Market Farming

["marcy" <marcy AT aculink.net>]

But how about low temperatures once they might have started to germinate -
they'd been in the ground about 5 days when we had the power out and they
would have gotten cold that night.
Sounds like I had them covered okay - same as I usually do and they would
have had dark at night. Inside I've always used a sheet of plastic - saran
wrap type stuff to keep the soil moist, I wonder if that might have cooked
them?
I moved them in the house with their heat mat last Tuesday after the poly
blew apart and still not one tomato sprouted. All fresh seed this year.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Mattli, D.D.S." <pmattli AT cfl.rr.com>
To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 11:37 AM
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Re:seed starting & greenhouse


> 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 ¼ 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
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Market-farming mailing list
> > Market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/market-farming
> >
> > Get the list FAQ at: http://www.marketfarming.net/mflistfaq.htm
> >
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Market-farming mailing list
> Market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/market-farming
>
> Get the list FAQ at: http://www.marketfarming.net/mflistfaq.htm