Starting Seeds Inside

 

    This season I experimented with Jiffy brand seed tray greenhouses with peat pucks. This product claims to improve success rates for seed germinations. As far as success rate for germination the mini greenhouse certainly did its job.

    I chose to start from seed green zebra tomatoes, peppermint, dwarf snow peas, and rainbow chard. So far the peas liked the peat the best, and are growing strong as transplants into pots. While every seed pod I planted for chard did sprout they never formed roots and couldn't survive transplanting. I ended up re-sowing these directly in a pot. 

    The mint did not like the moisture in the mini greenhouse even after adding ventilation. These will also be getting direct sown into a pot. Three out of four of my Tomato seedlings survived the transplant process. Here's hoping they root well and prosper.

    All in all, I would use the greenhouse again sans peat. I would add a layer of potting mix and start the seeds in that with the lid for added warmth. Something else I've noticed is the tendency for seedlings to be really leggy. This is typically blamed on poor lighting strategy. though I think it is more likely to be the lack of nutrients in the peat coupled with the depth of possible seed placement. Hopefully this will be rectified by eliminating the peat in future uses.