Have you started sowing seeds yet or do you think I’m a bit delulu? Well, my friends, even if I’m wrong, there is a solulu (yes, I'm cool and trendy): you can always grow under lights, even cheap ones, to make sure plants don’t go leggy. In th-cam.com/video/2CTX4nPyxAs/w-d-xo.html I ran an experiment and tested how far away from the lights tomato plants should be and which varieties do better under grow lights. (And those December tomatoes are doing great!)
Wow, I’m very new to gardening, so it’s surprising to learn about the tomatoes. I’m using my SAD lamp (for Seasonal Affective Disorder) as a grow light for some peppers, since it mimics daylight.
That's a really clever use of those lights. You're right, it should be full spectrum, so if you download an app like Photone (I'm not affiliated) you can check the light is bright enough for whichever plant you're growing and that you have the plant close enough to the light. In the grow light video (th-cam.com/video/2CTX4nPyxAs/w-d-xo.html) I tried to find the amount of light needed to stop the seedlings from going leggy but you might be able to find text-book values for other plants and at other stages in the lifecycle.
Just found your video - reminds me of growveg!! - looking forward to watching. I just got delivery of a small mountain of seeds, all organic/heirloom/open pollinated (small fortune too!) I'm trying out sowing onions from seeds (very nervous about this one) but also got sets too. Now i need to get planting, hi from Ireland 😊
Hi Sinéad and thank you! I think I grew up not far from Ben, so it's probably the accent... He's terrific at what he does! Onions from seeds are fun but do be gentle and one thing I didn't mention is you should try and avoid getting dirt in between the stems - I was told that'll end up on the inside of the onion, which can sometimes cause issues.
Hello Alex - thanks so much for another helpful video. I love garlic so I am going to get some in, I nearly forgot! A question - for your seedlings do you get some breeze on them (by blowing or flapping some paper) so they grow stronger? I have an ecological background and learned about this ages ago and use it on my seedlings when they are undercover for a long time. It seems to work but I haven't done any proper experiments myself!
Thanks Andrea! Great to see you again. So far I've not used a fan this year, mainly because I really really dislike the noise although I appreciate I really should be. It could get _interesting_ come May otherwise. How little can I leave it running to get results? If it's an hour a day, maybe I could pop to the shops or something... I'll have to test it! Last year I relied on the wind from the kitchen window (Cambridgeshire is very flat and very windy) and for some of the early plants I did give them a very a long hardening off process (perhaps from the start of April) so they got some wind exposure that way. I love brushing tomatoes and getting the smell on my hands which apparently helps but I'm not sure it'll quite cut it
@alexgrowsfood something else I've found that helps, ot just running your hand over the top of them! It sends a signal to them (just like when they feel wind) that cause their stems to strengthen...
Hi Alex! Another great vid and I heartily recommend growing your own garlic, as mostly what you find on the shelves is coming in from China and is of dubious quality, as one can taste. Not me though, it's not worth it for me to grow garlic as I am a stones throw away from Gilroy CA, arguably the Garlic Capital of the World, where we can still visit and get garlic ice cream which is divine. We can also get elephants foot garlic which are big as grapefruit :)
Thanks, Mark. We usually get more local stuff in the stores here but even then, it just doesn't last very long. I find it truly remarkable that maybe seven months later, without any real prep, I'm still eating a relatively small garlic harvest. Much more convenient than a supermarket, that's for sure! I'm trying elephant garlic this year! It got all trendy recently but it kept getting snapped up (or I got there too late), can't wait to see how big it really gets (if only I remembered how big a grapefruit is ---- like a melon?)
@@Iamhome365really?!? I've always wondered how they get all the "bad stuff" out of the water. From feces & urine, to chemicals that get into it from washing clothes & doing dishes (bleach, detergent, etc.)
Hi, great to see you again! It depends on the seed and how hands-on you want to be. For peppers where you get 10 or 12 seeds per pack and you expect them all to germinate, it's usually easier to just plant one per cell or per pot. For onions I do two because they are small and can be thinned easily if they both sprout (but doing too many could damage the roots, which can stunt growth). But for seeds where germination rates can be lower (especially if its old seed) you might want to do multiple to cover your bases --- the alternative is to sow more later and have some a couple of weeks behind (but that can mean you're only transplanting half a tray or over-watering younger plants so people tend not to do that). For me, the rule of thumb is smaller seeds mean more per pot. I tend to sow brassicas two per cell and maybe more for herbs but pretty much everything else I'll sow one per cell because I tend to be quite slow to transplant & pot up and then you _have_ to damage the roots to separate the plants. I think most other gardeners do about double the amount of seeds per pot/cell compared to me and I don't think there is necessary a right number --- although 10 chilli peppers per pot would be wild!
