Seed Starting Systems: Peat Pots to Soil Blocks

Soil blocks with Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage starts, up in three days.

I yearn for a greenhouse, but for now, I start my seeds indoors on shelves under lights. Over the years, I’ve tried numerous systems for starting seeds. Not that any of them were particularly bad, and all produced seedlings in spite of my habit of over watering, but I’m still fiddling around with what works best for me.

Here’s my basic seed starting setup:

• I have a two-tier wooden shelf (built by K with 2x2 scrap wood), with lights on chains above each level so they can be adjusted as plants grow. When I’m done with seed starting for the year, I can take the shelves apart to store, or I can leave them as is and set the whole thing next to my potting bench. I’ll use it throughout the summer to store supplies and hang herbs or dry garlic and onions.

• A timer turns lights on at 6 a.m., and off at 8 p.m.

• I use a heat mat on one shelf, then, once seeds germinate, I move the trays down to the shelf that isn’t heated.

• As seedlings start to get taller, I hang a regular window fan at the end of the shelf and give them a bit of a breeze – helps prevent damping off and it really seems to make my seedlings stronger.

Far right, cole crops off heat mat, nearest camera, peppers still under plastic

• I lay a heavy gauge plastic across the tops of the trays until the majority of seeds have germinated. Once I see sprouts, I remove the plastic.

• Sitting next to my shelves are jugs full of rainwater, plus this sprayer (also filled with rainwater). I prefer using rainwater to tap water, as I’m on city water with chlorine so strong I can smell it sometimes. We do filter our water, but I really would rather melt snow, and catch gutter runoff late in winter.

• I start the hardening off process inside with the open window and fan before I put them outside.

These are some of the different systems I’ve tried:

Potting soil in flats with rows of seedlings, which I prick out and pot up into 2x2 pots.

• PROs: I can start a lot of seedlings in a small space. I was also able to repurpose some of the clamshell containers that lettuce from the grocery store comes in, and they were perfect little greenhouses. I still like to use them for lettuce, bunch onions, some flowers, and greens.

• CONs: I wasn’t able to bottom water, and I had way more seedlings than I had space for once they were potted up. They seemed a bit more gangly and fragile, and thinning is necessary.  

Potting soil in 2x2 pots plastic pots set inside trays

• PROs: This is probably the system I fall back on more often than not. I’ve had relatively good luck by setting them in a solid-bottom tray and bottom-watering them. Seeding into these pots from the beginning, I found that they had enough room to get seedlings all the way to transplanting time, so I spent less time potting up.

• CONs: The pots don’t last too well beyond a year or two and require cleaning and storage. 

K-cups in trays (lights still to be hung up)

Potting soil in Repurposed k-cups

• PROs: Repurposing k-cups from our office break room was a good way to use something that is not eco-conscious. I saved the coffee to dump in my compost bin and made the teeny hole at the bottom bigger for better drainage.

• CONs: They still ended up in the landfill eventually and were quite small—which required potting up. They just didn’t work as well as I’d hoped, but could work well for starting some seedlings. 

Peat pellets inside trays, and peat pots

• PROs: Again, no real waste. Simple. No root disturbance when planting. Peat pots worked pretty well for some of the short-time seedlings. Plants like pepper and tomatoes that start 8 weeks ahead of planting were OK but the pots were breaking down well before I was ready to plant. For seedlings that only need a couple of weeks before planting, they would work better.

• CONs: Not wild about using peat from a sustainability standpoint, and they got mossy and soggy. My seedlings just didn’t thrive in them. Could have benefited from some compost tea for nutrition, and a mist with chamomile tea (it’s an antifungal) would have helped. I don’t like using straight peat as a growing medium. I prefer coir as a replacement.

Styrofoam cells inside trays

• PROs: Lots of cells so that I was able to get a lot of seeds started, and less root disturbance than when sowing flats. I really liked these speedling trays from Peaceful Valley. Easy to clean and reuse. I still use these, and I like how they create “plugs.” No real problems with bottom watering, and my seedlings did well.

