abhege said:

Yes, you could sell some of the plants at a farmer's market or a flea market maybe? Or see if there is a local garden club, sometimes they have plant sales to raise money. Good way to meet new gardeners too!

Okay, going to look up where you live now and see how to get there...

I used to go to farmer's markets ALL THE TIME, which is why I wanted my own garden! When I was a kid, we had a garden and my mom would send me out to get the fixins for our dinner salad. I miss that!!

I will look up garden clubs. Great idea! Now if I can just quit my job! lol. At least I work from home, hence my presence at this moment on the forum. [Multi-tasking!] lol.

Tori, there's a whole thread (started 2yr. ago) about that Harbor Frieght greenhouse you mention above. Lots of advice and tips on what to add and how to make it work better. As with most things from HF, it's not . . . ahhh, shall we say perfect? But a good value.

Be sure to scroll down to Dave's first post, because strangely enough it starts out talking about one from Home Depot.

The thread "Harbor Freight Greenhouse projects" in Greenhouses forum

abhege said:Oh my, you are just past Powder Springs. We used to drive up there to get manure. See what I mean about 1 1/2 hour drive is nothing? We'll talk and see what we can work out.

That's awesome! As soon as I figure out how to use this site, I'll email you.

I can walk across the road and get all the chicken poop I need! lol. Even llama poop... does one use llama pool for fertilizer?! lol.

I understand about driving long distances... I drive three hours to see a chiropractor. I'd rather drive to a different state to see a chiropractor than drive to Atlanta!!

Awww -- Elaine beat me to it; I was going to recommend the thread on the HF greenhouses; be sure to check it out, Tori, if you haven't already!!

As far as RickCorey's comment about "planting densely to save space," I actually do that on purpose with my tomatoes and peppers every year; I give a lot of plants away to family and friends, and can only get a total of 12 flats under my lights and can't move stuff to my greenhouse until mid April... so I purposely grow 2-3 plants per cell in a 48-cell flat, then divide them up as soon as I can get them out from under the lights.

You seem to have an excellent sense of humor, Tori -- that will really come in handy for gardening, believe me!!

GardenGoober said:
Now all I have to do is put a fire under hubby's butt!

How to motivate a guy? The first word that pops into MY mind is "beer".

I found these in the Plant Database ... maybe you could let drop that you have high hopes for the "Beer Plants" if only you can put them out into cold frames soon enough ...

Leontopodium beerianum
Boronia beeronensis
Commersonia beeronensis
Gladiolus debeerstii
Habenaria debeerstiana

If you have lots of glass doors or windows, and some thick wood, making some temporary cold frames need not take a long time. Maybe just lay down cardboard over grass and weeds, then the cold frame over that. Next yar is soon enough for permanent cold frames.

If you have any south-facing structure or wall, you might even just lean the glass panels along the wall and hope no high winds come along.

It was very refreshing to see a new seed-starter jump directly to the stage of "way too many seedlings". It took me years to become SUCCESSFULLY that excessive.

RickCorey said:

How to motivate a guy? The first word that pops into MY mind is "beer".

That would be the first word that pops into my husband's mind as well!

Not mine, though! If he has a beer all he wants to do is go have a nap. I have to give him an excuse to buy or rent a new toy NO NO I meant "tool". Especially a power tool! Tori, tell him you're going to rent a roto-tiller or some other such gadget.

It's truly amazing, all I have to do is get out a power tool of any kind, and if he hears it going out in the yard, he comes and offers to help. But a new one? Like a bee to the nectar!

RickCorey said:
You've already shot past two major obstacles (overwatering and untangling seedlings). The fact that you have so many survivors means that you never fell prey to overwatering. You managed to untangle hundreds of seedlings, and trying to do that STILL give me the heebie-jeebies.

YAY!! I did something right! lol

RickCorey said:Even experienced seed-starters start too many seeds....If you start just 2-3 seeds in each cell, it's bearable to chop 1-2 down if they all germinate. And you just KNOW that, as soon as you start planting 3 seeds instead of 300 in each cell, that germination will drop from 95% down to 20% - seeds are wickedly eager to mess with our heads, I swear!

300!! That's probably about right! lol. And yes, they DO mess with our heads!! lol.

RickCorey said:I use this to cut the extras, but any small scissor works OK. Pulling them out is likely to break the roots of the ones you want to keep. Better to just chop them off at ground level.

Photo didn't come through but I have a pair of small herb snipping scissors that would work just fine.

RickCorey said:"Winter-sowing" enthusiasts have another philosophy that seems to work Ok with flowers. They start way too many seeds in something the size of a gallon milk jug. Then let them grow until the seedlings look like a Chia Pet. When they go to plant them out in the ground, they cut or tear the mass of seedlings into "chunks" - say 4-6 chunks per milk bottle. Then they plant that entire darn Hunk o' Seedlings (called HoS) into the flower garden. They say "the sturdiest seedlings will survive", and their gardens do show dense, healthy growth of flowers packed thickly together.

