To: rosepedal

Since my GH goes down to around 60F at night I start my seeds in the sunroom. It stays in the low 70s at night, low 80s during the day with a ceiling fan always running on low. Seeds have a plastic dome over them until most have sprouted. The dome is lifted twice a day to allow fresh air to enter. As soon as most seeds have sprouted they go out to the GH.

Rose, the heat mat will help a lot.

I think I have to wait on the mats. Too much money getting the gh ready to operate. I was reading and found out you can use the top of the refridgerator for warmth. I never thought of that. I love old timers. Thought I would pass on this info for any more newbies.

Hopefully I will be like Wyndyacres pumping those plants out for a plant sale this spring. Gonna start seeds today. Hopefully 4 weeks from now the first ones will be ready for the start up. I never thought this day would come. Barb

Barb, is your GH heated? What kind of day and night temps are you gonna keep it?
Dave

Hi Pushindirt,
We will be turning on the gas heater in a month. We didnt want to run it until then. This is my first year. I think I am going to start the seeds in the house under lights and then when they get their true leaves I will take them out to the heated gh to grow. I was unsure at what temp (minimum) to keep the gh at for them to be happy. I am thinking from what I read I will keep the heat at 60 degrees for the low. Barb

rosepedal

Once you put them out there watch those hot sunny days. I had my HFGH reach the high 90s on some cold cold winter days. Keep a fan running and give them as much fresh air as possible. I would crack the door and a vent. Too much heat will make them spindly I found. Now with the indoor/outdoor thingie I don't have to keep running out to check the temp. :)

What kind of seeds are you starting Barb? Perennials? Annuals? Cuttings of shrubs?

When starting most common perennial seeds and cuttings of shrubs, it is the bottom heat that is more important to the germination or root development than the air temperature. They are pretty hardy so a night time air temp of 50* or a little more isn't going to hurt them much, particularly if you have a plastic lid on top of the flat. There are lids that are taller and some that have little sliding vents in them too that are inexpensive.

A commercial heat mat will have a temp of around 70* which is ideal for most common types of perennials.

I don't start taking cuttings until mid Jan and starting perennial seeds until mid Feb. Veggies aren't started until around Easter.
I start all seeds in the GH which is only heated to 50* at night. I start them on heat mats with plastic lids, get them off heat when most are germinated and remove the lids during the day. The lids are put on at night until a mild temp spell allows me to start "hardening them off" and leaving the lids off at night. By then they are practically indestructible as most perennials are pretty hardy souls and just want to live. :)

Most perennials, I start in flats of ProMix, just broadcasting the seed over the whole flat. When the seedlings have a second set of leaves, I carefully dig them out by the handful, separate them and pot up in 3" pots. Don't worry, they will survive this!
Some plants resent transplanting (like lupines) so I start them in peat pots individually and when they have a second set of leaves pop them into 3" pots, peat and all.
Soon, with milder days and the doors of the GH open, they are hardy enough to be put out into the coldframe. It is a gradual process with always one eye on the weather and outdoor temps.

{{gwi:307430}}

So after germination, what is the ideal temp?.
Is 70 during the day and 50 at night about right for small seedlings or should the night temps be warmer?
Dave

pushindirt:
your temps should be fine. as long as they are damp. 50°F as a min should make the seedlings more hardy...
Good luck...
Steve

Hi Barb,

Stay with what wyndyacre has to say regarding when. It's really early but 'some' perennials (I grow a lot of Lavendar) take a long time to have mature plants around May. Follow the seed directions and compromise if the seed needs cold stratification or any other requirements. I've started "Wave Petunia's" in Feb before and the plants were so overgrown come May that I learned something. You should post exactly what seeds you wish to start so that people can give you optimum times as to when to start them. Plus 'care' including pinching for 'certain' plants to beef em up. Lavendar is one of these. It's natural for me now so if it isn't for you, you should really ask people about aftercare etc -

50-60 F is ideal. Then you won't be overspending on energy costs. I keep my plants at 50 for everything. It's a good temp but most others will heat their houses to 60 F.

Anyway - good luck! And I wouldn't even mess with starting them indoors, it's way too early and not necessary. Plus that whole refriderator concept is a myth. It isn't warm on top of one. Plus plants need light generally speaking.

Dax

Hi Everyone,
Thanks for all of your wisdom. I Started some perr. today in a flat inside. Some delfs, mallo, violas, hollyhocks. I figured by the time they are big enough for the 3 inch pots The gh will be started up. I cant help myself....

I hope none of the above need bottom heat. They are under a light with a lid...... Ill let ya know if they germinate. Thanks for the help. Barb Hi Dax......Where ya been????

You have no idea how fast and how large hollyhock seedlings grow! =:-O

Once sprouted they're ready for the garden in a few weeks.

All the seeds you've started Barb are quite easy to germinate and the delphs and violas actually prefer cool temps so no bottom heat needed anyway.
The mallow (malva), violas and hollyhocks germinate fairly quickly (within two weeks). Be prepared to wait a little longer, 3-4 weeks for the delphs depending on variety.

Thank you Wyndyacre.... Gher I figured I could transplant the hollyhocks into larger pots and put them to rest in the gh until spring. I hope this works with them. I did save some seed in case it doesnt.

I have some more for you. I planted a flat of hardy hibiscus and I think annual hibiscus. Do they need bottom heat? I am sure grateful for all the help this newbie needs. I thought once again I could plant them in bigger pots and put in the gh until it was time to plant.

I am gonna do some more wintersowing in milk jugs today with other perr for my area. Wyndyacre have you tried this method. They say you can get a lot of plants this way. This is my first year I hyope it works. Barb

Just keep on potting em up. My friend has her own website about wintersowing and she does a lot of Free Seed trades on the Seed Exchange forum and she has a website. Wintersowing will work for anything if you understand the requirements needed (or not) so it just depends on the seed. One example is Stewartia monadelpha or Stewartia japonica which both need 5 months of warm stratification then followed with 3 months of cold stratification. In this case (I use a calendar) a person could sow the seeds outdoors in June, keep them moist all year until winter (winter will provide the cold stratification) and then germination will occur the following spring (or earlier so watch stuff during winter just in case). Everything and anything you'll ever need to know is written on the packet or at a seed database so you just need to plan ahead to mimic nature! Here's her website which if any of you have extra seeds, she's a wonderful woman and does wonderful things.

Dax

Here is a link that might be useful: wintersown.org / WinterSown Educational

here's a fun and nice idea if you have a south facing window to put it in...or a greenhouse.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cardboard Box greenhouse