Picture of grow light and re-purposing containers.
The picture above shows the grow light and it's packaging. The lighter gives you something to scale the size measurements. It is made by OSRAM.This 400 watts bulb is called plantastar . It gives your seedlings warmth and light. The ones I buy for my house plants in my windows only give light that substitudes sunlight.
This is power source. This one light bulb lights up our whole kitchen. It makes it glow. I don’t think we really need 400 watts but there you have it.
These are some of my sowing containers. I save plastic plant container from any flowers & house plants that I buy. I ask friends and family to save them for me instead of recycling them. The big rectangular container in left hand corner is a family pack meat container. You can see the small sowing inside of them.
I usually use small plastic square sowing container that I buy at your local garden center, which are relatively inexpensive. I save my plastic hamburger/meat family pack containers and place the square sowing container in them. You can ask neighbors or family to save them for you like I do. I do this because the sowing container have drainage wholes in the bottom. This keeps water from seeping all over your table. It helps you to keep your soil moist, which you seedlings require. Excess water spills off into it. This is my inexpensive way of making premade sowing containers.I also save clear plastic fruit packages with lids and use them as mini green house for seeds that require that kind of germination. You can buy mini green houses like this at garden centers. I choose to recycling Things we usually throw away. I just wash them and store them for next year.
We found our grow light at a second hand store. We chose to buy a grow light to put in it. You really don’t have to have a grow light. You can use flourescent lights. It works just as well.
Some of our plant can be ready to plant outside in 4 weeks. They can handle our cold nights. I always place my plants outside every day for 5-7 days before we plant them outside. I bring them in every night. Then I let them stay overnight on the 8th day. Then the plants are ready to be planted in our garden. They have to be acclimatize to the outside weather or you risk them dying from the shock.
The animated gif above is showing you how we made the milk carton with a water resevoir in the bottom. You do have to clean the carton of all milk residue or it will get mold or mildew.We also put gravel in the whole of the lid which keep the soil from falling into the resevoir of water at the bottom.
Posted on April 4, 2014, in Gardening and tagged light bulb, pack containers, plastic plant container. Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments.
Thanks for this post – I’m thinking about trying to start some seeds inside this year and was hoping to use some of our recylable containers, too. Very helpful ideas : )
Your welcome. I hope some of it is helpfull. I read your latest post on how you started your garden. I was impressed by your good fortune, ingenuity as well as resourcefullness in making your garden a reality. I am looking forward to seeing pictures and reading what you growing this year.
Honey
I can not believe that I have been gardening all this time and yet have never heard of a grow light! I will look into it now as it would help me so much. I do have an electric propogator but it is quite small.
I have a cold frame for hardening off my plants before planting out. I also always wash and sterilise all my plant pots each season with a dilution of Jeyes fluid, to kill bacteria.
Thank you for some new ideas Honey.-Karen.
You are welcome. I use soap and water to wash the pots. I rinse them with vinegar and water which kills and germs.
Honey
I also use plastic containers to grow things in – makes me feel better about feel better about buying such food in the first place, especially if the plastic is the non-recyclable sort 🙂
Good point! Thanks for pointing that out-
Honey