I've started planting some of my new plants - mostly Cleistocactus, but also a GORGEOUS Agave nizdanensis that I was gifted just yesterday.
I find starting out many plants in winter starting around Jan 1st gives them a head-start in adjusting to our brutal sun in the summer, especially if we can avoid any more hard freezes the rest of the winter!

I wanna plant my vegetables for the spring but Im not sure if I should or not. I might just start them inside just in case we get a freeze in the next two months.

mid-Feb (Valentine's Day) is generally considered safe to plant, our last freeze should be over.

I've started germinating tomato seeds - there's about 288 cells planted.....!!! What??

Will start the chili pepper seeds as soon as I buy another heat mat.

Broccoli, carrots, radishes, beets and lettuce have all been started. Have some onion starts I need to get in the ground soon. Bulb onions, not green scallion types - those are going well already.

Some fall planted tomato plants are trying to live through the winter. Some will make it, some won't.

I'm starting more tomato, pepper, eggplant and tomatillo seeds inside this week. Outside I'm planting peas, turnips, beets, red mustard, kale and more lettuces and radishes. Still have some onion transplants to get in and I also have leek transplants coming this week to prepare for, my fall planted tomatoes are slowly growing but some starting to bud out, hoping for a better tomato season than last year which was pretty much a bust.

I had planned on starting tomatoes and peppers yesterday and starting squash, cucumbers and melons on the 20th. But alas I banged up my knee pretty bad yesterday and have been off my feet ever since. Really hoping to be able to put some weight on my left foot tomorrow.

Thisisme with ice on the knee. Ouch!!!

I have an Edulis Passion fruit that I grew from the seeds of the only fruit I got last year before the sun destroyed it (my fault), its already grabbing onto other plants. I have some other passion fruit seeds I brought back from hawaii that I will plant.

Considering building another couple hydroponic units for tomatoes, we will see...

Question regarding long yard beans. I have read that yard long beans really like the heat. Can they also take the sun? Or will they need shade?

I am thinking about growing beans or long yard beans on a lean-to setup to shade plants during the later part of the day. Lettuce under the beans.

Thoughts? Experience?

azbookworm there are several varieties of Yard Long Beans. The Arizona Master Gardener says the Black Seeded varieties are the ones that take heat and sun the best. I grew some on a trellis last year. They can take the heat and sun but production slows down during the hottest months. They survive just fine though and start producing well again after the worst part of summer is over until first frost.

I have tomatoes and peppers started indoors from seed. Out in my herb garden the sage, parsley, mint, oregano and rosemary are all still growing like crazy and those are from a May planting. I think the cilantro is even starting to make a reappearance.

I'm also planting some pup shoots from various aloe around the garden and this week I planted 3 dozen baby succulents in this giant concrete planter I have out back. Yes I know, I need to get some photos ;)

Fun discussion! MARY, that's a lot, LOT of tomatoes! LOL.

I've been harvesting leaf lettuce in my garden for quite awhile now (variety 'Red Sails', a classic), plus Swiss chard too. This is a great time of year for leafy greens (though if we get zorched by a freeze the lettuce will get damaged, but so far I haven't had any frosts yet this winter). I planted sweet pea seeds awhile ago too (a fun new bush type that is supposed to be insanely fragrant, so good for containers).

I've also got some petunias and pepper seedlings started indoors for planting out later, and I'll be starting another lettuce crop from seed soon. Oh, and I planted quite a few "geranium" seeds as well. I know, I know, I can just go buy plants right now (and I have--I've got tons in bloom outside in my garden right now), but these are some unusual types and it's always fun to grow a few, although planting them a few weeks ago from seed means I'll be racing the heat to get lots of blooms from them first, LOL, but I like a challenge and I like to test drive new varieties now and then.

My rosemary plants are always productive like you've all mentioned, since they're perennial anyway (I just wish I had more recipes for using it, LOL), and even my licorice basil plants are fine outside in the ground, so I've been using those a lot too.

I'm ready for late February though, when I can REALLY get busy.

Keep the fun updates coming. It's so gratifying to grow things from seed, isn't it??

