Warming pads are pretty important if your basement is cool to cold like most are.

Here is a link to optimum germination temperatures for many veggies. (You need a PDF reader for the link)

What you will notice is that virtually everything, including cool season veggies will germinate fastest with temps in the 70s and many warm season plants do best with temps in the 80s.

I start from seed in my basement and the temps are usually 60-65F. I have one, double wide heat mat (hold 2 flats). Often I have more flats than I can fit on it starting at once so I just take the slowest germinators and put them on it.

Not having optimal temps doesn't mean germination won't occur, it just means it will take longer.

Something you might want to look into and give a try is the baggy method of germinating seeds. It's faster than sowing seeds in flats heat mat or not. You take your seeds and spread them out in a moist coffee filter. Fold the filter in half and then in half again so it's a pie shape. Place in ziplock bag and seal. Label with what's in it. You can see when germination occurs because you will see the tap root extending from the seed. At this point gently remove the seeds that have sprouted and place them in the potting mix to grow on.

You can put the baggies of seeds in a warmer place to speed things up. Most plants will grow best in temps that are a bit cooler than the temp they germinate fastest in so at this point you can grow them in your basement without a heat mat.

If you do get a heat mat you can use it for the real heat lovers like peppers and such.

Mary,

Excellent! Sounds like you are where I was last year when I got my composting worms, dug out the lawn for more gardening space, and started my own tomato seedlings, and then planted over 60 tomato plants on my tiny city-lot. It's a lot of work, but very rewarding. I currently have around 160 garlic plants in the ground and have purchased an additional 15 kinds of heirloom tomato seeds for this year, in addition to a bunch of other veggies.

I can only offer limited (one year) advice on starting tomatoes. I needed a heat mat for starting, since my basement is pretty cool (60-65 degrees) and I used a timer, too. It just a single space for one flat of seeds and cost me about $25. I removed it after germination, since I'd heard that cooler temps can strengthen the tomato seedlings, and since I'd started a bit early and wanted to slow down growth. After two weeks I transplanted my seedlings from a soil-free starting mixture to a 50/50 mix of potting soil and worm compost. Watch out for that worm compost! My tomatoes grew like crazy with it in the mix. Oh, and I know the soil-free starting mix is important for tomatoes since they will tend to get attacked and killed by the bacteria in normal soil early, but I don't know about other veggies. When moving seedlings outside, be sure to harden them off by putting them out a little bit on the first day and then increasing the duration every day. That burned me a few years ago when I took my beautiful seedlings right outside, planted them in the ground, and then watched them die.

Good luck!

Mike

I also wish you the best of luck. I am starting to experiment with starting things from seed. Make sure that your grow lights are really close to the flats (most people say 6" and some say closer than that!) I never would have guessed it myself, but it really makes a huge difference in the way the seedlings grow. The lights farther away make the plants leggy (too much stem.) I hope that I understand this whole "hardening off" by exposing the plants slowly to the outside conditions. I'd hate to baby beautiful plants and then have them die before I could really appreciate them.

I'd also advise finding a good home for the sod you remove. Lots of people are looking for it in springtime. I would think a posting on craigslist.org would work. If you want no money you might find that the person would be willing to remove it for you to compensate. Or you might get a couple bucks to offset the money needed for soil replacement. It would fit right in with your recycling theme!

Please keep us posted!

Sounds great!

Have you ever heard of lasagna gardening? That might an option for you instead of removing the sod. Basically you create your bed right on top of the grass (thick wet newspaper or cardboard topped with layers of organic material). There are directions online if you're interested. I did this a few years ago and I couldn't believe how easy it was to create a large bed. I haven't had any weeds either.

I love your ideas and it sounds like you should go for it! The best advice I received regarding seeds was not to start them too early. For tomatoes I've heard you should start them six weeks before regular planting time (so I'll start mine in early April). Otherwise they get leggy and sad looking. And some seeds just like to go right in the ground without being started indoors.

I have started seed for many years in my 60 degree basement without a heating pad. Even tomatoes. Heating pads seemed a high expense since after germination they aren't needed. As mentioned above, most plants do grow better if grown cool. If you feel heat is needed, put the flats in a warmer part of the house until germination and then take them to the shop lights. Keep the lights as close as you can (I try for 3-4 inches) and I have the lights on 14-16 hours and off for 8-10. Lasagna gardening would be the best if started last October, I have made many beds in a similar fashion and left the sod in place. Just covered it with several layers of newspaper followed by 6-10 inches of anything organic I could find. Starting the bed in Spring, cutting the sod may be the best route to take. Good luck and happy gardening!

tj

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement and advice!

I had not heard of lasagna gardening before so I had to do a little research. Very interesting. The area of my yard that I am going to dedicate to the garden is 35ft x 35ft. If I plant a portion of it this year the traditional way, I could begin lasagna gardening in the portion I am not planting yet. This way it will all be ready next year.

The sod in my yard would probably be okay for someone that has very poor soil, but not for someone who is looking for nice grassy sod. I haven't used any pesticides or weed killers in quite a few years so I have quite a bit of ground ivy etc. I love the ground ivy because it smells so good when I walk on it or cut it. It has been drought resistant and it doesn't require mowing as often as the grass.

Anyway, I am thinking that I could take the sod that I pull up and put it on the plots I do lasagna gardening in. I plan to take the sod up from the paths, turn it upside down and put it into the beds as well. Then I will put cardboard down on the paths temporarily until I decide if I want a ground cover or stones. I have a friend with an abundance of flat stones at the edges of his fields. No sense in leaving organic matter under the paths.

How does green manure work with lasagna gardening? Are the two compatible?

I have a small 18x24 ft yard, and a big dog to work with. My neighbors graciously loan me part of thier yard, where I plant all my veggies, and we share. It was totally full of weeds, but all I did was roto it under and plant. I had to pull a few exta weeds the first year, but the second year it was great! As far as the ground ivy, it is my personal nemisis. I would avoid transfering any of it into the area where you are creating a new garden space. The stuff is nearly indestructable. Good luck, and I love my old push lawn mower, too. So nice and quiet to use in a peaceful garden!

You can plant your lasagna gardening bed the same day. It's nice to let it sit for a season because everything breaks down, but you don't have to. I planted the same day and everything did fine. You basically pull apart the layers and plant.

Sorry, I'm not sure about green manure.