How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic Gardener

Published by emilyatspecklefarm on

First off let me just say I had no intention of doing our starts like this. 
While I planted all nine trays of seeds I was under the false assumption that my husband would be coming back soon, as in before they came up, with our grow light.
 Well folks, that wasn’t what happened. The little buggers just kept coming up and the grow light (and husband) were still back home and not likely to be here anytime soon.

How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic GardenerThis created a serious problem because the way our house it set up it doesn’t get enough sun for seedlings in front of any window even if it was sunny enough outside, which it’s not, to keep them healthy let alone alive.
 Seedlings that don’t have enough light become “leggy” meaning they get tall and spindly. Legging seedlings don’t transplant as well. Lots of them die during transplanting because inclement weather of any kind really does extra damage to their fragile little stems. It’s definitely something we strive to avoid in our starts. 

How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic GardenerHow to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic Gardener

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So how did I make it work?
I carted them outside.
Every day.
Twice a day.
And covered them on nasty days or put them in the car on really bad days.
This sort of thing will only work if you live somewhere it’s above freezing outside during the day. Its in the high 40’s low 50’s on an average nasty day here which is fine for the starts once they are up.

The trick is that you have to keep them inside, warm and moist until they sprout. We quadruple stacked ours so I still had some semblance of a kitchen and cranked the heater. It’s downright tropical in our house and will stay that way until everything’s come up or I give up on pots.

How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic Gardener

Morning and night I go through all the pots that haven’t sprouted  since the last time I checked and look for just emerging seedlings. Those are moved into top trays to go outside during the day. As more and more come up you can stack fewer and fewer trays on top of each other. It started to get crazy fitting everything in our tiny apartment about a week ago. 

Which makes taking them outside even more important, because to get in the freezer -oh wait we don’t have one right now, thanks broken freezer for making life even more complicated, really appreciate that- or do much of anything in the kitchen the trays have to be moved.
As you can tell this is not an ideal method but it works and sometimes that’s all that matters. If you find yourself needing to start plants without grow lights there are a few other things to be aware of:

How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic Gardener

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make sure critters can’t eat/dig up/ roll on your starts.
 Livestock, wildlife and pets are all equally problematic. This is the biggest concern when they are itty bitty. I cover mine with clear drawers from a fridge, cut up milk jugs and the plastic containers that you buy greens in. It ain’t pretty folks but it works. 

Wind can be just as dangerous as hale or rain.
It sucks the moisture right out of plants and will rip the leaves off baby plants in no time.

How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic Gardener

 

A really sunny day after a stretch of cloudy days can sunburn your plants.  
Sunburn shows up as leaves that are totally dried up and dead looking when they were previously perfectly normal. If you start seeing it move the affected starts to a shaded area. Some plants seem to get this more than others, our melons and cucumbers seem to be the worst off and some but not all of our cosmos also sunburned. 

How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic Gardener

 

Starting plants without grow lights takes more time and effort to be successful with. This just goes to show that if you really want a garden nothing should stand in your way! I haven’t posted any photos of the garden spot yet so I thought you might all like a glimpse into our weed patch.
 I’m totally serious. 
We have lots of them and they are awesome because its free bunny food, I’m always looking to stretch a bag of feed.

Here are “Before and After” photos. We have a lot of work to do yet but we’ve also accomplished a lot!

How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic Gardener

 

 

 

 

 

 

The side of the arena is great as a wind break and heat sink but the drainage comes right off here and is making keeping things dry right now impossible, which is why we are doing raised beds and pots.

How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic Gardener
How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic Gardener

 

How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic Gardener

We only have potatoes and peas planted right now but AJ watered everything to trick the weeds into sprouting earlier so we can pull them sooner. I’m no fan of weeding when its hot. We’re lazy like that, what can I say. 

How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic Gardener

 There you have it folks! A peek into our garden and into how we started seeds without grow lights this year. I want to hear all about what’s going on in your garden right now! 