Happy gardening!
Grant

I'll be starting my vegetables from seed for the first time indoors this winter. What is your guy's setup for starting seeds indoors? Are you guys using heat mats?

Looks like nearly 100% germination on my tomatoes. Yesterday I sowed 60 cells of 8 varieties of hot peppers. Here's the tomato sprouts, looking sproutly!
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Here's a close up of one tray:
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Looking good marymcp. Did you use humidity domes on those trays when you first planted your tomatoes?

Thanks thisisme....I hope to get about 250 seedlings.

Yes, you can see the dome in lower left tray, it was dry this morning, the cells are still moist just nothing sitting in the tray to create humidity. I fixed that. These are from Park Seed and I *really* like them.

it's my first time trying this out. I got the humidity dome, 72 cell tray and a heat mat. I also got the mini seed blocks.

Do you guys use any fertilizer when starting the seeds?

No fertilizer when starting seeds. That'll kill 'em right off. I bottom water with a weak solution of camommile tea, a splash of peroxide in the water, bottled water, that reverse osmosis kind you get from dispensers outside the grocery store. This time I also added a pinch of cinnamon in the starting soil, got this from another forum re: preventing damping off. I've not had a damping off problem and attribute that to the camommile tea and peroxide but figured it couldn't hurt - and it smelled good too.

Start very weak water soluable fertilizer when you get first set of true leaves. But really, too much ferts will kill the seedlings. I use Roots Organics potting soil, it has lots of good nutrients. Sometimes I use Light Warrior seed starting mix from Fox Farm. I didn't have any this time and was anxious to get started.

oops, remembered after I posted you are using seed blocks so the soil is not of interest. Maybe it will be helpful to someone else.

Good luck! Try till it works!!

is using soil better than seed blocks?

and where do I get Chamomile tea?

Awesome pics, Mary! They do look sproutly, LOL. I love seeing them!

I'm not currently using a heating mat, but I do use one now and then. I picked up a nice, narrow horticultural grade one from Charley's Greenhouse website and love it. I always start things off with a humidity dome (or plastic produce bag) and then ease plants into our regular air after they're up and sprouted. I love growing things from seed, especially varieties we can't find easily locally as plants.

I'm with Mary, I don't fertilize seedlings until they've got several sets of true leaves, and even then I use very diluted fertilizer.

Really fun discussion and pics.
Happy Gardening!
Grant

rai....I'm not sure what type of seed blocks you are using. Are they that light green foam stuff? Name escapes me at the moment. Or do you mean little jiffy peat pots thingies? Lots of folks use both and are happy with the results. For me, the peat pots have never worked well and the foam thingies take a VERY long time to disintegrate in the soil.

I've had excellent success for several years using the Bio-Dome system from Park Seed, I'll post a link. But if you want to get started now, ordering that system will delay your start. I happened to have about a million little 6-pack and 8-pack cell sets. (You can scavenge at nurseries, like Summer Wind. They have a recycle bin out back and you can just take all the little plastic pots your heart can handle.) So for those, potting mix works. I'm interested to see how well these do since I usually do all my seed starts with the Bio-Dome but I went viral this time - planting so many. I'm trying lots of different varieties, trying to narrow down to what tastes great and grows well here. I've had several seasons of not so great results. Here's hopin'!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Park Seed Bio-Dome

Forgot to answer about chamommile tea....it's readily available anywhere but don't get expensive brands. 99 cent store or Asian markets sell it.

Marymcp and Grant....

Question - are you planning on "potting up" your seedlings? What size will you go to next? Or do you go from seedlings into final container before the garden?

This year I started my tomatoes early. I have a bunch of tomato seedings from peat pods recently planted into party cups. Figure they will outgrow those and will go next highest size I have pots for. Last year I was late and had an OK crop. Am hoping for better! ;-)

What? Another month before they can be set outside in the ground? Tomorrow night I see we will have cold weather again - almost freezing temps here in Chandler.

Thanks!