Good to know.

RickCorey said:However, every vegetable I'm familiar with needs room to produce a big, healthy plant. You HAVE TO THIN vegetable seedlings. It's easier to thin them the smaller you start.

Makes complete sense ... now!

RickCorey said:If you have some cells with two big, healthy seedlings, and if you have a use for that many plants , you can push the two seedlings out of one cell, untangle those two, return one to the cell, and plant the other in another cell of the same small size, or "promote" one to a 3" pot or 4" pot.

I'm learning.

RickCorey said:In the interests of enabling and encouraging O. Seed D., here are some places to buy seed-starting "insert trays" (the flimsy, tearable "six-pack cells", plug trays, propagation trays, small pots, etc etc etc.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! I'm O. Seed D. LOL!!! I need intervention!!!

RickCorey said:
Greenhouse Mega Store:
Overview:
http://www.greenhousemegastore...

Trays & flats of all kinds - including 10-packs
http://www.greenhousemegastore...

Insert trays incl. DEEP inserts
http://www.greenhousemegastore...

plug tray 10-packs:
http://www.greenhousemegastore...

small pots for seedlings:
http://www.greenhousemegastore...


Growers Solution

Containers, etc:
http://www.growerssolution.com...

Insert Trays: 6-packs etc (flimsy & tearable but convenient)
http://www.growerssolution.com...

Sturdy plug & propagation trays with small cells:
http://www.growerssolution.com...

WOW!!! These are AWESOME!!

dyzzypyxxy said: Rick. I'm waiting to see how much acreage Tori has, and how much they can get tilled up in time to plant all those seedlings . . . Luckily it sounds like they are young and energetic.

Tori, by the time you get a greenhouse built, all those seedlings will need to be out in the garden anyway, Dig, kids, Dig!!!

Leave the greenhouse project for next winter. Unless you have space somewhere for one of the little plastic zip-up ones.

HA HA HA HA!! We have three acres, but most of it is wooded, so... I have my neighbor across the road who is planning on taking a bunch of babies off my hands. Also, the neighbor with the chickens and llamas has a farm, so I'm thinking of bartering plants for eggs. Plus, they have a store where they can sell plants.

If over 50 is still young, yay!! Energy?!! My energy took a hit in October when I broke my foot and was laid up for 2-1/2 months. The foot is better but the energy is going to have to be re-generated. I believe once the weather turns for the better, and I can start walking again, my energy will re-ignite.

I do have a little zip up greenhouse-wanna-be. Thanks for reminding me!! I also have dozens of opaque plastic storage bins with clear lids that I could probably use as the plants get bigger until they the plants are ready to go in the garden.

Speaking of garden, hubby said he's taking Friday off and .... are you ready for this ... he's going to tear up the area for the garden with the 4-wheeler. (Yes, he's over 50 too!) So, I'll probably end up with a mud pit for a garden. [sigh] lol.

I drool every time I go to those websites. But the shipping chnarges for a box big enough to hold 11"x21" trays are high, and I have all need for this deacde, so I try to curb the shopping impulse.

I guess "power tools" really are the right kind of candy to lure guys with. Fisrt time I heard of using a four-wheel vehicle as a tiller. I assume he plans to cut wheelies and sharp turns to tear up the sod? That's one approach!

Here's a photo. I think it was originally a cat-nail-trimming scissor. the little notch lets my shaky hands grab the right stem and pull it away from the others, then "snip".

Weedwhacker said:A couple of years ago I did the "overplanting in cells" thing with some petunia seeds I had saved...

Looks familiar!!

Weedwhacker said: (hey, who knew they would germinate so well??)

EXACTLY!!!

Weedwhacker said:Those things are really easy to pull out and transplant... I took up small chunks with a steak knife (LOL, use what you have, right?) and put into more 6-packs, and probably could have had 50 flats of petunias if I had split them all up. If you're reasonably careful, most things can be moved around... even the things "they" say you shouldn't transplant. But sometimes it is just a lot more sensible to thin them out!!

Well, I did start plucking out the really leggy ones. It was tough but I put the seedlings into my compost pile. I'll probably have plants growing out of there next. Lol!!!

RickCorey said:For "pricking out" seedlings and untangling them, I use a cocktail fork (not sure what it is properly called: "shrimp-cocktail-fork"?) and also a dinner fork where I cut off one tine and bent the other three around to make a "cradle" for seedlings.

Goodwill and Salvation Army have lots of things a gardener can use.

I've read that coarse vermiculite is the easiest thing to untangle seedling roots from.

I basically just pulled the clump out of the plug, held it over a paper towel and they just fell apart in my hand. Then I stuck my finger into the dirt, seeded a couple in each hole, dumped any excess dirt from the paper towel on top of them, then poured a little water on them, and set them aside. The next day, they were all standing at attention trying to find the light.

