Hmastrings 2011 "Striking seeds in the patch."

[hamstring]

Here is the 2011 “Striking Seedlings in the patch. All credit goes to Wally Duck who started the sticky in the outdoor forum by the same name and led me down the path I have used for at least 4 -5seasons now and here we are at the marsh and looking at the muskrat hut in the background.

Lets take a closer look at the muskrat hut. It’s really my cold frame, which I keep dismantled every season. You can see the potting soil from last season that I will use again this season. Also all the pieces including hardware are stored at the site. Let put this baby together it takes exactly ½ hr to complete the cold frame because everything’s predrilled and numbered.

The only thing that needs to be replaced every season is the plastic you see here rolled up with the screening material. I like to use painters tape on everything removes easily with no sticky residue for the dirt to cling too. Also you will notice in the second pic I sandwich the plastic in between two boards for more strength than just staples or nails. I do this on all 4 legs. No matter how strong the wind and rain it never fails.

 

[hamstring]

Saved

 

[hamstring]

Ok here we are all assembled (pic is on its side sorry about that) and ready to move on to the next step. The frame is cedar and the top is hard for strength and a 2-inch space around the top to allow for good air flow no matter what the conditions.

We now need to moisten up all the soil that goes into the cups so I dump it out on the tarp (never leave home without a tarp). It took 6 gals (give or take a gal) of marsh water to get it to the right moisture content. This takes time don’t rush your mixing do a good job so all the soil is consistent.

Here we are after putting or pre-popped seeds 1/8 –1/4 inch into the top of the soil. I also came back 3 days later and dug up each seed to help it shed its seed cap. The important part really isn’t the tiny seedlings it’s the fact that I have added no water for 12 days from the initial mix. We had 4 days of 85-89 deg weather and they look good. The soil looks dry on top.

Take a look at when I remove a cup you can see that the cups are imbedded in soil all around and on the bottom of the cups all of which have large holes cut in the bottom.
Notice the fact the soil doesn’t change color i.e. moisture content all they way to top. Remember 12 days from seed to seedling no water added.

Embedding the cups in the soil helps them retain moisture. Even though the soil on the top of the cups is dryer than the outside soil if you scratch the soil you can still see they do have moisture to pull from.

You can see here that some cups are empty but others have two seedlings I always add a few extra to make sure we have one seedling per cup for the seeds that dont germ. If you are using regular seeds you want two per cup but this year I am 85% fem seeds and had a 90% germ rate. I learn something new every year. I hope everyone else can find something here to help them with his or her own grow good luck this season guerillas.

 

[Jersey_Fresh]

pics are not working.

 

[hamstring]

Jersey
Thanks I am not sure what to say because I can see them when i am logged on.

Can anyone else see the pics but me?????

 

[lilman]

cant see your pics either bro

 

[:-(]

sup hamstring... no pix for me either

 

[Claude Hopper]

Did your privacy settings get changed?

My IC // your profile // profile privacy // everyone

 

[hamstring]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Claude Hopper you da man I had the them set to "private".

Let me know if everyone can see them now.

 

[chrille grows]

I can see them, nada problemo. . .

 

[hamstring]

Thanks Chrille

One other question for the PC savvy, How come when you [EDIT] and then go to [Advanced] it will not allow me to save any changes??? Of all the things to spell wrong I spelled my handle wrong and the only way to edit it is in [Advanced] where i can make the changes but not save them??????

 

[krk]

You going to overgrow Da swamp again this year Ham? My swamps are underwater...big floods this year... good luck Hamstring

I'll check in mid season...

 

[hamstring]

krk
Thanks brother I have dug 48 holes so far this season all with 1 cup of osmocote slow release thanks for the info I will stay in touch to show the results.

Sorry to hear about the flooding. 3 hrs south of me they are having record flooding so far I have been lucky to miss the heavy rain. Although they are calling for frost next week but seedlings will be fine in the cold frame come heat or cold.

 

[Paddi]

Best luck hamstring
Bookmarked


P

 

[hamstring]

Paddi
Thanks always glad to share with you. To be honest I wasn’t going to start a thread this year because anyone who has been around for a while has seen my MO before but when your thread popped up it gave me some motivation. Thanks for always providing a good grow thread

 

[badbeans]

Great stuff hamstring! Love to watch the guerillas do "our" thing!

How big do you dig your holes for the 1 cup of osmocote?

What's in your lineup this year? Liked the look of your GGxBlubonic last year, and was hoping to run it myself this year but I never got around to getting seeds, oh well.

Keep us updated on your progress.

bb

 

[fisher]

hey hamstring
stoked to see you setting up a thread!

 

[CanniDo Cowboy]

Hey Ham...Just couldnt help it eh? LOL Good stuff bro. Very interesting! Luv out of the box thinkers. I picked out my best pony for this ride...Good luck man! CC

 

[FirstTracks]

Good to see the cold frame back up!
keep on doing your thing

 

[jay-toker]

.