AzBookworm

AzBW, I will pot up to small dixie cups next, then a 4" pot, then its final before going in the ground is 1 qt yogurt containers, if I have enough. If not, black plastic ones that same size. I'll be scrounging for 1 qt containers soon.

A common mistake is to pot them up to a container that is too large for the roots. The roots want to be a bit confined until they are planted out.

Soil temp needs to be about 75* for tomatoes to grow. You can set them out sooner but they will just sit and not grow.

So much helpful information here! When starting seeds indoors, what kind of setup do you have? The bio-dome looks great, but how is the lighting set up?

I just sowed directly as per the Planting Calendar, but I bet they would germinate more quickly using the bio-dome or something similar indoors. I would also be interested in learning about the hardening-off process when the time comes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Planting Calendar

Tomatoes and peppers need warm soil to germinate, if you recently direct sowed the seeds I'd be surprised if anything happens before about April. But let me know. I've always started indoors so really have no idea what I'm talking about!! :-)

For lighting, we hung a fluorescent shop-light from the ceiling, it's probably 6' long. For the first two years I just adjusted the chains with hooks to raise and lower the light. But then I discovered these pulleys on sale at Sea of Green. So much easier to raise and lower the lights.

Can't find a picture of one on-line but it's just a small winch/pulley like gizmo.

Hardening off, just move them out in the morning and back in at night for a few days, they will gradually adapt.

Good luck, try try again. And as Grant always says, let us know how things go.

Haven't been around this board in a long time...wow!

So this week, I'm starting: cayenne and jalapenos from seed in the ground (cold frame), beets for pickling, and some leaf lettuce.

Cp

I have a volunteer Roma tomato that popped up this past fall. It has some fruit on it, just starting to turn color and I figured I'd just let it try it's best. No big expectations here, but who knows, we might have a mild winter. :) Haven't tried intentionally planting tomatoes from seed. The English shelling peas are growing well but no flowers yet. I'm excited to put fresh peas in a fried rice dish!

My wildflowers look like they're off to a great start. Thanks Grant for the tip to sow on Halloween.

How long should I leave the humidity dome on?

A lot of my tomato seeds have sprouted already but none have any true leaves yet.

raimeiken Without a humidity dome the leaves can get stuck in the seed shell preventing separation thus preventing proper development. Others may leave them on longer but I take the humidity dome off as soon as the seeds separates from the leaves.

about when should I be thinking on moving the seedlings into a larger container?

raimeiken the ideal time is when the roots fill the cell but have not started swirling around the cell yet. I plant small seeded plants like tomato and peppers in 24 or 36 cell trays and larger seeded vegetables like squash, cucumbers and melons in 18 cell trays. There is no real advantage to the larger cells other than having more time between transplants.

Its been a looong time since I've grown in 72 cell insert. I would think a tomato or pepper would be four to six inches high before transplant.

Anyway back to your question. Before you water them again pick out your largest plant. You are going to want to check the roots to see if they have reached the side of the cell. Hopefully they are not swirling yet. There are several ways to safely remove them for a look-see. Here are my favorite two.

First locate the largest plant.

1) From underneath give its cell a little squeeze from two separate directions. Not much though, just enough to create a little space between the soil and the cell.

Now very gently take hold of the stem near the soil and carefully remove the plant from the cell to inspect the roots. If the roots have reached the sides of the cells from top to bottom its ready for transplant.

Way number two.

You are going to need a dull butter knife. Locate the largest seedling just as you did before. Squeeze again ever so gently just as before. Now instead of removing as is. Take the butter knife, while gently applying pressure to the side of the cell. Slip the knife down into the cell near the bottom. Now gently take hold of the stem with your other hand and remove the seedling for inspection while simultaneously lifting both the stem and the knife.

so I don't have to wait until the true leaves sprout?

I always say "let us know how things go"? Hah, that's funny. :)

I'll pot my little peppers up into one 4 inch pot each (they're in communal pots right now), and then it's out into the great outdoors.

My lettuce I start in communal pots indoors and then they go right out into the garden (after being slowly acclimated to wind, light, and cooler temps). Currently I've got lettuce and swiss chard coming out my ears. I love it!

