We always try to start our own plants for the garden. It is kinda fun to watch the processes even thou it would cost way less to buy at the nursery houss. Top of shelf is tomatoes and then their is flowers in most of the rest that is pictured in the hot houss. We will start our squash, pumpkins and cucumbers in about 4 weeks from now. Lets see your plants, hot houss or nurseries.

This will be my first year trying it.

Not yet but soon. I have trouble if I start to early. The plants get to tall and fall over.

Starting tomatos right now. Peppers are a fail, seeds are a few years old.

What type of lighting do you all use?

Keith

I can only get a good catch on Peppers if I keep the soil in the 80-90 degree range. At room temp I always fail.

I have a few tomatoes and peppers started

You know, some years we fail at most but always get somethings to take. We have done how the experts say too do it but that isn't always right either. Last year we put our tomatoes out last day of April undercover and had a great great crop of fruit. I have no science to back my method but the earliest I can get in the tomatoes the better the crop for me. Last year most people didn't get any tomatoes because they didn't ripen. That was not any issue for us had them earlier until frost time.

Just sunlight when ever that shines, it has been a sunless to partial late winter here so far.

I used to, and really enjoyed it. But finally had to admit to myself it just didn't make sense.

I start tomato, melon, muskmelon inside before planting

It is far more expensive I would think to grow your own, but it is also fun to plant the seeds and to nurture them along till harvest time. Not making any sense in doing, I can't disagree with your thought process.

No matter when I start ours, they are always late, and I have to buy plants. Same is happening this year.

Cheaper here to start your own garden seeds such as tomatoes, peppers,

^ here you can get a 4 pack tomatoes for about 4$, I don't think we can start them ourselves that cheap.

Many of the flats we use are 2-3 years old some came with plants we bought ,in a pinch you can use a beer flat lined with plastic wrap . If we use six packs they are left over from plants we bought .Sometimes i scratch up some woods dirt from under the leaves . A $10 bag of potting soil will fill a bunch of flats and what you dont use will carry over to next year . Used solo cups make decent pots for seedlings .

Really early tomatoes get transplanted into cut off milk cartons when they get leggy and start falling over . plant them as deep as you can and they will put out roots the entire length of the stem giving them a jump start on a super root system that will increase the productive longevity of your plants .

Its not hard to grow several hundred plants on the cheep . The best part of growing òur own is helping and watching the grandkids explore the whole process , they truly love doing projects with nanna and papa . There is a special satisfaction in watching young kids that just a few weeks ago wouldnt eat their vegitables running through the garden screaming in delight because they just found another sugar snap pea or cherry tomato to eat . They realy get excited when they are involved from seed to harvest .

I have an old cold water bath Coke cooler ( from the 50s) with stainless steel guts inside. I have it filled with rotted mushroom compost, and have a galvanized mesh inside with a heat wire woven through it. It is set to stay 70 degrees. I have window glass to cover the top. Gonna fire it up tomorrow.

planted green onions in the outside flower box. Got the top soil bag out of the shed and let it warm up. Then plant my tomatoes seeds.

Ive got a bunch of tomato seeds but I just start by the south window (no lights or heat mats) and so far it's been a fail this year. Just not enough sunny days I guess. I went ahead and bought some plants at a local flea market. An older guys sells them cheap. $1.00 for a four pack. I got some early girls and goliath.

I started tomato seeds indoors, in early February, and I use a grow light on them. I actually transplanted 5 of the tomato plants outdoors today. It is about a month and a half until our normal last frost here.

I have used the "Wall of Water" type of plant protectors for quite a few years. I am able to plant a few tomato plants outdoors in them more than a month ahead of schedule and have had quite a bit of success with them. I get fresh tomatoes much earlier than if I wait to plant until after the last frost.