-80 degree, high-humidity environment.

To remedy this situation I’ve decided to implement a new three-stage plant starting system.

First, I’ve decided to recommission the fridge-germinator.  This will provide a warm, well-lit, and humid environment to encourage quick seed germination.

Then I’ll transfer the starts to Stage 2, the full-spectrum seedling development station.

Once these plants have a a few good sets of leaves I’ll begin hardening them off in our protective growhouse, (weather permitting of course).

This should provide plenty of healthy and vigorous starts for our ever-expanding container garden.

That’s the plan.  We all know that goals are dreams with deadlines (and plans).

Nature’s providing the deadline.  The goal has been set and now I’m working the plan.

2011 is going to be a record-breaking year in so many ways…