#Greenhouse Gardening
2 messages in this thread
Thanks for your welcoming message.
Will there by information and exchanges on greenhouse gardening? We're in
our second year of using one in the Pacific Northwest. We've learned that
it's trickier than I had thought, at least. It's easy to lose seedlings to
damping off due to excess moisture and insufficient air exchange. This year
we've ordered a thermostatically controlled electric heating pad for
starting seeds in the green house. Should be cheaper and better temperature
control for the soil than simply heating the whole greenhouse.
Last year we tried raising Impatiens from seed. They grew but were tiny.
We're told here in Seattle that most nurseries order "plugs" from
somewhere. We're going to try both plugs and seeds this year and see how we
do. Last Spring we had unusually dark and cold weather which made
everything harder to grow.
Welcome, Fred. I am a greenhouse gardener also, and you are right, it is a
little tricky learning how to control the humidity. You should not be
losing seedlings to damp off though, if you use a sterile seed starting mix
and keep a fan (a small one is fine) going in the greenhouse to keep air
circulating. The electric heating pad will help. I grow hundreds of
impatiens, and you do have to start them early to get them to a good
planting size. I also start mine with one seed to an individual cell in a
pack; they seem to do better than all in a multiple flat. I will start mine
this week (in Ohio). We have had a series of dark dreary winters also, and
everything in the greenhouse is sitting still, hardly growing at all. I'd
like to hear about your greenhouse and what you grow, besides seedlings. Do
you belong to the Hobby Greenhouse Association? Their magazine is tops for
good info for home greenhouses.