Cost of started plants?

[Randy]

Tomatoes and peppers are the main things I'm wanting to start from seed. :/ I think I may buy one of those heating pad things for the pepper seeds as I've been reading they can be hard to get going.

 

[obsessed]

If you just put the peppers on your fridge it will be warm enough to germinate the seeds and you won't have to buy one of the heating pads. But if you have one of the fridges with the two sides one a freezer and the other a fridge put the container only on the fridge side. the freezer side is not warm enough. If you put your hand over the fridge side you can feel the warmth.

Kate - I am a second from giving up on flowers! I am absolutely dumbfounded on what it takes to grow them. And after all the effort I have put in to get next to nothing..... This may be my last year of attempts.

 

[seedcorn]

It costs me about $20 for 98 plants......I go local place and buy 2 flats. Tired of getting them started only to kill them because I don't harden them off correctly.

 

[digitS']

That's a very good price but you can buy flats of plants that werent hardened off, Seedcorn. Sometimes, they are moved straight from greenhouses, on the trucks, and off into a parking lot. Customers may take them home the same day. Of course, if they stay around any length of time, some of these retail outfits have nearly useless staff taking care of their plants. They can sure allow/inflict a lot of abuse.

You can buy 4-packs of peppers and tomatoes for $2 to $3 at a farmers market I frequent. It may not make sense to buy seeds if

* you only have room for a very few plants, and if
* you can find the varieties that you like.

Sometimes, what is available is fine. But, growing plants is fun at any time of the year.

The heat comes up the back of the fridge on mine. It sits, partially, under a cabinet and that kind of traps the heat. I stack things up and then move on to the bottom shelf of that cabinet. The house goes as low as 60 at night but it will be 70 up there.

Steve

 

[vfem]

If you just put the peppers on your fridge it will be warm enough to germinate the seeds and you won't have to buy one of the heating pads. But if you have one of the fridges with the two sides one a freezer and the other a fridge put the container only on the fridge side. the freezer side is not warm enough. If you put your hand over the fridge side you can feel the warmth.

Kate - I am a second from giving up on flowers! I am absolutely dumbfounded on what it takes to grow them. And after all the effort I have put in to get next to nothing..... This may be my last year of attempts.

I can't believe you are still having issues?! What is going on?

I have had the reverse problems where flowers were easier for me.

 

[Rosalind]

For me, the local garden center charges a small fortune ($4/seedling for veggies--no kidding), and my garden is large enough that starting from seed is by far the cheaper option--I usually need something like 20-30 tomatoes, 10-15 peppers, 15-20 curcurbits, etc. I have to use heating mats because I keep my house chilly, but after a few years, well worth the money. Plus, I get good varieties. The local garden centers literally have their trays marked, "red pepper," "tomato - indeterminate" and "lettuce" with no further identification. Their main customers are really yuppies looking for a set of 20 matching pink geranium hanging baskets for their McMansion, not serious gardeners.

What kind of flowers are giving you trouble? I normally do pansies, statice, yarrow, poppies, nasturtiums, last year I did some Chinese pinks. Often I find they are better direct-sown for some reason. I don't have a whole lot of space for seedlings in the house, so it made more sense for me to grow flowers that can be direct-sown.

 

[obsessed]

There has been nothing in particular that is stopping my flower seeding. Mostly I can get just about anything to germinate. But for flowers I was doing the mass seeding thing and had a hard time separating the seedlings. I haven't tried to do much since Oct when I planted the pansies, viola and snapdragons. But the violas and the snapdragons didn't make it.

But I have a few pansies that did they just didn't flower yet. Which makes me wonder when I would actually start these cooler plants. They usually go on sale from Nov-Spring and make it pretty much all winter long (assuming that you cover them on the freakish night it freezes). I think it may be a hardening off problem and likely a patience problem. I mean Oct.... how slow is a slow pansy. So as slow as they are when would I need to sow them to have pretty pansies for the fall/winter?

My response to mass seeding problem is to attempt to seed flowers into individual pots like I do my tomatoes, brocolli, and such. That should get me around the potting up problem. And from there.....

 

[vfem]

If you decide to go from seed, here's an article on help transplanting those starts...

http://vegetablegardens.suite101.com/article.cfm/transplanting_vegetable_seedlings

 

[ducks4you]

Kate - I am a second from giving up on flowers! I am absolutely dumbfounded on what it takes to grow them. And after all the effort I have put in to get next to nothing..... This may be my last year of attempts.

, Don't give up on starting flowers from seeds. You should research what flowers do well in your native soil, and stick to those. Also, try the really cheap flower seeds, then you're not spending a lot while you experiment.
I KNOW that the following site is from East Tennessee, but it's got a list of wildflowers from Many states:
http://www.easttennesseewildflowers.com/Wildflowers_from_other_states.php
Look under "FLORIDA" and "TEXAS" to find some flowers that would grow well for you. I really like the idea of NOT growing so many alien flowers, like
http://www.ontariowildflower.com/wildflower_waste.htm

I have to fight the following alien flowers on my property:
Blue chickory--THIS one loves to spread on the side of the road, http://farm1.static.flickr.com/72/181723946_d722cacfdc.jpg
Bullthistle, Burlock, Winter Cress, English plantain, and Stinging nettle (I have a skin allergy to this one!)

BTW, quote from this site: "Language of Flowers: Tansy means 'I declare war against you'. "

 

[seedcorn]

That's a very good price but you can buy flats of plants that werent hardened off, Seedcorn. Sometimes, they are moved straight from greenhouses, on the trucks, and off into a parking lot. Customers may take them home the same day. Of course, if they stay around any length of time, some of these retail outfits have nearly useless staff taking care of their plants. They can sure allow/inflict a lot of abuse.

You can buy 4-packs of peppers and tomatoes for $2 to $3 at a farmers market I frequent. It may not make sense to buy seeds if

* you only have room for a very few plants, and if
* you can find the varieties that you like.

Sometimes, what is available is fine. But, growing plants is fun at any time of the year.

The heat comes up the back of the fridge on mine. It sits, partially, under a cabinet and that kind of traps the heat. I stack things up and then move on to the bottom shelf of that cabinet. The house goes as low as 60 at night but it will be 70 up there.

Steve

That is why I buy them off of local nursery. Run by an older gentleman, enjoy talking to him about off varieties he may have.