Have you started sowing seeds yet or do you think I’m a bit delulu? Well, my friends, even if I’m wrong, there is a solulu (yes, I'm cool and trendy): you can always grow under lights, even cheap ones, to make sure plants don’t go leggy. In th-cam.com/video/2CTX4nPyxAs/w-d-xo.html I ran an experiment and tested how far away from the lights tomato plants should be and which varieties do better under grow lights.
(And those December tomatoes are doing great!)
Wow, I’m very new to gardening, so it’s surprising to learn about the tomatoes. I’m using my SAD lamp (for Seasonal Affective Disorder) as a grow light for some peppers, since it mimics daylight.
That's a really clever use of those lights. You're right, it should be full spectrum, so if you download an app like Photone (I'm not affiliated) you can check the light is bright enough for whichever plant you're growing and that you have the plant close enough to the light. In the grow light video (th-cam.com/video/2CTX4nPyxAs/w-d-xo.html) I tried to find the amount of light needed to stop the seedlings from going leggy but you might be able to find text-book values for other plants and at other stages in the lifecycle.
Just found your video - reminds me of growveg!! - looking forward to watching. I just got delivery of a small mountain of seeds, all organic/heirloom/open pollinated (small fortune too!) I'm trying out sowing onions from seeds (very nervous about this one) but also got sets too. Now i need to get planting, hi from Ireland 😊
Hi Sinéad and thank you! I think I grew up not far from Ben, so it's probably the accent... He's terrific at what he does! Onions from seeds are fun but do be gentle and one thing I didn't mention is you should try and avoid getting dirt in between the stems - I was told that'll end up on the inside of the onion, which can sometimes cause issues.
Great video mate
Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it
Hello Alex - thanks so much for another helpful video. I love garlic so I am going to get some in, I nearly forgot! A question - for your seedlings do you get some breeze on them (by blowing or flapping some paper) so they grow stronger? I have an ecological background and learned about this ages ago and use it on my seedlings when they are undercover for a long time. It seems to work but I haven't done any proper experiments myself!
Thanks Andrea! Great to see you again. So far I've not used a fan this year, mainly because I really really dislike the noise although I appreciate I really should be. It could get _interesting_ come May otherwise. How little can I leave it running to get results? If it's an hour a day, maybe I could pop to the shops or something... I'll have to test it! Last year I relied on the wind from the kitchen window (Cambridgeshire is very flat and very windy) and for some of the early plants I did give them a very a long hardening off process (perhaps from the start of April) so they got some wind exposure that way. I love brushing tomatoes and getting the smell on my hands which apparently helps but I'm not sure it'll quite cut it
@alexgrowsfood something else I've found that helps, ot just running your hand over the top of them! It sends a signal to them (just like when they feel wind) that cause their stems to strengthen...
Hi Alex! Another great vid and I heartily recommend growing your own garlic, as mostly what you find on the shelves is coming in from China and is of dubious quality, as one can taste. Not me though, it's not worth it for me to grow garlic as I am a stones throw away from Gilroy CA, arguably the Garlic Capital of the World, where we can still visit and get garlic ice cream which is divine. We can also get elephants foot garlic which are big as grapefruit :)
Thanks, Mark. We usually get more local stuff in the stores here but even then, it just doesn't last very long. I find it truly remarkable that maybe seven months later, without any real prep, I'm still eating a relatively small garlic harvest. Much more convenient than a supermarket, that's for sure!
I'm trying elephant garlic this year! It got all trendy recently but it kept getting snapped up (or I got there too late), can't wait to see how big it really gets (if only I remembered how big a grapefruit is ---- like a melon?)
Did you know that they use sewer water to grow the garlic, who knows what is in it. I must go and get dome in the ground quick!
@@alexgrowsfooda grapefruit is like a huge orange
@@Iamhome365really?!?
I've always wondered how they get all the "bad stuff" out of the water. From feces & urine, to chemicals that get into it from washing clothes & doing dishes (bleach, detergent, etc.)
Hey Alex! When I'm putting seeds in those little containers, I usually do two or three in each of the pods. Is that a bad idea? Why just one?
Hi, great to see you again! It depends on the seed and how hands-on you want to be. For peppers where you get 10 or 12 seeds per pack and you expect them all to germinate, it's usually easier to just plant one per cell or per pot. For onions I do two because they are small and can be thinned easily if they both sprout (but doing too many could damage the roots, which can stunt growth). But for seeds where germination rates can be lower (especially if its old seed) you might want to do multiple to cover your bases --- the alternative is to sow more later and have some a couple of weeks behind (but that can mean you're only transplanting half a tray or over-watering younger plants so people tend not to do that). For me, the rule of thumb is smaller seeds mean more per pot. I tend to sow brassicas two per cell and maybe more for herbs but pretty much everything else I'll sow one per cell because I tend to be quite slow to transplant & pot up and then you _have_ to damage the roots to separate the plants. I think most other gardeners do about double the amount of seeds per pot/cell compared to me and I don't think there is necessary a right number --- although 10 chilli peppers per pot would be wild!
👍💕