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  • From: "Peter Mattli, D.D.S." <pmattli AT cfl.rr.com>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Re:seed starting & greenhouse
  • Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2005 13:37:37 -0400

Marcy,
Low temp shouldn't be the probem with your seeds, because I regularly store my seeds in refrigerator
between growing seasons and they are always viable when planted.

Tomato seeds need to be within 2-4 inches of a flourescent light source to germinate. Tomatoes do like a couple of hours of dark every 24 hours,
and should not be covered so deep that light cannot reach them. Optimum: always less than ΒΌ inch of covering, never deeper. Good luck. - Pete (FL)
Pete Mattli
3805 Scarborough Court
Clermont, FL 34711
----------
e-mail: pmattli AT cfl.rr.com
phone: 352-536-9586
==============================================
----- Original Message ----- From: "marcy" <marcy AT aculink.net>
To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 10:29 AM
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Re:seed starting & greenhouse


I'm bewildered and hope some of you can help me!
I've been starting seeds inside for years and years. I've never had a
greenhouse before and only one year had a cold frame to use. We finished the
greenhouse 3 weeks ago and last week it got torn apart in the wind and
that's another story - and more questions actually.

Anyway, I got a heat mat (set at 80 degrees) and had 8 flats of tomato seeds
planted. After the poly tore apart last week I moved the flats in the house
and they still haven't germinated. Some of the seeds looked a bit swollen
but nothing else. I thought that tomatoes liked light but then another guy
told me they put theirs in the darkness to germinate. The week before the
poly tore we had a power outage and it got down to 30 in the greenhouse that
night. Could that have been enough to kill the seeds? Or could the problem
be when it got hot in the greenhouse during the morning? Didn't have
automatic vents installed and we opened the doors. Too much light? We're
having a barnraising this Sunday to rebuild the greenhouse but I'm concerned
about these seeds and nervous about planting more till I figure out the
problem.

Now on the greenhouse...
I see all the high tunnel pics and catalog pics. This was a frame my husband
had built 6 years ago. He'd never built a greenhouse and since left. I'm
trying to use the basic frame which had big timbers in the center supporting
2" PVC hoops 5 foot apart. People in the area had told me the only way to do
a poly covered structure is to use a double layer and inflate it. So we did
the double layer and installed the fan. When I talked to the salesman to
reorder the poly he asked me about adjusting the blower. The installation
instructions didn't mention adjusting it. When I went out to check it I
found out the air intake was totally closed - so no wonder it didn't inflate
the layers! On frosty mornings when it looked like it was blowing air it
must have just been the heat from the motor.
We get pretty gusty winds around here but I still think there has to be a
way to make this work. I'm hopeful that the inflation will make a
difference. Does anyone have experience both ways?
The wind was from the north and it tore the south side loose. It was really
bending the hoops on the north side. I don't know if they need more support
or none - I see pictures with no bracing under the hoops at all.
Does anyone use the 3" strapping over the poly? We had attached it under the
2x10 on the bottom and around the pipe underneath. I'm thinking that the
straps shouldn't be attached to the structure because that just helped pull
the board and poly up...
Thanks for any advice!!
Marcy
SE Colo

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