greenhouse happenings

pansy babies- growing slow, but sure.

Well, I decided to start a few things in the greenhouse early this year. These little guys will hopefully add some color early in the year, as long as I hold them over until the weather warms up again, and I'm looking forward to that! I plan on creating a little micro climate inside the greenhouse to keep them from freezing- and that's about it. No heat. We'll see what happens. I haven't planned much as my schedule (not to mention health) doesn't really allow for too muchgardening right now.

I started some lettuce in the greenhouse, a while back, and have planted those out in the cold frame to hold off for first thing in spring- hopefully those will spring (ha! ha!) to life as the weather warms. I'll be sure to keep a blanket handy for those really cold nights. It's still warm enough now that they are growing still- slow, but growing :) I'll post some pictures as soon as I can.

Soil Block Makers

So I started some pansy seeds a while back, giving them their cold treatment for a week in the garage. After that, I moved them to the greenhouse on a heat mat- covered with cardboard, of course, because they need darkness to germinate. This worked wonderfully last year!

I go out to the greenhouse to check on them and only a few (3 or 4) were germinated! They have continued this 3-at-a-time game the whole time! I decided not to wait for the bulk of them to germinate before moving the germinated ones to the light. Last year they germinated almost all at the same time- not this year!

So, I thought this would be a good time to demonstrate how I use the soil block makers I posted about a while back. Hope you like it!



The dimensions for the wooden flats I made are as follows:

Large flat- Base is 22"x9" 5/16 thick plywood, and you frame the sides using 1x2's (make the sides 8" long and the back 22"). Glue with wood glue first and clamp to dry overnight. The next day, pre-drill some holes and tap in some small finishing nails.

Small Flat- Base is 18"x5". Frame the back only with a 1x2. Glue with wood glue first and clamp overnight. Pre-drill and tap in some nails.

For every small wooden flat, you will need 3 large ones when it's time for the little plants to move on. Don't forget to harden off the little guys before popping them in the ground- unless your popping them in a cold frame.