February 27. The Beginning of the End!

Ok. So I started in the AM by using warm water in the tray.  I allowed the jiffy pellets to expand and cool (approx 5-6 hrs).  I figured out how I was going to attempt so many different types by drawing quadrants on the cover of the tray.
LIST of Seeds Germinating:
4 x Anna Russian from 2010 [AR]
4 x Misc. (I think Costoluto Fiorentino) [Misc]
2 x Green Grape [GG]
2 x Yellow Pear [YP]
2 x Green Zebra [GZ]
2 x Amish Paste [AP]
3 x Hartmann's Yellow Gooseberry [HYG]
2 x Black Krim [BK]
3 x Lillian Yellow [LY]
5 x Ace 55 (I'm looking forward to these) [55]
4 x Borgo Cellano [BC]
3 x Mortgage Lifter [ML]

I used a pencil (old school kind with eraser).  I pushed a small hole into the center about 1/2" and dropped anywhere from 2-3 seeds per hole.   (NOTE: Going back I was told I should have gone about 2" deep to grow a thicker stalked plant.  I will try on round 2)

Seeing that the tray was full of expanded jiffy pellets and made of flimsy plastic. I highly recommend using a piece of wood or something sturdy underneath for transport and storage.  I used a leftover piece of plywood just a hair bigger than the tray.

I placed the germination tray in the laundry room on top of the dryer.  I did not realize this would turn out so good, as the dryer heat warms the room and makes it an ideal room.

Within 1 week I had sprouts coming in.

As of 3/9/11 I have the following plants and dilemma.

Plants (3/9/11):

As you can view, I am 28/36 on germinated seeds.  ( I plan to sow the 8 remaining with 55s or something good).

My Notes: I have become concerned as my plants are "Spindley".  They are about 3" and skinny.  My plan is to visit Gravel Springs Nursery and "Dig up" 1 gallon planter pots for $.10 each.  After that my plan is to transfer (not transplat) the expanded peat pellet in complete form into the pot and place soil around it and raise it up to the green of the plant, just under it.  After that I plan to move the plants to the garage and use a shop light lowered close to the surface to use as a light and heat source. (We will see how far that gets).

Definition of Spindley

I did not realize the germination and sprouting would take so rapidly.  Next time I will give it about 3-4 weeks and not 8.  I still may be in the good.  Just worried they wont take.

Next Phase will be laying out my boxes outside for the season.  Where to put them??? hmmm