Seed starting indoors

[Gardening with Rabbits]

I sowed two flats of ailsa craig onions about 12 days ago. The germination rates were very poor, I sowed a good 3 or 4 seeds into each cell.

This is the first time I bought seeds from Baker Creek. I've bought and had great sucess with onion seeds from Johnny's for years.

I buy Alisa Craig onion seeds from Baker Creek and I have had sometimes great germination and other times really poor. I think I will try Johnny's this year. I REALLY like your onion planting. So, if you have more than one onion come up in a cell, do you just them off and have 1 onion growing per cell?

 

[Dirtmechanic]

Call me old school but I refuse to put any easedropping devices in my home. It's getting harder and harder to keep those out though as most everything electrical has either a camera and or a microphone theses days. Good thing I have an electronics engineering degree and know how to use a soldering iron to disable this craziness.

It is a little weird is it not? I finally figured out how to group all the speakers in the house for either whole house stereo or Becky's books on tape. That said, the software that runs the plug is actually separate, and it is not necessary to allow a speaker software the plug passcodes which is how the mess works. Having no eyes and ears the plugs cannot spy on you, which leaves the software, and in my opinion the best way to deal with it is to establish a for the purpose email address with no information. Something like myhouse@yahoo.com, and just use it for the isolated nature, maybe a tablet just for the house or something. I am still learning the ins and outs myself.

 

[Crealcritter]

I buy Alisa Craig onion seeds from Baker Creek and I have had sometimes great germination and other times really poor. I think I will try Johnny's this year. I REALLY like your onion planting. So, if you have more than one onion come up in a cell, do you just them off and have 1 onion growing per cell?

I thin out and or transplant to just one onion per cell to give that onion it's most potential right from the get go.

 

[Crealcritter]

It is a little weird is it not? I finally figured out how to group all the speakers in the house for either whole house stereo or Becky's books on tape. That said, the software that runs the plug is actually separate, and it is not necessary to allow a speaker software the plug passcodes which is how the mess works. Having no eyes and ears the plugs cannot spy on you, which leaves the software, and in my opinion the best way to deal with it is to establish a for the purpose email address with no information. Something like myhouse@yahoo.com, and just use it for the isolated nature, maybe a tablet just for the house or something. I am still learning the ins and outs myself.

Low tech approach is to place a piece of black duct tape over the camera lense. Micropones are another story though and are usually embedded so you need to tape a cotton ball or peice of foam over it. Only problem is you never know how effective it is as muting sound .

So I measure the impeadance of the microphone, unsolder it from the circuit board and solder in a resistor of the same ohm value as the microphone. This tricks the system into thinking there is a microphone there but it's only a resistor that can't pickup any sound

 

[Dirtmechanic]

Low tech approach is to place a piece of black duct tape over the camera lense. Micropones are another story though and are usually embedded so you need to tape a cotton ball or peice of foam over it. Only problem is you never know how effective it is as muting sound . So measure the impeadance of the microphone, unsolder it from the circuit board and solder in a resistor of the same ohm value as the microphone. This tricks the system into thinking there is a microphone there but it's only a resistor that can't pickup and noise

When I walk into the den right now I get jumped by 2 new kittens and as I am falling over I say "Alexa turn on the den lights and the fire tv". After sorting myself from cats, I say "Alexa show me the wbrc news app". This is the limit of usefulness so far, lights and turning on and off a tv. My gazebo has a gas grill and I can say turn off the gazebo lights as I come in with hands full of BBQ. At work, I can say hey google "set an appointment" and a appointment for a customer will appear on our installation calendar, but nobody really does this. Other than that they play music mainly and have replaced the shop radios. Geofencing is cool though, when you drive up and your phone hits the house wifi net it triggers outside lights. I do not think I will put my garage door opener on it. Nor a door lock. I found out that when you have no wifi, the devices will not work locally, so that severely limits any expansion plans I would have. Plus, can you imagine a fire with a malfunctioning door lock? Holy cow.

 

[Crealcritter]

I buy Alisa Craig onion seeds from Baker Creek and I have had sometimes great germination and other times really poor. I think I will try Johnny's this year. I REALLY like your onion planting. So, if you have more than one onion come up in a cell, do you just them off and have 1 onion growing per cell?

Just my luck... Getting a package with poor germination rate. At least knowing the germination rate you can make an educated guess of how many seeds to sow.

The only reason I bought from baker creek was I was buying other seeds and Baker creek had free shipping and NO SALES TAXES. I live in Illionis and I pay more than enough sales tax already. I don't like Dick Durban one little bit - So I go out of my way to not pay him for the privilege of me buying something.

 

[Crealcritter]

I also wanted to add... For onions only I use these special designed cells. They are taller than the normal ones you get at the store. I expecially like them because they force the roots down into the cup at the bottom where the water is and also do a good job at keeping the top soil pretty dry once you get the seeds sprouted and regular water schedule going.

I don't recall where I bought them from online but they are definitely built with thicker injection mold platic than those thin cheap jiffy brand ones at the store.

 

[Dirtmechanic]

I have a plastic thermoformer that is 24x48. I bought it 15 or more years ago, and literally did not get to press it into service. I recently brought it to my store, in hopes of recycling the plastic waste we produce. I think I will make seed trays. How deep are those?

 

[Crealcritter]

I have a plastic thermoformer that is 24x48. I bought it 15 or more years ago, and literally did not get to press it into service. I recently brought it to my store, in hopes of recycling the plastic waste we produce. I think I will make seed trays. How deep are those?

About 3 3/8" / 86mm whichever you prefer.

 

[Dirtmechanic]

About 3 3/8" / 86mm whichever you prefer.
View attachment 30205

I could see the tray, with the lowest slits or hole possible sitting in a water tray that was 1\2 the height of the lower conical shape. The water wicking should be plenty to get moisture higher, but the volume of water in the tray would be sufficient for ease of use. Any thoughts? I can use my belt sander and make a male mold, and basically duplicate it into a plaster of paris, and end up with a heat resistant silicone mold, after which I can produce a set of 3 or 4 or so trays every call it 10 minutes. Maybe the plastic waste is better used this way than buried or burned. I think I will approach a few local nurseries, as my costs will be equal to their price of purchasing more efficient products from china or wherever, but my people will be completely jazzed to help and if we turn waste into greenery we will break even somehow. Currently we pay to have waste removed. we could reduce our waste container and find a savings.