I use plastic baggies for mini-terrariums and I slowly open them (over a period of several days so the plants don't go into shock from high humidity to low) as soon as I see true leaves really emerging. I'm sure there are tons of ways to do it, and no one can argue with Mary's success for sure.

Fun discussion! Time to eat more salad (with homemade citrus dressing from my trees).

Take care, and let us know how it goes. Oh wait, I already said that. But I mean it!

Happy gardening everyone,
Grant

I planted some potatoes in a bucket at the beginning of January. No signs of life yet, but I have my fingers crossed! I direct sowed some lettuce seeds about a week ago, and the little cuties are starting to poke out of the ground. I love all veggies, but I have to say that fresh-from-the-garden lettuce is my all time favorite. You'll never ever get lettuce that delicate and tender from the store.

I've been digging (and digging, and digging) the bermuda grass out from a spot where I want to put in another veggie bed, and I'm excited about getting some things going there. I currently have a bucket garden with some peppers, chard, a curry leaf plant, and a couple of stray tomatoes that will need homes, and I'm also hoping to start some fresh tomato plants from the suckers of my Celebrity tomatoes that got nipped by the frost in early December. The tomatoes survived, but most of the growing tips on the plants got zapped :( This will be my first time propagating from suckers, so I'm very curious to see how it goes.

{{gwi:394323}}

I put in a low water use garden a couple of weekends back between our house and the neighbours' fence, with a transplanted volunteer cactus, some barrel cacti, a ponytail palm, an aloe, a couple of orange wallflowers and some Spanish lavender (crappy picture because of the glare from the fence).

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I also planted a yellow daisy and some violas for a little happy color outside my existing veggie bed.

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I'm planning to plant an apple tree and some grapes in the next week or so. I so love this time of year -- the sun is kind and gentle, and there's lots of planning and hoping and visions of spring abundance.

raimeiken I'm not sure we are communicating. Are you saying your tomato plants are taller than 6" and they don't have any true leaves yet? My plants are only 2"-2.5" tall and have at least one set of true leaves. Most of them look like they will have a second set of true leaves by tomorrow.

plstqd your garden looks beautiful. Right now mine is a total mess waiting for me to dig, dig, dig and build, build, build and plant, plant, plant.

oh no, they're only about 2" and they're about to set their first true leaves out.

GREAT pics, plstqd! Thanks for sharing part of your garden with us. The pics are great and the garden is beautiful. You set an excellent example of what can be done here. I love it!

Happy gardening all,
Grant

Nice pictures! I like the bucket garden.

Thanks! I've been digging up bermuda for what seems like forever, trying to get space for veggies in my tiny yard. While I was digging out the garden bed you see in the last picture, I decided to put together my little bucket garden so I could at least have a few vegetables going on. Those are just Lowes 5g buckets with holes drilled in the bottom for drainage. I discovered very quickly that the sides of the buckets got pretty hot, even with winter sun, so I made a little "cage" for the buckets out of pvc and wrapped it with black landscape fabric and shade cloth (you can see them in the photo). It worked a treat, and I was able to attach shade cloth to the top of it for over the summer. The chard in my photo was actually planted in October 2010, and is still going strong.

I put a homemade "olla" in each of the buckets, which really helped the plants over the summer. I was able to go 2-3 days between watering, which was especially nice when it was super hot!

{{gwi:394329}}

Ah, so that's what the shell is in the bucket with the chard! It's hard to tell from the picture what size clay pots you used there for your ollas, but great idea! I'd love to hear how you made them. It looks like you just glued a saucer to the top of each pot. What type of glue?

Since the diameter of the buckets is pretty narrow, I used fairly small 4" pots. I did use two of them in a larger pot on my patio. Some folks make them bigger by gluing together two pots instead of a pot and a saucer, but this way I didn't have to worry about plugging the drainage hole in one of the pots, and they still held enough water to be helpful. I used gorilla glue to stick them together, and weighted them down with one of those 12x12 paving stones until they had cured. I initially tried silicone, but it leaked; the gorilla glue worked perfectly, since it expands to fill all of the little spots where the pot and saucer don't fit exactly together. And they're underground, so it doesn't matter what they look like :)

An update on my 2012 Tomato Project....148 seedlings potted up to 9 oz Solo cups recently. Some weekend before this one, the rest I was able to finish yesterday. Enjoy the view!

