Garden Log 1/29/22

Actually started first batch of 2022 seeds today. It definitely helps that we have a faucet / sink in the basement, because filling up all the seed trays took a while; if I’d had to carry them up and down stairs, it would’ve taken even longer and probably involved a lot of spillage. 🙂 Started peppers (with heat mats), pansies, leeks, and artichokes.

That took up basically all my space, and all my self-watering greenhouse seed trays, which makes me a little worried about the seeds I’m supposed to start in 2-3 weeks, but I think the plan is that by that point, I’ll know which of these have sprouted, and will be able to give most of them away (I only want 1-2 of each pepper, for example, and I’ve started 14 in each tray), and transplant those that remain? So I can start the next batch? We’ll see if that actually works out.

This is a somewhat expensive set-up, I want to note. I was given the big light set-up (from Gardener’s Supply) as a (requested) Christmas gift one year from my sweetie; I think it runs around $600. Big gift! I’m still ramping up to using it as much as I’d like to — when I’m not starting seeds, I’d like to have herbs and lettuces going in there. But you can definitely start seeds with a grow bulb and any inexpensive light fixture; you don’t need this kind of set-up.

The self-watering trays are definitely more expensive than is necessary — you can start seeds in almost anything — a paper cup, for example, with a little plastic wrap over the top. But my life can get very hectic, and the self-watering element (there’s a mat inside that wicks up water from a reservoir on the bottom) is pretty critical to my seedlings not just dying when I forget to check them daily.

If you’re interested in seed starting, I did a video in 2021, I think, a ten-minute introduction — it’s not very professional, but hopefully it conveys the basics. You can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp9XOV5hbjk&t=47s

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