Oh MY! I'm sorry they are so HUGE. How do I post them smaller?

That is a nice harvest! I got some broccoli and carrots for Thanksgiving also. Yea! I think your photos aren't too big at all. Thanks for sharing.

EG

Thanks EG. My broc didn't fare to well. I planted way too late. I did see 2 very tiny heads on the cauliflower though when I was out there picking. They will probably never come to fruition, but, it's still fun to see. The pics WERE huge when I posted it. They filled the screen. Then when I checked again, they were small. How strange. Still trying to get over the rookie jitters when it comes to posting. By the way, EG, what kind of broc do you plant? Enjoy your harvest.
Fanfortony

Those look amazing! Nice haul there tony.

fanfortony - I planted early dividend, and like them alot. I'm planning on doing 44 squares for the early 2009 crop. Yeah....44! Hee Hee...

EG

44 heads of broccolli! I was worried that I planted too much with 5. Hehe

I'm going to try to find Early Div , assuming Monsanto doesn't own it. I tried Fiesta last spring and it was so so.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Yeah sinfonian - 44 broccoli and 64 cabbage..heh.

EG

It's all so beautiful!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you everyone.
44 Broc! Wow. 64 Cabbage! Whew! I hope your stockpiling that Bt EG. (I'd be having nightmares of so many cabbage moths flying in that they'd block the sun!) Will you be succession planting those babies or are you going for one hell of a salad? Also, do any of you direct sow your broc or preseed and transplant?
GOBBLE GOBBLE

fanfortony - yeah...hee hee. I've got lots of BT on hand. I won't be able to do succession plantings of these, because it's gonna be pressed for reaching maturity before the warm weather stuff goes in. I think most people have to grow seedlings indoors, then transplant into the garden. I'll put the seeds into cups this weekend, then fire up the whacked out seed starter once they germinate. Woo Hoo! I can't wait!

EG

EG: What? Starting the seeds already? when are you planning on planting out?

fanfortony - The maturity date is 90 days for the broccoli, and that's from transplant - not seed germination. It usually takes around 10 to 14 days for the seeds to germinate, then at least 6 weeks to reach nice transplant size. So, I was counting the days backwards from April 15th, and decided that I have to start these seeds now. April 15th is when i'm planting corn, and the other stuff has got to be finished by then. This is gonna be a hectic year for sure, especially since i'm growing 3 completely different crops. I'm planning on transplanting into the garden sometime during the last 2 weeks of January. The temps at that time can't be any worse than they were last week.

I was looking through my seed last night, and don't have any early dividend on hand, but have de cicco instead. I'll give that a try, and see if I like it.

Oh! I was looking at my seed starter capacity, and came to the conclusion that 108 seedlings is the most that will fit in there. I'm only planning on having 92 total plants in the garden, with 16 extra as insurance for any non - germination of seeds.

EG

Nothing like fresh grown veggies for ThanksGiving!

They look great

So, Eg, if I started a batch today (18, cause I start them in egg cartons), they'd be ready about the first week of February for transplant? I have Waltham 29. Any interest in those you guys? I have 300 seeds.

Yeah, Carolyn - That's about right, if you can keep them indoors that long. Once they get to a certain size, you gotta do something with them. My last cole crop seedlings were pretty leggy at the first, but grew ok. I'm hoping the results will be much better with my freaky box. :)

EG

Thanks Mike. I'm looking forward to "Gobbling" them up.
Carolyn, I planted the waltham 29 for my fall garden. They sprouted in about 3 days. I kept them on my screened deck for weeks but then they did get leggy. Unfortunetly, I went on vacation, and when I came back (hoping to plant them outside) they just looked too sickly. I ended up direct seeded them. I think it was too late. They came up fine but then seemed to just get stuck. Have you had any success with them?

This picture is about 8 days from seed sowing. They are started in the covered starter trays and typically the brocolli, cauliflower, cabbage germinate in 4-5 days maximum in these conditions.

I have the light on timer and it is on about 16 hours a day.
Keep the lights really close to the seedlings 1-2 inches if you do not want them to be too leggy. I have mine on a chain and raise the lights as the plant grows.

