This is how I did it.

16 years ago

First off I have to say thank you to you all cause if it weren't for your knowledge I don't know if I would have been anywhere near as successful growing veggies from seed for the first time this year!

I started out with tomato, eggplant, and pepper seeds on February 29th. I used peat pellets, and placed 3 seeds in each pellet. I placed them on top of my uromastyx cage which has an ambient temperature of 95-100 degrees... He likes it hot! Anywho which helped everything germinate really quick and successfully. After about half or so had germinated I placed them under a 4' shop light that had 2 plant grow lights in it. I attached sheets of aluminum foil down the sides of it with magnets so that the light reflected onto the plants. I kept it 3" above the plants and adjusted as they grew.

After about 3 to 4 weeks *when I started to see roots through the pellets* I potted them up. I used plastic cups and drilled 3 holes in the bottom of them. I filled them with Miracle Grow Organic potting mix and filled the cups up to just below the first leaves on the seedlings. I didn't water them until about a week later because the soil was moist. I didn't water them until the tops of the soil started to dry out.

At about 6 weeks I started to harden them off. I wasn't very good with this process at all... well not in respect to how it's said to be done. I placed them outside in a spot where they got shade all day long. Was too lazy to bring them inside saw they did fine and left them there. After about a week I moved them to a spot that only got sun in the morning.

A couple days later I potted them up into 7 gallon nursery pots. I used Lamberts organic potting soil. It's the most ya get for your buck that they have at Home Depot accept for the HD earthgrow brand. I mixed in two shovel fulls of mushroom compost and some bonemeal. I watered the mix until it was moist after I mixed it all together. I pulled off the lowest set of leaves and planted them to the top *tomatoes that is* Everything else I planted to the first set of leaves. I let them be for a week, watering when the top got dry. The second week I used a 15-30-15 fertilizer. Not Miracle grows bloom booster, but one just like it that they have at walmart for a little under 4 dollars.

So that's my story. I'm not saying everything I did is right or by the book, but it worked for me. I know I like to see how other people did stuff so that I can have a sense of what I should be doing. So what did you guys do that worked for you?

These are my veggies as of 4/23/2010

Big Boy Hybrid

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Black Beauty Eggplant

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Carnival Pepper

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Jalapeno Pepper

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Comments (7)

nycynthias
16 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
Wow! Everything looks so healthy and happy! If it works for you--and it did--then I say keep at it!
heather38
16 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
I am jealous,they look fab, on the hardening off, I am lazy too, I read some where here that days of rain are a good time? so last night we had a storm and I flung all my plants, out the door, and there they have stayed except we have had to make a path to walk through :-)
my heat lovers are in the south facing garage right behind the doors, and in the morning I open the doors, (got to love these cool door opener you have here) and at night close them again, they are doing great, I have phase 2 in the next week, they are loaded on wheely thing and the plan is just to pull in and out, also an idea by a GW member except her was more upmarket, as she had a big truck and drove it in and out of the garage, I am not that posh.
I wish I could remember the people so they could get credit.
Lazy Gardeners, are my type of people
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konopka727
Original Author
16 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
Thank you guys. I think the hardening off process is also hard cause ya just wanna stick them in the ground so bad and see them grow!
star_stuff
16 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
They all look wonderful! It's nice to see what a 7 gallon pot looks like, as a reference for container gardeners, thanks!
konopka727
Original Author
16 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
Okay. So it's a little more than a month later and this is the progress of my plants. I've gotten to eat 4 of the carnival peppers. This plant happened to produce "white" light green peppers. They were great :). Hope you enjoy. Can't wait to enjoy some of the other fruits of my labor.
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Jalapeno
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Carnival Bell
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Black Beauty Eggplant
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Big Boy Hybrid
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organicislandfarmer
16 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
Hows the heat over there? How are you watering? What sort of bugs do you get? Happy Memorial Day Weekend!!
konopka727
Original Author
16 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
Heats been alright so far High 80's low 90's during the day and the nights are High 60's to low 70's during the night. I water every day, either when I get home from work at 1 p.m. or in the evening. Depends how the day was and what the soil and plant looks like. In the beginning I fought a lot with aphids, but that seems to have died down by now. Now I'm contending with some kind of worm larvae on the tomatoe plant leaves. It's not crazy, you'll just find a few here and there eating the leaves every other day or so. Finally have 4 eggplants on the plant :). I am anxiously awaiting for some of my tomatoes to ripen. I don't think that I'll grow the big boy hybrid again. I've got one plant that only has one decent size tomato on it with a few little ones that have just started and the other plant has absolutely nothing. I put the plants in pots because we're moving. When I do this again next year the only plants that I'll be placing in the pots are peppers and eggplant. Tomatoes will be going in the ground.