The seeded trays of onion, shallots, rosemary, and lettuce are all up and doing wonderfully. I have them under my grow lights which are turned on for 12 hours a day. I also have a circulating fan on low to keep the air moving around the plants to strengthen them.
I live in zone 6 here in western, N.Y. and the best onion to grow for me is a long-day variety. I have never done shallots or Walla Walla onions before so this will be a new experience for me. I am not sure yet where I will be planting all of these seedlings either, you know those seeds are little and I tend to overplant. I also have started this Japanese bunching onion too, as they are a favorite of my family.
Another seed that must be started very early is Rosemary as it takes quite a long time to grow. I planted 2 whole packs of seeds this year as I tend to go through a lot of it in a year's time. Hopefully, they will do well for me as I usually buy plants from my local nursery every year. See, I am stretching my green thumb a bit and trying to grow a few more items myself.
This year I decided to start some lettuce early since I am going to experiment with growing them in the greenhouse hydroponically. I plan on putting them out as soon as they are large enough and I may use a fish tank heater on the lowest setting to keep the water from freezing. I can even keep a milk-house heater on low to keep it from getting too cold at night. We shall see how well they will do and I will be journaling my progress and the daily temperatures for future reference.
These are some pictures of the hydroponic lettuce I did last spring and they were just delightful. I am hoping for great results this year too.
I have buttercrunch and red lettuce that germinated but my romaine lettuce did not. I know the seed packet was from 2020 so I guess I should not be surprised as sometimes lettuce seed does not last long. So, I will be starting a new tray of that this week as well.
I got so excited when a huge box was delivered this week. I treated myself to some new trays and humidity domes. Now, mind you, I have been using the same stack of trays, seeding flats, and domes since I had my plant nursery years ago. Needless to say, they have become very brittle and cracking all over.
I decided to splurge on 10 of each and I think that should keep me through the next 20 years, lol. Just kidding since I probably start 30 flats of veggies and flowers every spring.
These no-hole trays are perfect for use in my seeding room as they will ensure no water leaks all over the floor.
The 72-hole trays will be used for smaller plants with shallow root systems, while the 50-hole trays will be perfect for larger plants such as tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers.
There is so much more room in the deep-cell trays and I am excited to be able to use these this year. If you are a fellow gardener you can understand my excitement.
I will be sure to keep updated on this season's sowing, growing, and planting for you to enjoy. I too would enjoy seeing how you progress through yours as well.
Until next time, this is Sunscape
Sun. Scape. Ing Your Day
Greetings I want to apologize I went to give positive vote but as the two votes are so close together I gave the one that was not, a thousand apologies, I congratulate you have all the tools for planting. Beautiful blog.
Oh, no worries, it can easily happen. Thanks for stopping in to seed the seedling post. Have a great day.
You have a lot of plants there and it's just nice to see them especially those newly grown onions and lettuce.
I hope that you can plant your onions soon to have a good start and your lettuce also. By the way those lettuce in hydrophonic did grew well last time as shown in the photo. I think when it comes to it, that method is the best.
And those trays made me excited also as I read about it because I really look forward what plants you will grow there.😊.
Happy planting.
Thanks so much for the wonderful comment. I am excited to get started with more plants soon. If spring is as mild as this winter has been I will be able to plant out early. Have a great day.
I've grown Wallas for many years here in Zone 4a. I start them 2 weeks after the storage onions on March 15. Storage onions I start March 1. I also plant them 2 weeks later than the storage onions. They don't seem to be quite as hardy.
I just inventoried my trays and stuff and many of my covers are broken. I think i got some new ones last year, but I didn't finish that part of the inventory.
Just one month and I will be starting stuff too...
It is exciting to try different plants and I am hoping for a nice onion crop. I am still trying to figure out where to plant them all. I may have to make another raised bed just for them in a real sunny spot. lol Sometimes I regret taking out my largest garden as I was trying to cut back on the work involved. Now, I am trying to grow in a much smaller area with the increase in food these days. Have a great weekend.
I’m assuming you know onions are day length sensitive. I once tried to grow them on the west side of the gardens and they just didn’t do well due to the shading in late afternoon.
Beautiful lettuces 😍🤤👏