Starting Garden Seeds

I FINALLY started my seeds.  I'm not very hopeful that they'll be big and healthy come transplanting time, but I'm giving it a try!

I bought a 4 foot grow light that puts out a small amount of heat and gives the plants more 'sunlight.'  I'm planning to have it on 16ish hours per day since that's how much sunlight they will get on the longest days of summer.

Here's a photo of the grow light setup.  It's also in our brightest, warmest room that already acts a bit like a greenhouse.

And here is a closeup of the seeds.

There are two kinds of cucumber, 5 kinds of tomato, 2 kinds of pumpkin, and green onions. 

I planted 3 to 5 seeds in each 'pot' and I'll thin them out liberally in about two weeks and then choose the best of each pot in 3-4 weeks.  I'm hoping the tomatoes go crazy and I have excellent, substantial plants to put in the ground.  I've put cucumbers right into the ground in the past and NOT had great luck so I'm hoping bigger starts might help?  We'll see.

I used some potting soil that was in my garage.  Some was Miracle Grow and the other had 'added fertilizers' or something that was supposed to be good for seedlings.  I don't think I purchased either myself.  My friend, Ruth, who introduced me veggie gardening likely knew what she was doing.  =)

Next up - start my journal so I can keep track of what is happening with the seeds!

Katie