Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

If there was no merit in starting seedlings off outside of the growbed, why do so many people use seedlings? I tried seeds (only once granted) and some didn't take...I lost a few weeks of growing time waiting for them to pop up. This sounds like a subject for a poll...how many use seeds vs seedlings.

all my " stuff" is grown from seed...I pride my self on it and the nursery and I don't really get along...so I have to try...but with great success

I think if you are growing something like cilantro, radishes, lettuce, beets, etc where the plants are small and close together you go with sprinkled or poked seeds, with big and powerful seeds (corn, beans, peas) you may as well poke them where you want them, and where the plants are large and far apart or you only need a couple (tomatoes, peppers, sage) you would do best to start them in pots and transplant them when they get larger.

I use a simplified moon planting guide: Root crops go in on a waning moon. Above ground crops are planted on a waxing (getting more full) moon. It is like the tide, why fight it.

Moon phase and other things I usually go to the Farmers' Almanac Gardening Calendar to check before I plant.
http://www.farmersalmanac.com/home_garden/gardening
Might not be entirely useful for planting in the southern hemisphere but it will at least let you know what days should be good for above ground crops and what days are good for root crops and what days are best not to plant anything at all. There are several days a month that usually warn that seeds tend to rot in ground.

This is probably going to sound stupid, but this doesn't apply to people using grow lights do they?

I expect it should Confuzedd... The moon's gravitational force is attributed to most of the advantage of planting by the moon, not the light.

Ehh, what the hell... that's some crazy stuff.

Next up in 2205: Gravi-simulo-Mk3, grow your plants at 4x the efficiency for only a price of 48.95 !!

hehehehe I hope everybody was planting their leafy greens this W/E
I certainly was

Yep, Pak Choy, Lettuce, Spinach, Butter Beans and Corn ...

I'm guessing what might work is to cut in half a small plastic cup after it's been drilled holes all over it. You can use tape to hold it together. This way you can easily remove the two halves of the cup when the roots develop:

Assuming the roots developed already:

1. Dig at the appropriate side of the gravel to make enough room for sliding away one of the halves of the plastic cup, then slide away that other half of the container.
2. Put the gravel back.
3. Repeat on the other side.

I'm assuming if you pull off both halves of the plastic cup at the same time, the gravel might slide off to the sides, disrupting the root system. At one half at a time, there might be less shock to the roots.

Just a theory, do you folks think it would work?

Sounds a bit confusing to me just chuck 'em in.

That's what I do... just planted some carrots and 'potted colour' which have very small seeds... I did nothing special, I'll let you know how they go

They'd be up by now eh KP?

I have had much better luck with seedlings and even better luck when I leave a small amount of dirt on them and dont damage the roots. They really respond well and dont have the dying time at all.

Seeds are very hit and miss i've found and it takes a few weeks to get to the seedling stage.

I may try seeds again in the future as i have doubled my grow bed space so we can now have a harvest bed and a growing bed.