miniature greenhouses

[Lee]

i got a clear plastic carton containing 4 large muffins at the super mkt a couple of weeks ago and the more i looked at it the more i invisioned a greenhouse! I also have clear plastic egg cartons that have a double lid, one shaped like the top of an egg and the other covering that. Another greenhouse! On 6/01/04 i planted Echinecia in the egg carton and English Lavender in the muffin carton, placed them in a light area with no sun and they sprouted on the 6th! Other seed from same packets i planted in pots and the English Lavender planted

5/27 still isn't up and i had kept it moist, besides having pre-soaked them, and some Stevia i planted in big pot on 5/22 didn't come up until 6/05/04. Normally i pre-soak, especially large seed like Nasurtiums, corn etc.. my corn is over 4 feet tall already and the beans that are to grow up them are about 15 inches mostly. I didn't start them in the "greenhous" though

Just thought here may be someone who overlooked the potential of the plastic cartons. Lee h

[Vox Humana]

I've been saving the clear, clamshell containers that strawberries come in to use for seed starters.

[Lee]

yes! that sounds good! I'll have to look aroud for more ideas. I usually use the zip locks or soft drink bottles cut down for a topper on the small pots. but after so may different things are used, things get a bit cluttered! lee h

[Vox Humana]

You can find all sorts of clear containers at the self-serve salad bar in the supermarket. I bought some one year as containers for cookies that I was giving as gifts. I suppose you could just get a stack and ring them up at the self-serve check at using the PUL for the salad bar.

[dps]

Sounds good, but remember that ventilation is an important part of any greenhouse. I assume you're using these small containers indoors (otherwise you run the risk of having them blow away in a wind). Indoors, there's probably no need to close up the "greenhouse" since most houses have some form of temperature control, which is the primary reason to use a greenhouse. You could just pull the lid off and use both halves as trays to start seeds on a windowsill.

As an example of the necessity for ventilation, I have a small (14 x 20) greenhouse. One sunny February day I closed it up. 30F outside. Estimated 135F inside (it was off the scale of my thermometer). I now store stuff in that greenhouse (since I now have a larger one). On sunny hot days, if I don't keep both doors open, the temperature will get high enough to melt the plastic flats.

[Lee]

LOL! i don't get around much, and there may be one here somewhere in our small town, but the super i go to doesn't have a self serv salad bar..gues i'll have to check out a few more place have a good day. lee h/tvksi

[Forrest]

I'm new to this stuff. I've always pretty much stuck to tomatoes but this year I'm going for more. I dug up the corner of the back yard to about 12 ft. square and planted the tomatoes along the wall. I have some corn started in pots and some beans. I like your idea of letting them grow up the corn stalks. I wish I had started the corn much earlier. They are only about 8 in. and in starter posts still. How many bean plants do you use for each corn stalk? Anywhoo ...... thanks for the tip.

[Lee]

True.. ventilation is necessary. I normally open them to check once a day and since i think maybe a bit of my breath blowing on them will be helpful, i blow on them ; ) however, i have rooted cuttings without removing lids and even in a zip-lock with a bit of soil and never open them until they have rooted well.

no, at this particular project, i have them on a roofed patio with a brick wall and have them on the floor and on a bench in a shady, cool corner where they get light shade, and if i am expecting wind, put a weight on them until the all clear. Right now, since they have primary leaves on the two subjects, i took the lids off and have them where they will be safe from the cat with a brik on the opened lid to keep the cat from knocking themoff the brick wall....which reminds me.. thank Heaven...to go out and check them and perhaps put them back to bed! i waned them to get a bit of a feeling for normal light so they won't get spindly.

When i had a 14 x 44 ft solarium with east, south and west all glass, i kept a couple of fans going to keep circulation otherwise some of the plants would sort of damp off. it would be 3 degrees outside on a sunny day and 110 in the solarium if not vented. i vented it into the house on sunny cold days. in the summer i just kept the screened windows open. i had a place under the board walk in the solarium with

3 sets, if i remember right, of shop lights and 4 sets of incandescents hidden in the top of it where i grew African violets like in the wild. had a small fan to kep air circulated and would stick a leaf in the soil and in a couple of months more violets. i decided that the lord watered the violets wherever he grew them by rain falling from above, so i sprayed them with water from above and they did beautifully. never could keep one living in a pot, though!

gotto go and check those two little projects! Lee h/tvksi

[Lee]

'well, momma always planted 3 seeds in a spot, one for me, one for the critters, and one for sure, so that's what i usually do and in the case of the corn, right next to the corn stalks which were about a foot high when i planted the beans. I am also a novice at this as it has been about 50 years since i have planted corn myself. Left that job to others during the past years. I really don't know what the optimum number of beans vines a stalk can handle : ) i am in US zone 7 so can plant earlier than some on the group. we have had 90+ degrees many times already this year.

---lee h/tvksi

[dps]

Corn, being wind pollinated rather than insect pollinated, needs a fairly large block to form good ears. A few stalks here and there won't hack it. I would plant 3 rows minimum. If you're strapped for space, you might get away with rows 5 or 10 feet long, but bigger is better. If the ears don't get pollinated thoroughly, you will get ears with lots of missing kernels. Not only does it reduce the edible yield, it makes them harder to eat.

[Lee]

[dps]

Since you don't have much, you might try the following:

Watch for the ears to show silk.

When you see silk, cut off a tassel and gently rub it on silk. Do this on all the ears. Next day cut off another and wipe it on the silk. Do this on the upwind corn first. If you enjoy the view of the corn, you can cut the tassels that are least visible from your patio. Repeat this process for a week or so, until you start to see some of the silk turning brown.

This is not guaranteed to work, but it may take the place of limited wind pollination.

[Lee]

Thanks for the sugestion. Sounds good.. i'll do it! I pollinted some tomatoes with a feather one year in the solarium and did have a few tomatoes!! not many, but some!thanks. Did you know that cornsilks are supposed to help relieve urinary track infections? lee h/tvksi

[dps]

Didn't know that, but I get a lot of silk stuck in my teeth during the summer and haven't had any infections, so does that mean anything?