The purpose of this blog is to share my hard won successes as well as my mistakes in the greenhouse business over the last 25 years. I hope to help others that are looking to get into the greenhouse business on either the small or medium scale. From the farmers markets to the small retail nursery.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Page 2. Planting some seeds.
Well how's this for commitment? Two days in a row. This was a hard one to start. I know if I commit to page two I'll have to keep going. I commit well but my follow through sometimes sucks. We'll see what happens. All of you that already know me know that I love to talk (can't shut him up) especially about my passion which is growing and greenhouses.
Seeds, it's really too soon to start any this year for next years customers but I decided my daily blog would be based on the first thing I did in the greenhouse in the morning. This morning I was checking out my leaf lettuce and radishes. The lettuce is doing well. I plant the lettuce and most of my other winter veggies in plastic oval planters. Eight inches wide, sixteen inches long and six inches deep. I've found it's best to get your winter lettuce in and sprouted by the end of September or so. You have a lot fewer problems with wet soil surface which leads to rot of the seedlings. I fill my ovals with about 4 inches of used decent potting soil then put an inch and a half of good new potting soil on top,(Sunshine Mix more on this later), then sprinkle any packaged leaf lettuce willy nilly around the whole planter. Not too thick not too thin. You'll figure it out. If it's too thick wait until most of the lettuce is sprouted then thin it out to half inch or so spacing. I then cover the seed with a dusting of clean planting mix. Not more than an eighth of an inch. Water them in lightly then water again as the surface is almost dry again. I only have two lettuce planters going this winter, if you have three or four planted you can do sucessive harvesting and be in lettuce almost constantly.
With radishes I have tried something new this year and had great luck. I am using the cardboard flats from beer or pop cases. I fill it to the top with good potting soil then water it in then add the seeds in nice even rows. Then add about a quarter inch to the top and water again lightly. The boxes seem to hold up just long enough to get through harvest before falling apart. Put the used soil back into you used soil barrel. (Did I mention that I use two barrels for soil? One for used one for new.) The seeds are about an inch apart in rows that are also an inch apart. I'm just finishing up one box now and the second is a couple of weeks away from harvest.
Okay now they are planted. The easiest way to get them to sprout for me is to put them in one of my hot beds. This is a fancy name for a two foot by four foot frame made of 2x4's. My frame has sand in it on top of my heat mat. The heat mats come in a 22"x44" size which fits nicely into my frame. If you don't want to spend the $60 on a heat mat and thermostat you can put a light bulb or two under the bench that your frame is sitting on. Adjust the elevation of your bulbs until you get your soil temp to around 75 degrees.
Okay the planters are now sitting on the warm sand, this is the time to cover the planter with some clear plastic. The plastic acts like a sauna and gives the seeds the heat and humidity to sprout. Once half of the seed is sprouted I lose the plastic, it now turns into a death hamber for fresh seedlings. From here on out follow the old saying that plants need warm feet and cool tops. If you have two bulbs under your hotbox lower one of them down so that one side of the box will be cooler. Then move your seedlings over to the cool end.
If I don't use the open flat or planter concept,which I use for veggie starts and marigolds (don't laugh there's good money in marigolds) I will use the jumbo six pack method. I will usually fill up a few jumbo six packs with clean potting soil and add a couple of seed to each cell. Read the package to see how deep to plant. I put the six packs into the hot beds and cover with plastic till they germinate. I like using the six packs for starting cuttings too.
Once your plants are up and looking happy, but before they start to streach for light it's time to move them out of the hotbox and onto the bench. I usually let most things sit on the bench for at least a week or to before shifting it up to a 4" pot or the final size container.
Okay that's it for today. I sure hope someone is reading this besides me. If you are thanks and happy planting.
Seeds, it's really too soon to start any this year for next years customers but I decided my daily blog would be based on the first thing I did in the greenhouse in the morning. This morning I was checking out my leaf lettuce and radishes. The lettuce is doing well. I plant the lettuce and most of my other winter veggies in plastic oval planters. Eight inches wide, sixteen inches long and six inches deep. I've found it's best to get your winter lettuce in and sprouted by the end of September or so. You have a lot fewer problems with wet soil surface which leads to rot of the seedlings. I fill my ovals with about 4 inches of used decent potting soil then put an inch and a half of good new potting soil on top,(Sunshine Mix more on this later), then sprinkle any packaged leaf lettuce willy nilly around the whole planter. Not too thick not too thin. You'll figure it out. If it's too thick wait until most of the lettuce is sprouted then thin it out to half inch or so spacing. I then cover the seed with a dusting of clean planting mix. Not more than an eighth of an inch. Water them in lightly then water again as the surface is almost dry again. I only have two lettuce planters going this winter, if you have three or four planted you can do sucessive harvesting and be in lettuce almost constantly.
With radishes I have tried something new this year and had great luck. I am using the cardboard flats from beer or pop cases. I fill it to the top with good potting soil then water it in then add the seeds in nice even rows. Then add about a quarter inch to the top and water again lightly. The boxes seem to hold up just long enough to get through harvest before falling apart. Put the used soil back into you used soil barrel. (Did I mention that I use two barrels for soil? One for used one for new.) The seeds are about an inch apart in rows that are also an inch apart. I'm just finishing up one box now and the second is a couple of weeks away from harvest.