How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic Gardener

This post is participating in the HomeAcre, Homestead, Mostly Homemade Mondays, From The Farm and Savoring Saturdays blog hops, check them out to find other great blogs like ours! 

Categories: Uncategorized

9 Comments

lisa lynn · April 10, 2014 at 11:39 am

You were very busy this spring! Thanks for sharing on The HomeAcre Hop! Hope to see you again today!

Kathi · April 10, 2014 at 11:46 am

Hi Emily, I’ve featured your post today on the HomeAcre Hop. Congratulations!Kathi at Oak Hill Homestead

    Emily Swezey · April 12, 2014 at 6:08 pm

    Thanks for featuring my post and for stopping by!

Sandi · April 26, 2014 at 4:17 pm

This is a fabulous how to. Thank you so much for writing this up. We have very little sun in our backyard, so we could only put in two 4×4 planter boxes. I have seedlings started and will try to use your tips.Thank you.

    Emily Swezey · April 26, 2014 at 4:44 pm

    You sure do need sun for gardening, its a shame you don’t have more. Good luck in the garden and thanks for stopping by!

Lisa · May 1, 2014 at 12:26 am

I envy that you have that much room to garden. I have a tiny space in my patio where I grow the herbs we use most. I’m thankful to live in an area where it doesn’t get too hot (well, under normal climate conditions). Thank you for sharing this with us.

    Emily Swezey · May 1, 2014 at 6:04 pm

    Its actually ironic, our garden spot is multiple times larger than our apartment! I’m very thankful to have the space that we do! Only a few months ago I didn’t think we would get to have anything besides a couple pots. Thanks for stopping by!

Kelli @ The Sustainable Couple · May 5, 2014 at 5:08 pm

Thanks for sharing on Mostly Homemade Mondays! Be sure to stop over today and link up a few of your most recent or most popular posts: http://www.thesustainablecouple.com/2014/05/mostly-homemade-mondays-week-79.html

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic Gardener

Published by emilyatspecklefarm on

First off let me just say I had no intention of doing our starts like this. 
While I planted all nine trays of seeds I was under the false assumption that my husband would be coming back soon, as in before they came up, with our grow light.
 Well folks, that wasn’t what happened. The little buggers just kept coming up and the grow light (and husband) were still back home and not likely to be here anytime soon.

How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic GardenerThis created a serious problem because the way our house it set up it doesn’t get enough sun for seedlings in front of any window even if it was sunny enough outside, which it’s not, to keep them healthy let alone alive.
 Seedlings that don’t have enough light become “leggy” meaning they get tall and spindly. Legging seedlings don’t transplant as well. Lots of them die during transplanting because inclement weather of any kind really does extra damage to their fragile little stems. It’s definitely something we strive to avoid in our starts. 

How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic GardenerHow to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic Gardener

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So how did I make it work?
I carted them outside.
Every day.
Twice a day.
And covered them on nasty days or put them in the car on really bad days.
This sort of thing will only work if you live somewhere it’s above freezing outside during the day. Its in the high 40’s low 50’s on an average nasty day here which is fine for the starts once they are up.

The trick is that you have to keep them inside, warm and moist until they sprout. We quadruple stacked ours so I still had some semblance of a kitchen and cranked the heater. It’s downright tropical in our house and will stay that way until everything’s come up or I give up on pots.

How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic Gardener

Morning and night I go through all the pots that haven’t sprouted  since the last time I checked and look for just emerging seedlings. Those are moved into top trays to go outside during the day. As more and more come up you can stack fewer and fewer trays on top of each other. It started to get crazy fitting everything in our tiny apartment about a week ago. 

