oh but sometimes it is a bit tight with 4 across.. either have to squish em in there.. or trim the tops.. I don't recommend squishing though
on the left of the photo

Gymgirl--love your setup....the cat litter trays look nice and sturdy!

I finally got all of my pots/trays washed from this season....just in time to put everything away for a short break before starting over again.

We got a new furnace/AC this summer, and they made me move one of my shelving units. For some reason, they installed the new furnace in a different configuration (different sized unit, maybe?) I was slightly upset that I had to rearrange my layout. But, I'm very grateful for a new AC unit with the brutal summer we're having.

Gymgirl is in Tx so probably can put those babies outside pretty fast. I doubt she has the dilemmas of stuffing so much under lights as we do farther north.

I usually wintersow my tomatoes directly into 16 oz cups, each cup about half full of potting mix. As the plants sprout and grow, I thin to one/cup and add a little more potting mix to the top of the cup. That effectively "plants" more of the stem to form roots.

Karen

smart.. some of my self seeded ones look better than the ones I grew.. the chipmunks always surprise me where they are going to plant seeds

Hey guys! Thanks for the compliments.

Rick, here's an idea for seedling vessels that might spark your fancy. It's called a PVC seedling tray. I've made two, using a couple of old drawers I got for $1 apiece at a flea market. I was just about deciding not to use them, but on second thought, I'm thinking I could use them to sow some of my veggie seeds.

Hope I have a good pic to show you.

Sorry, Rick. Still can't access and upload pics directly from my Blackberry. I'll post it tomorrow.

Linda

Hi Linda

Would that be PVC pipe cut into fairly short lengths and stood on end? I saw someone recomend them for some particular plant that liked REALLY DEEP roots.

I know those would last forever, but I'm on the lazy side, and also fear they would be too heavy for my current trays. They sound good for a tray with high sides to keep them from tipping.

BTW, someone sugegsted something similar but on a huge scale: concrete sewer pipe up to 3 feet across, cut into 2-foot lengths to provide BIG circular planters. Permaculture? Archeologists 1,000 years from now will be speculating about those - like Easter Island monoliths.

Linda are you using the PVC as a frame only?... I wouldn't grow any edibles in PVC there are chemicals that will come though it and into your plants

Here's my PVC Seedling tray. The cut tubes are standing up in an old drawer with holes drilled in the bottom for drainage. They'll only be in long enough to germinate and develop a decent root system, before they get planted out into the garden.

Thanks for the warning OneWish1,
But, when I look back on my life (such as it is), I can hardly believe I've lived as long as I already have, with all the flags and warnings over these years about what's safe to put in our bodies. I'd have to live in a bubble -- and even the material the bubble was made of would probably contain something that would kill me!

I'll take my chances with a few seedlings in the PVC tubes...
Hugs!

PVC SEEDLING TRAY

trust me I am not the healthiest person.. and don't mean to preach.. but the last thing I would want to do is give myself lead poisoning by using pvc.. copper pipe would be a safer material .. but there are so many safe options that are more affordable than all those.. newspaper pots would be a free safer alternative .. most of that printing ink is made from soy

One,
It's too late for me. This year, the home I grew up in in New Orleans, was recently renovated by a government grant. It's on the Historical Registry, and was not touched by Hurricane Katrina.

Anyway, about $25-$40k in cosmetic detailing (including scraping all the old paint off, replacing worn boards, soffit and facia, and re-painting) was done over a two week period, by teams of 20-30 volunteers from across the country.

Phase I, the first week, was scraping all the old paint off. The two-story structure was completely covered with a tent so no debris and dust escaped into the environment. After removing years of layers of old paint, it was determined that some of that paint actually contained lead...

I'm still here...and, I'll probably get struck by lightening...

P.S. At least, now I have a clue as to why my brain works and thinks so very differently than so many other people...

hope you are not sharing your crops