I probably shouldn’t start this blog expressing my frustration. The reason I am is simply because I want to share with you my experience I seem to go through every single season.
I Want To Start My Seeds Indoors
I have had two Jiffy Heated Greenhouse72 for years. By the looks of it I tried this out one year as one of the heated greenhouse72 signifies that it has been used. In order to use it I will need to buy more pellets.
I purchased some seeds the other day and said I am going to do this. My actual plan was to do this last Saturday and it isn’t done yet. Why? You know the word that starts with P and end with M? Yes I am talking about Perfectionism.
Which Comes First? The Chicken Or The Egg?
Not far behind is the other word that starts with P and ends with N. Yup. I am talking about Procrastination. Some how I am hung up in this part of the process. I haven’t decided if I am procrastinating this project because of perfectionism or the other way around. All I know is that I get frustrated and then walk away from it.
Face Your Fears Head On!
It wasn’t until I spent time on the internet looking up how to plant the seeds that this voice in my head screamed, “Face Your Fears Head On!” What is the worst thing that could happen? The seeds won’t grow or get started and dampen off. What is the best thing that could happen? The seeds grow and I get a head start of 4 – 6 weeks growing time using this method.
All The Gardening Information In The Vast World Of The Internet
Yes, there are volumes of information on the internet to go through. It is wonderful that we have all of these sources and for a Born Organized Martha Stewart type it is great. For someone like me that is a SHE (Sidetracked Home Executive) it can be a disaster. That is probably why one of the greenhouses has never been used. I procrastinated until I could find the perfect time to do it so that the seedlings will grow perfectly. I am thinking I have probably been procrastinating this project for almost 10 years. It wasn’t even until one of my “Decluttering 15 Minutes A Day Session” this past winter that I remember I had these. What does that tell you?
Let’s Get Started!
It is time to take the “Leap of Faith” and jump in. My biggest fear is showing you the steps I took and this becomes a total failure. The thing is I am a person that likes to garden and spend time outdoors when I can. I am not an expert. I can only share my experience with you. If you have these same feelings I go through every year, you are not alone. Don’t tell yourself you have a brown thumb. Give it a try like I am going to and we can be in the trenches together. The following are the steps I am taking and will update you on the progress. Wish us all some luck this growing season and don’t forget to bless your plants. It helped my vegetable garden last year. I had a bumper crop of tomatoes that yielded 100 quarts! This year I will also have a vegetable garden and will blog about it later. For now, let’s get started planting!
Side Trip
Currently I poured warm water in the pellets and plugged the mat in. Why did I think these pellets were going to just pop right up? Because there are pictures on the box that says 1, 2, 3. Well, it takes some time for the water to soak up. It has been almost an hour. What did I do in the meantime? I made labels out of painters tape so I know what is what. Then I made myself steak and asparagus on the grill accompanied by a nice salad. This has been almost an hour. If the pellets don’t soak up the water soon, I will be having dessert! Why not. I am going to have some chocolate frozen yogurt with sliced bananas. By then the pellets should have soaked the water enough to pop up.
The Pellets Have Risen!
Was it the dessert I ate that caused those pellets to finally rise? No it was time. Now to put the seeds in them. I already have the labels on the side so here goes nothing. Out of all the flowers I selected, there sure were a variety in size of seed. I put a few seeds in each pellet just to make sure they would take. It might be overkill. The only one I put one seed per pellet was the four o’clocks.
Greenhouse Is Now Open
One thing that is fast is the dome becoming saturated with humidity. I plugged the greenhouse in earlier. Now I will have to wait some more. I am thinking about a week to see any germination. It’s time to “Bless” this project and think only great thoughts of success. I will keep you posted whether I become successful at this or not. The great thing is I have leftover seed. If it doesn’t work in this heated greenhouse, I have another chance outside when it gets warmer to let Mother Nature do most of the work. I will just assist her!
Keep Gardening!
Marilyn
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| Heated Greenhouse Project |
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| Will It Be As Easy As It Says? |
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| My Geraniums Got A Drink I Kept From Last Summer While I Waited For The Pellets To Rise |
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| I Labeled What I Planted With Painters Tape |
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| The Pellets Have Risen And The Seeds Were Planted. |
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| All I Had I Had To Do Is Put On The Cover And In Minutes A Greenhouse Was Made! |
2 thoughts on “I Want To Start My Seeds Indoors”
words of advice: I started a garden this year for the first time ever this year. I did not buy the heated greenhouses, but I ended up with several of the regular ones. 1) To make the pellets rise, after waiting forever the first time as you did, I heated my water in the microwave. They rose much quicker and became much fuller. 2) Idk if it was on the packaging or I found it on the internet, but I gently ripped the white wrapping back a bit on the top. Between my husband, four kids, two surgeries, Oklahoma wind, and myself, we killed or almost killed most of my plants at one point or another during this process, I actually lost probably half the plants. I salvaged what I could and put them in the ground. I was ripping apart the white wrapping and breaking the soil up to use in planters and to start more in my little greenhouses that are actually 72 holes to fill with dirt, and I discovered about half of my "dead" plants still had healthy roots, the leaves on top had died but we had healthy roots! So I planted everything in the ground trying to follow the farmer's almanac. That is what helped me more than anything. I went thru the almanac back in January and actually wrote on my calendar the best day(s) to plant. Now I didn't get all of it done on any over those days, but I did manage to complete within the week. Then our Oklahoma weather hit, and I thought everything had been washed away, Imagine my surprise when planting and watering my store bought strawberry plants, and I see little lettuce plants popping up!!!! It may have taken a little longer than I liked, but I have plants popping up left and right! I keep telling myself to just get in there and do it, good things are happening out there, I never knew I would enjoy the feel of dirt so much. Maybe it's luck, natural ability I had no clue about (I have killed every plant I have ever had indoors), diligence to keep trying, or maybe that my gardening time is my prayer time, but I have new plants popping up here and there, my husband is now helping me, and I am coming up with new ideas all the time, and willing to face the possible failure just to give it a try. I am finally letting go of my perfectionism, at least a little bit, and fully willing to face potential failure just to see what I can do and try new things. Fueled by my newfound optimism, in the last week I have started excercising ( after release from my doctor finally), started a worm farm for fishing worms and fertilizer plus trying to keep any more pets out of my house, didn't shoot the full grown cat that showed up at our home and my hubby let in so now he comes and goes as he likes (I even bought it food), am digging out flower beds at the front of our house….. Maybe it's growing up finally or just newfound optomism in everything, idk, but I am loving trying new things. This OCD SHE has never had so much fun as I have had finally risking failure and finding a way to rally back when I feel it has occured. Finally thought, did you know you can plant seeds in eggshells then put the entire thing in ground when ready? My hubby found on internet and I am trying now!!! Good luck Marilyn and thank you for being an incredible inspiration! ~Renee
Thank you both for posting your experiences. This is why I don't try a lot of new things afraid of failure! I don't like being in the kitchen cooking/baking for afraid of failure and thinking of all the money that I lost with the failure of my cooking. I also was afraid of gardening for failure of killing living plants. Being with FlyLady and being a part of the group I am letting go S L O W L Y of my fear of failure and trying to learn to love the process. Have a wonderful day
Marlene