Which makes taking them outside even more important, because to get in the freezer -oh wait we don’t have one right now, thanks broken freezer for making life even more complicated, really appreciate that- or do much of anything in the kitchen the trays have to be moved.
As you can tell this is not an ideal method but it works and sometimes that’s all that matters. If you find yourself needing to start plants without grow lights there are a few other things to be aware of:

How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic Gardener

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make sure critters can’t eat/dig up/ roll on your starts.
 Livestock, wildlife and pets are all equally problematic. This is the biggest concern when they are itty bitty. I cover mine with clear drawers from a fridge, cut up milk jugs and the plastic containers that you buy greens in. It ain’t pretty folks but it works. 

Wind can be just as dangerous as hale or rain.
It sucks the moisture right out of plants and will rip the leaves off baby plants in no time.

How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic Gardener

 

A really sunny day after a stretch of cloudy days can sunburn your plants.  
Sunburn shows up as leaves that are totally dried up and dead looking when they were previously perfectly normal. If you start seeing it move the affected starts to a shaded area. Some plants seem to get this more than others, our melons and cucumbers seem to be the worst off and some but not all of our cosmos also sunburned. 

How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic Gardener

 

Starting plants without grow lights takes more time and effort to be successful with. This just goes to show that if you really want a garden nothing should stand in your way! I haven’t posted any photos of the garden spot yet so I thought you might all like a glimpse into our weed patch.
 I’m totally serious. 
We have lots of them and they are awesome because its free bunny food, I’m always looking to stretch a bag of feed.

Here are “Before and After” photos. We have a lot of work to do yet but we’ve also accomplished a lot!

How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic Gardener

 

 

 

 

 

 

The side of the arena is great as a wind break and heat sink but the drainage comes right off here and is making keeping things dry right now impossible, which is why we are doing raised beds and pots.

How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic Gardener
How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic Gardener

 

How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic Gardener

We only have potatoes and peas planted right now but AJ watered everything to trick the weeds into sprouting earlier so we can pull them sooner. I’m no fan of weeding when its hot. We’re lazy like that, what can I say. 

How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic Gardener

 There you have it folks! A peek into our garden and into how we started seeds without grow lights this year. I want to hear all about what’s going on in your garden right now! 

How to Start Plants Without GrowLights~ Ravings of a Lunatic Gardener

This post is participating in the HomeAcre, Homestead, Mostly Homemade Mondays, From The Farm and Savoring Saturdays blog hops, check them out to find other great blogs like ours! 

Categories: Uncategorized

9 Comments

lisa lynn · April 10, 2014 at 11:39 am

You were very busy this spring! Thanks for sharing on The HomeAcre Hop! Hope to see you again today!

Kathi · April 10, 2014 at 11:46 am

Hi Emily, I’ve featured your post today on the HomeAcre Hop. Congratulations!Kathi at Oak Hill Homestead

    Emily Swezey · April 12, 2014 at 6:08 pm

    Thanks for featuring my post and for stopping by!

Sandi · April 26, 2014 at 4:17 pm

This is a fabulous how to. Thank you so much for writing this up. We have very little sun in our backyard, so we could only put in two 4×4 planter boxes. I have seedlings started and will try to use your tips.Thank you.

    Emily Swezey · April 26, 2014 at 4:44 pm

    You sure do need sun for gardening, its a shame you don’t have more. Good luck in the garden and thanks for stopping by!

Lisa · May 1, 2014 at 12:26 am

I envy that you have that much room to garden. I have a tiny space in my patio where I grow the herbs we use most. I’m thankful to live in an area where it doesn’t get too hot (well, under normal climate conditions). Thank you for sharing this with us.

    Emily Swezey · May 1, 2014 at 6:04 pm

    Its actually ironic, our garden spot is multiple times larger than our apartment! I’m very thankful to have the space that we do! Only a few months ago I didn’t think we would get to have anything besides a couple pots. Thanks for stopping by!

Kelli @ The Sustainable Couple · May 5, 2014 at 5:08 pm

Thanks for sharing on Mostly Homemade Mondays! Be sure to stop over today and link up a few of your most recent or most popular posts: http://www.thesustainablecouple.com/2014/05/mostly-homemade-mondays-week-79.html

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *