Liftoff!!

The first seedling has sprouted!  It took about 4 days.  I planted these late on Sunday afternoon and have my first sprout this afternoon.  There are several more seeds getting ready to pop.  When I checked on the seedlings around lunchtime today, I noticed several with their necks poking out, so we should be ready to move them to the light station in a day or so. 

As I've monitored the cups, I noticed that they tended to dry out faster than when I'd started seeds previously.  I did two things.  First, I lowered the lid so that there was a smaller opening between the lid and the top of the roaster.  Secondly, I watered twice or three times a day with WARM water.  I don't use really hot water, but it should be good and warm.  I have a 1 liter soda bottle that I use.  The lid has pin holes in the top so it acts as a watering can and comes out in a gentle stream.  I've also been using a moisture meter to test the soil and a thermometer to monitor the soil temp.

Also waiting in the wings are the seed potatoes.  This year, I have Purple Majesty (purple skin and purple flesh), Yukon Gold (white), and Red Lasota potatoes.  I've had them on a shelf in my kitchen pre-sprouting.  They're doing great!  My plant out date is Feb. 14th, so they still have a few weeks to wait and grow.  The Red Lasotas haven't sprouted fully yet, but they do have a lot of eyes forming and I can see several spout wannabes on them.  I also have some pretty red-almost burgundy skinned potatoes that my husband picked up at Sprout's a month or so ago that have been growing since we've not used them.  I'm thinking they'll get planted as well. 

While the potatoes are waiting and the first batch of seeds are growing under the lights, I'll start the last of the tomato seeds and start the first batch of tomatillos and peppers.

Seed Starting Adventure Epic Fail!

 Well, my big time seed starting project 1.0 was a bust.  Boo!!  I checked on my seeds on day 2 after planting and I found MOLD in all my containers!  I think it was a combination of high heat, high humidity, and not enough air circulation.  I tossed all the contents of the containers into the compost pile where the mold will be taken care of as the compost does its thing.  I was going to toss the containers into the recycling bin, but hubby encouraged me to rescue them, clean them and reuse them.  I soaked them in some hot Clorox water, cleaned them out, and have started the great seed starting adventure 2.0.

 Seed Starting 2.0 is still using the roaster oven, but as you can see, I've elevated the lid and have a fan going for air circulation.  The air temp inside is about 72º.  I'm thinking of leaving the top off at night or raising the lid a bit more to give even more air circulation.  We'll see.  Tomorrow I'll mist the cups and see how things are going.

We also set up our other seed starting station.  This structure has lights and a heat source.  We still need to put the plastic covering on it to create a greenhouse effect.  We used this set up successfully 2 years ago.  (Last year, I didn't start any seeds indoors as hubby was still experiencing some heart complications during January.  Sometimes life gets in the way of our fun.)  We also need to get one more light fixture and some hardware to hang it with from Home Depot.  Not exactly sure how I'm going to see those containers at the very top, but I'll figure it out!