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Category: Michele's Garden | Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 6:23 pm

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From what I hear around, people up here in the cold region of Vermont start their tomato seeds on Town Meeting Day. This is on the first Tuesday in March. Well I am ahead of the game. I want my plants to be bigger and better then last year come planting time at the end of May. So I got it all started today.

Last spring my honey made me a heat lamp set up. It worked great last year. My honey got out from his work shed and we went into the garage and found all the trays, domes and the heat pads. I had ordered 2 germination stations with heating pads last year and they worked so well that I ordered 2 more this year.



Michael is going to build me 2 more lamp stations that will hold 1 grow light set up each. That way all the plants will have constant light. Last year the plants that were not directly under the grow lights bent toward any light they would sense.

I started the process today by labeling each tray with the seeds that will be each. Each tray has 72 holes and I gave most varieties 12 holes. I filled the holes with a light potting soil, placed 1 seed in each hole and covered them up. I sprayed each tray to make sure they are nice and moist and then placed them on their heating pad and put on the domes. The heating pads alone keep the stations around 80 degrees. Last year the seeds germinated in a few days! Then with in a few weeks I could see which ones were viable and which ones are not.







Here is the list of what I planted:

(12) Mr. Stripey
(12) Sungold Cherry
(12) Yellow Brandywine
(12) Red Brandywine
(12) Black Brandywine
(12) Pink Brandywine
(12) red Lightening
(12) Super Sweet Cherry
(24) Burpee Roma
(12) Burpee Beef Steak
(12) Black Plum
(12) Oregon Spring
(12) Pink Ponderosa
(12) porter House
(12) Limmony
(24) Beef Steak

I plan to start yellow pear, tangerine and grapes as well. I need to hunt out the seeds this week and get more starting soil.

I have given myself enough head start that if something does not grow I will have enough time and a few seeds left to try again.

I can't wait to see everything start to grow. our winters up here are so long and this winter in particular very cold that I needed to bring spring into the house. To me it reminds me that winter doesn't last forever and that soon the snow will melt and everything will start to grow.

I hope everyone out in stew land are well!


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gardengater wrote on Sun Feb 08, 2009 11:00 pm:

Isn't it great getting those seeds out? That's a nice setup you have there. Good luck.

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Sjoerd wrote on Sun Feb 08, 2009 11:46 pm:

Way t'go G'mama. Nice lamp set, and it's going to be added-to. That's a fancy collection of seeds as well.

Beginning this early, you should have really well-developed plantlets come may.

Good luck this season.

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bsewnsew wrote on Mon Feb 09, 2009 1:55 am:

I have one pepper on my heating cable.. It is 2 inches tall.LOL

Hubby wont let me plant too early, they get too spindle for me inside ..

I do have a few flowers growing from seed now.

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