{{!gwi}}

Forgot to note the type of tomato this one was before I returned it to the tray. Too pretty to leave out of the show.

{{!gwi}}

Large Pink Bulgarian:
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Close up of one trayful:
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Those dad burn birds!
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I'll be selling these probably mid-Feb. I'm really impressed with the growth rate. They were set into soil to germinate Jan 1 and I've begun hardening them off yesterday. They got their first taste of ferlizer today, VERY weak dose - 4 drops to a gallon of water.

Mary, they look so healthy! I love your bird repellant too -- are those dishwasher racks?

Nice looking plants Mary. You started 10 days before me. Mine are all still in cells in trays with 2-4 plants per cell. I always put 2-4 seeds in a cell because I have run into low germination rates before. Before transplanting to a larger container I clip off all but the strongest plant. I think I see two seedlings per cell in your earlier pictures. Do you clip the extras or separate them and give them their own cups?

awesome looking plants! I wish mine were that big already :D

Yes, dishwasher racks. Hahahahah....my husband has a little side business recycling metal and we have lots of interesting 'junk'. You may notice the 'tubs' are refrigerator drawers.

I had excellent germination rates....nearly 100%. The cells with more than one seedling I did as you, thisisme, snipped out all but the best. Not necessarily the tallest because I try to snip the lowest set of leaves and bury the stem that deep to encourage roots from the snipped spots.

With 150 starts, I don't need to fool with separating duplicates!! :-)

This is the first time I've started in soil and I used Roots Organic. I think this is the key to rapid, strong growth. In the past I used Park Seed's bio dome setup and it uses foam cells. I'm abandoning that now for Roots potting soil. Man alive, those plants look great. I have peppers started in the foam cells two weeks later and they do not look nearly as good.

Love the home-made ollas! Thanks for all of the information. I accidentally discovered the concept quite awhile ago when I half-buried some no-hole terracotta pots from Egypt and noticed the slow seep of water over a few days, so then I put them in containers and at the base of all sorts of plants. I thought I was so clever and then fifteen years later I saw commercial "ollas" etc, LOL. Oh well, it's STILL a good idea even if I wasn't the first! I'm using all of my Egyptian vessels still (they've held up well) so I may make more home made ones too. The commercial ones can be very pricey! Thanks for all of the information!

Gorgeous plants, Mary, just gorgeous. I love how clean and organized your set up is. Great stuff!

Happy sowing and growing all,
Grant

Here is a link that might be useful: My garden pics so far January 2012

For cheap olla's go to Goodwill and grab those clay wine cooler 'vases'.....thingies....!!!! LMK if you don't get it. I've found 3 or 4 there, very cheeeeeppp.

Ok Folks.... I have a bunch of tomatoes in 16 -20 oz plastic party cups. I thought our freeze potential season would be over by now, but according to all the maps, March 1st is the magic date for me in my part of the city.

I have a several tomatoes that are budding in their cups. Do you think I can keep them in cups or would you recommend potting up ... damn the torpedoes and plant them directly into the ground?

How long have you left yours go before putting them into a larger more permanent home?

I have 3 weeks before March 1st!! Oh no!

Hoping for no snow in the middle of winter!!

Thanks!

azbookworm pinch/cut those blooms. They take up to much of the plants energy. As long as your plants are shorter then 2ft. I would leave them in the cups and plant them deeper when you put them in their final planting place.
Plants are easy to cover when they are short. Pay attention to the long range weather forecasts. If all looks well on the 15th go ahead and plant. If the weathermen are all wrong just cover them. Very little to no risk and you will get an earlier start.

marymcp your tomatoes are greener than mine. Well, all except for the Indigo Rose. They are so dark they look sick but is normal for the variety.