Add a few photos, and you have a good article there!

Maye there is a secret in your potting/seedling soil mix:

>> I basically just pulled the clump out of the plug, held it over a paper towel and they just fell apart in my hand.

Sounds like a great mix to me!

woofie said:Ha ha! I'm just in the process of doing this same thing with some Lavatera trimestris seeds I planted. They were old and had spent the summer baking in my greenhouse, so I soaked them all and planted them in a peat pot tray, with many seeds in each pot. Now when I tried to grow just a few last year, not one came up. This year? I think every seed germinated!

And of course, these aren't supposed to like being transplanted. So I emptied out one cell, teased them apart and potted them up a couple of days ago. I ended up with 8 plants from that one cell, and they all are looking fine so far. Heh, anyone need a few white lavatera?

Ahhhhh, I love it! I feel much better. Thank you for posting this! lol!!

dyzzypyxxy said:Tori, there's a whole thread (started 2yr. ago) about that Harbor Frieght greenhouse you mention above. Lots of advice and tips on what to add and how to make it work better. As with most things from HF, it's not . . . ahhh, shall we say perfect? But a good value.

Be sure to scroll down to Dave's first post, because strangely enough it starts out talking about one from Home Depot.

The thread "Harbor Freight Greenhouse projects" in Greenhouses forum

Thanks Elaine, I'll check it out.

Weedwhacker said:Awww -- Elaine beat me to it; I was going to recommend the thread on the HF greenhouses; be sure to check it out, Tori, if you haven't already!!

As far as RickCorey's comment about "planting densely to save space," I actually do that on purpose with my tomatoes and peppers every year; I give a lot of plants away to family and friends, and can only get a total of 12 flats under my lights and can't move stuff to my greenhouse until mid April... so I purposely grow 2-3 plants per cell in a 48-cell flat, then divide them up as soon as I can get them out from under the lights.

You seem to have an excellent sense of humor, Tori -- that will really come in handy for gardening, believe me!!

Oh thanks Sandy. My sense of humor has come in handy in lots of areas! Sometimes it gets me in trouble because I tend to see the humor in things that others do not. Oh well, laughing is better than crying and a cheerful heart is good medicine!!

RickCorey said:How to motivate a guy? The first word that pops into MY mind is "beer".

I found these in the Plant Database ... maybe you could let drop that you have high hopes for the "Beer Plants" if only you can put them out into cold frames soon enough ...

Leontopodium beerianum
Boronia beeronensis
Commersonia beeronensis
Gladiolus debeerstii
Habenaria debeerstiana

Not to worry, I can assure you that he will have a beer on the 4-wheeler.

RickCorey said:If you have lots of glass doors or windows, and some thick wood, making some temporary cold frames need not take a long time. Maybe just lay down cardboard over grass and weeds, then the cold frame over that. Next yar is soon enough for permanent cold frames. If you have any south-facing structure or wall, you might even just lean the glass panels along the wall and hope no high winds come along.

Unfortunately, our house faces south and there's really no where to lean glass panels. There's the garage, then the kitchen porch, then the front porch and then the rest of the house is mostly shade. =\ Our last home was set up beautifully. The breakfast area faced south and had windows all the way around ... PLUS two skylights. Now THAT would have been the perfect greenhouse. But back then, all I had time to grow was Christmas Cactus, Golden Pathos and spider plants!

RickCorey said:It was very refreshing to see a new seed-starter jump directly to the stage of "way too many seedlings". It took me years to become SUCCESSFULLY that excessive.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! I'm just a wee bit impulsive!

dyzzypyxxy said:Not mine, though! If he has a beer all he wants to do is go have a nap. I have to give him an excuse to buy or rent a new toy NO NO I meant "tool". Especially a power tool! Tori, tell him you're going to rent a roto-tiller or some other such gadget.

It's truly amazing, all I have to do is get out a power tool of any kind, and if he hears it going out in the yard, he comes and offers to help. But a new one? Like a bee to the nectar!

LOL!!
We HAVE a tiller!! lol!! My hubby would rather be playing his guitars than anything else, but he does like working outside too. He loves our "empty nest" so he's been doing a lot more things around here than he ever did at our previous home.

RickCorey said:First time I heard of using a four-wheel vehicle as a tiller. I assume he plans to cut wheelies and sharp turns to tear up the sod? That's one approach!

I really don't know what he's planning, but I'm sure it will be interesting! We do have a tiller!!

RickCorey said:Here's a photo. I think it was originally a cat-nail-trimming scissor. the little notch lets my shaky hands grab the right stem and pull it away from the others, then "snip".

That's interesting. Never saw anything like that before. This is what I have:

RickCorey said:I drool every time I go to those websites. But the shipping charges for a box big enough to hold 11"x21" trays are high, and I have all need for this deacde, so I try to curb the shopping impulse.

You can pretty much find the same kind of stuff on Amazon, with free shipping for orders over $35 (I think that's the amount).