Grow Shelf and Seedlings

So I built myself a "grow shelf" over the weekend,transplanted some of the seedlings that were doing really well and set them under the grow light, and planted some new seeds.  Lets have a look, shall we?

I used 9oz. Solo cups (since they were the next size available from the teeny tiny Dixie's) and cut  some drain holes in the bottom.

I planted them in a 50/50 mix of regular top soil and compost.

They were getting pretty spindly under the full spectrum light. I may have to get back in there and add a little soil to them, but they're under a grow light now, so that should help too. [fingers grossed]

I'm really excited for these.  I love these tomatoes.

I have a few...

Under the grow light.

I had no idea what to get, so I purchased what I could find in the size that I needed.

I bought a 22" florescent fixture at Home Depot for about $20, which at the time, I thought would be ok, but the bulb was hard to find.  Also, it needed to be wired for electricity, so instead of adding an on/off switch I opted to just leave it on the plug (if that makes sense), since I intend on setting them on a timer anyways.  This is the fixture on my second shelf.  The top shelf, however, is set up with a fixture I bought at Menards, already wired (with an on/off switch) and came with a grow light, all for the super awesome price of $12.99.  I tried to stay as low cost as possible with this venture - wish I had done more research on the fixtures before pulling the trigger, but aw well.  The clamp light on the bottom was $6 at Menards and the full spectrum light was also purchased there, for around $4.  The heat pad I have on the second shelf was about $20, and I bought the shelf at Walmart for $15.  As this operation grows, I intend on moving everything into the garage on some wire shelving, but for now, this works.  I probably spent about $130 on all this, but could have saved myself $50 if I bought both fixtures  at Menards.  Also, I saved $20 on the heat pad, but I plan on purchasing a real one so you can probably do this for $100, shelf, fixtures, bulbs, trays, seeds, etc.  If you want a list, just let me know

The top two are grow lights, but different sizes.  The top is a T8 and the middle is a T5.  The very bottom is just a full spectrum (6500K) bulb on the very newest seedlings.  The very top shelf are the oldest of the bunch.

I'm actually just using a normal heating pad on these guys since I happened to have one that I wasn't using.

The grow lights give off a pinkish hue, so that's why the pictures look tinted.  Here are my Coleus (top), Pumpkin on a Stick (left), and Sweet Peppers (right).

Coleus seem like slow growers, but goin' strong.

Big Moon Pumpkin!  I didn't expect this must action already.  I planted these guys  4 days ago.

Super Sweet 100 Hybrid Tomato

Asian Radish

Envy Zinnia (my last go didn't make it)

As always, I love feedback, so please feel free to leave comments or email me.  Happy gardening!

Branching Out, Growing, and MY VERY FIRST CONTEST!!!

Since my last update, I have started another tray inside (4-11-12 to be exact).  This time I have purchased a heat pad and a grow light, and it's made all the difference.  I also purchased a taller greenhouse lid for my tray so I can keep them in a bit longer.  I started seeing growth in the cucumbers within 24 hours.  I know these pictures can get a bit redundant, but humor me, ok?

Cucumbers at 48 hours

Day 3
 

Heirloom tomatoes at day 3

Cucumbers again, at day 3

Day 5

Tomatoes day 5

Here's the larger lid - Day 5

Day 5, (left to right) 1-2 = mortgage lifter heirloom tomatoes, 3-4 black krim tomatoes, 5 = sweet pepper carnival mix, 6-7 cucumber, 8-9 pumpkin on a stick, 10-12 coleus (the cat snuck into these before I could get any growth so bare with me)

Since our weather has been so inconsistent, it's been hard to really notice any significant growth outside, but we have had a couple days of rain so everything looks very lush at the moment.  Hopefully the temperature drops are behind us. I will post more pictures again soon, but to keep us inspired, I have pulled some photos off the interweb.  Note, they are not mine, but merely photographs that keep me motivated.  We'll start with the coleus; I absolutely adore them in containers but don't want to spend a ton of money on them this year.  As pictured above, I have approximately 18 of them.  I'm growing the wizard mix so hopefully they will look like this:

Coleus

Pumpkin on a stick is kind of interesting.  They're not actually pumpkins at all, but rather a type of eggplant.  They look neat in a floral arrangement.  When I saw them I had to try and grow 'em.  They're doing well so far, so we'll see.

And, for those who aren't familiar with Mortgage Lifter heirloom tomatoes (rookies...):

I kid... I had no idea what they were myself, but I wanted to grow some heirloom tomatoes and these looked killer.  (The movie reference was completely coincidental, however, ridiculously cool of me.  *buffs her nails*)  These Black Krim are just so tasty, I couldn't pass them up.

Black Krim tomato

Originally I had purchased 2 Blueray blueberry bushes, but the weather got cold and something walked right over it and busted the steak and the only decent stalk that was growing, so if I can save it/them I don't anticipate being able to see any growth until next year.  I have since purchased 2 other blueberry bushes, a Bluecrop and a Spartan, which thankfully I needed to do anyways since although they are self-fertile, I would have needed another variety to cross pollinate these suckers so they produce the most kick-ass blueberries I can gro, so I'm gonna throw the two I just purchased into large pots and see how they do.  This is the point where we play a little game called "Name That Blueberry."  

From left to right, pictured above name each one.  They're the varieties I currently have, so this shouldn't be terribly difficult.  Whoever is the first to guess them correctly will win something. I'm not sure what, but I promise it will be something cool!  You can submit your answers via the comments section or directly to my email address.  WOO HOO!

Butterhead lettuce

Swiss chard

Garden beans

Kale

Pepperoncini

Radish

Red onion

Spinach

Sugar baby watermelons

Summer squash - as big as I can only hope for

Sweet pepper carnival

Yellow pear tomatoes

Zucchini

I should only be so lucky to have my garden grow as well as these pictures. 


I have been wanting to build some raised beds on the northeast side of my backyard (because it gets a good amount of sun at the very edge near the road) and since I participate on Freecycle.org, I was keeping my eyes peeled for anything that could be repurposed.  I found someone who had torn down their fence so in 2 trips I filled up the van with as much as I could.  First, I pulled all the nails out.  Then I sorted the different sizes. About $20 worth of screws and $5 worth of 2x6's (for support) later, I have 3 finished.  These are about 5.5'x3.5'.  I was toying with the idea of adding a lip on the top, but since the wood is old, I don't trust it to hold.  Sans-lip will suffice.  They were very simple and I love the "shabby chic" look of 'em.  I'm going to build a few more - 3.5'x3.5' and hope to use one for a water garden.  Anyways, have a look.  If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave me some feedback.  Thanks for reading!

Raised beds