Okay now they are planted. The easiest way to get them to sprout for me is to put them in one of my hot beds. This is a fancy name for a two foot by four foot frame made of 2x4's. My frame has sand in it on top of my heat mat. The heat mats come in a 22"x44" size which fits nicely into my frame. If you don't want to spend the $60 on a heat mat and thermostat you can put a light bulb or two under the bench that your frame is sitting on. Adjust the elevation of your bulbs until you get your soil temp to around 75 degrees.
Okay the planters are now sitting on the warm sand, this is the time to cover the planter with some clear plastic. The plastic acts like a sauna and gives the seeds the heat and humidity to sprout. Once half of the seed is sprouted I lose the plastic, it now turns into a death hamber for fresh seedlings. From here on out follow the old saying that plants need warm feet and cool tops. If you have two bulbs under your hotbox lower one of them down so that one side of the box will be cooler. Then move your seedlings over to the cool end.
If I don't use the open flat or planter concept,which I use for veggie starts and marigolds (don't laugh there's good money in marigolds) I will use the jumbo six pack method. I will usually fill up a few jumbo six packs with clean potting soil and add a couple of seed to each cell. Read the package to see how deep to plant. I put the six packs into the hot beds and cover with plastic till they germinate. I like using the six packs for starting cuttings too.
Once your plants are up and looking happy, but before they start to streach for light it's time to move them out of the hotbox and onto the bench. I usually let most things sit on the bench for at least a week or to before shifting it up to a 4" pot or the final size container.
Okay that's it for today. I sure hope someone is reading this besides me. If you are thanks and happy planting.
Monday, December 5, 2011
I love greenhousing
Welcome to my new blog. My plan here is to discuss anything related to plants, gardening, greenhouse growing and greenhouse building.
That seems to be the way my own life has progressed. I started out in Ag classes in school. Went on to be a barely passable machinist, then when I learned you can get really hungry while laid off from the machine shop I found the nursery business. After developing building running and selling 2 and a half nurseries I retired at 50 years old. That lasted 3 months. Three months into a 6 month lease in a downtown Seattle condo I had already found a 5 acre piece of property and started building a 20'x150' greenhouse. That turned into farmers markets. What a Godsend. I could talk to strangers and sell them stuff too. It seems that when you are loving what you are doing it rubs off on your customers.
After a few years at that property I started looking for a smaller place which means I needed smaller greenhouses. Guess what, they aren't any out there. At least any that are reasonably priced and strong enough to stand up to our extreme winds and occasional snow here in the Pacific Northwest.
I still needed a smaller house so I started experimenting with every kind of bender I could find in the local tool stores and off of the internet. After amassing several piles of scrap tubing I finally came up with my own hydraulic electric contraption that will bend bows with an amazing degree of repetition. I can now bend 24 bow halves and the 24th one is almost identical to the first one. Repeating is good but you also have to deal with the weld line inside of the tubing. Tubing has what's called 85 percent weld whereas pipe has 100 percent weld. Well I found out that that 15 percent of non weld will bite you in the ass every time. Unless you can locate that weld line in the same orientation your bow turns into half a pretzel.
Okay enough for today. If I have your interest come on back for more. I plan on trying to keep this blog current as much as I can in the winter. The spring is my time to work though so I may slack off some then. If you have any questions please ask. I don't have all the answers about the world of growing but am willing to help you find them.
By the way if you caught any spelling errors congratulations, you're my kind of person.
That seems to be the way my own life has progressed. I started out in Ag classes in school. Went on to be a barely passable machinist, then when I learned you can get really hungry while laid off from the machine shop I found the nursery business. After developing building running and selling 2 and a half nurseries I retired at 50 years old. That lasted 3 months. Three months into a 6 month lease in a downtown Seattle condo I had already found a 5 acre piece of property and started building a 20'x150' greenhouse. That turned into farmers markets. What a Godsend. I could talk to strangers and sell them stuff too. It seems that when you are loving what you are doing it rubs off on your customers.
After a few years at that property I started looking for a smaller place which means I needed smaller greenhouses. Guess what, they aren't any out there. At least any that are reasonably priced and strong enough to stand up to our extreme winds and occasional snow here in the Pacific Northwest.
I still needed a smaller house so I started experimenting with every kind of bender I could find in the local tool stores and off of the internet. After amassing several piles of scrap tubing I finally came up with my own hydraulic electric contraption that will bend bows with an amazing degree of repetition. I can now bend 24 bow halves and the 24th one is almost identical to the first one. Repeating is good but you also have to deal with the weld line inside of the tubing. Tubing has what's called 85 percent weld whereas pipe has 100 percent weld. Well I found out that that 15 percent of non weld will bite you in the ass every time. Unless you can locate that weld line in the same orientation your bow turns into half a pretzel.
Okay enough for today. If I have your interest come on back for more. I plan on trying to keep this blog current as much as I can in the winter. The spring is my time to work though so I may slack off some then. If you have any questions please ask. I don't have all the answers about the world of growing but am willing to help you find them.
By the way if you caught any spelling errors congratulations, you're my kind of person.
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