These are about 22 days at this point.

This is about 28 days from seed with the grow light.

Now I took the double sprouts out and stuck them in plastic cups at about 10 days and put them in my back shop which did not have the lights close up. These grew CONSIDERABLY slower. These were planted 1 month after the ones above(about 8 weeks from seed) even though the seeds were started at the same time. I did this intentionally as I did not have the boxes ready.

Here is the early planting on the same day as the above picture!

I guess my point is that it makes a huge difference the conditions that you grow your seedlings in as to when to plant them.

Growing under plastic and close lights I would do mine about 4-5 weeks in advance. In less strict conditions 8 weeks is ok but they can get too leggy.

Mike - Thanks for sharing those pics. That's a really big difference between the two sets of seedlings.
How many fluorescent lights are you using in that picture?

EG

fanfortony - I like that row cover, where did you get it?

Also - that's pretty much the way that some of my seedlings looked back in August. Hopefully, this new box will correct the lighting issue that I've had to deal with.

EG

EG: The cover is tulle. I get it from the craft store or fabric shops. Its just like wedding veil. it comes in all colors, I try to get the 72 inch wide stuff so that it fits across the beds. It really helps keep the cabbage moths off the brassicas. I also use it when I first seed out to keep the squirrels and birds from taking my seeds and baby plants. The BEST part is its only about 80 cents to a dollar on sale for a yard. The tulle in the picture is dark green over the cabbages. To the far right, I had light blue over my brussel sprouts.
bTw - That picture DID stay HUGE. LOL

tulle....ok, never heard of that before, but it looks like it would work very well! Thanks for the info. And, yep - That picture stayed big. lol.

EG

Ya. Tulle- The perfect garden accessory! Functional and CHEAP.

Quote: How many fluorescent lights are you using in that picture?

EG: I have 3 double light 4 ft florescent fixtures.

These have full spectrum lighst in them just cause I stole the fixtures from my woodworking finishing room.

I use 1,2,3 fixtures depending on what is growing , for a single wide tray I use 1 light , for a double wide I use 2 lights. If my whole table is full I use all 3 lights.

Remember I keep them close to the plants so I only turn those lights that are directly over the tray.

Mike - thanks for the info!

EG

EG,
Just FYI, if you go to the store to get the fabric, it's pronounced like Tool, not like Tull. I only say this, b/c that's probably how my husband would ask for it. There are probably a few different types of nylon netting material you could get.

fanfortony, that's a great idea! I bet that would work well for bird netting over my future raspberries if I need to cover them.

Too funny greenbean. I guess I should have added the pronounciation too. As for the fruit bushes, that is exactly what my dad used to use for his gooseberry bushes. It really does a great job. Just remember, it comes in 2 widths. 54 inches and 72 inches. It also comes with different size "holes". I use the smallest to keep the tiniest critters at bay, but for the birds, the larger would work fine. What I really like about it is that its cheap. In fact, in early Spring and summer, during peak wedding seasons, its always on sale. And that's when you need it the most. And, as long as you don't catch it with the handle of the lawn mower (oops), it lasts for a few seasons too. The only trouble I had this year was the grasshoppers eating through it. They only did that where the netting was laying directly on the plant they wanted to eat (brussel sprouts). Had it been raised up with hoops, etc. the allure wouldn't have been there.

greenbean - it really wouldn't matter how I pronounced it, because it would come out sounding weird anyway. I'm a 100% genuine redneck...remember? Ha! Thanks for steering me in the right direction, though.

EG

Well, I figured I'd try and keep you from looking TOO out of place. I guess if you wanted to sound less fru-fru, you could just call it nylon netting??

BTW, I am married to a Carhartt wearing guy from small town central Kansas who spent his summers on a combine cutting wheat...he's got a little redneck in him... (grin)

Thanks Mike, btw, the pictures really help me. Now I just have to figure when I can get those cole crops out there, lol.

Thanks, greenbean! I'm glad somebody is looking out for me...

EG