• CONs: It's a pretty big tray, and I couldn't move seedlings according to water, light, and temperature needs. I also spent more time potting up into 2x2 pots, so I went back to the 2x2 pots. (It's not that I have anything against potting up... just seems like an extra step at times.)

Soil Blocks inside trays with wicking liners

Tomato seedlings in soil blocks

• PROs: Zero waste, economical, easy to plant, and I had good luck with germination. I use the 2x2 blockers rather than starting with the minis and making more blocks. There is also something satisfying about squishing the soil blockers into the mix and creating perfect little blocks. Kind of like playing in a sandbox. Which is germane to nothing, but it pleases my inner child and my late winter need to stick my hands in something like soil.

• CONs: I had a lot of issues with moss growing on top of the block. I was overwatering, mostly because the wicking material made me uneasy. And I wasn’t using a fan at the time, which might have helped circulate air. I also didn’t like the flimsy trays I had them set in. 

SO… this year… I'm using soil blocks set in these 1010 Seed Starting trays.

• I love these trays (I swear, no one paid me to say that. But I do like them. Seeing them stacked up and ready to go on my shelf makes me happy). They’re sturdy and will last far longer than the basic lightweight trays I’ve gotten at the garden store in the past. I bought trays with holes and those with the solid bottoms, and they nest nicely and solidly. Perfect for bottom watering. The smaller size (10x10) makes it easier to move the trays around if needed and is just easier to manage for the smaller volume. I like to group my seeds and trays by what’s growing. So, I can put seeds like peppers in a tray that will sit on the heat mat, and some bunch onion, kale and cabbage in another tray that won’t appreciate so much bottom heat. With the bigger trays, I can't always customize watering and location as much as I like for the specific seedlings. I’ll be curious to see how they work with soil blocks.

• I also added some vermicompost and vermiculite to the seed starting mix this year. It is a peat mix for now. (I have a big coir block to use, but we’ve had a cold, snowy spring here.  Until it warms up a bit outside – enough to drag the hose out and hydrate the pressed coir – I’m using peat as a base.)

• In addition to the soil blockers, I’ve been saving plastic clam shell containers from the grocery store for some seeds, and will use them as flats.

• I'm also starting seeds a bit later -- I think I've started too early in the past, and seedlings were ready to set out before the outside soil and temps were warmed up. As a result, they were a bit stressed by the time I put them out. I'm always a bit impatient... so I'm working on not hurrying my plants into the ground this year.

And so, Seed Starting Experiment 2019 begins… stay tuned.

Using a Brooder Plate for Chicks

And I had just cleaned the top off an hour before.

I've seen enough pictures and news stories about heat lamps causing fires that I really didn't want to use one in my house for new chicks, though we've used them in the past. I've heard about brooder plates as a safer, more energy efficient alternative, and decided to toss the heat lamp and try a brooder plate for our new chicks. The one I have is essentially four adjustable legs -- one at each corner of a heat plate that makes it look a little like a table. It should be low enough for them to stand with their back against the 125F surface, but high enough that they can get out from under it when they are too hot. As they grow, you raise the plate.

I set it up and plugged it in the morning before we left to get four new chicks. I wanted it to be toasty warm when we got back -- temps outside were in the 30s. When we got home, I settled the four newcomers into the big old cast iron tub we have used for brooding in the past. They scooted beneath the brooder, but it seemed too high -- especially for the two bantam chicks we'd gotten. The feed store where we got them does a great job caring for their chicks, and I was impressed by their biosecurity measures, clean water and happy chicks. 

When the two bantams were placed in the traveling box with the heat pack I'd brought, the store owner cautioned us that bantam chicks are more fragile than their bigger cousins and would need 24 hours to settle in before handling. And they are notorious for getting pasty butt -- a common affliction for commercially hatched chicks. 

Pasty butt is pretty much what it sounds like. Chick poop builds up on the outside of the chick, trapping poop inside. You have to clean off the hardened feces so that they are able to evacuate, otherwise they can't go to the bathroom and will die. We've dealt with it before, and found that a little vaseline or antibiotic ointment slathered on a newly cleaned chick bottom helps keep them clean, and it's not something that seemed to recur after they got past the early stage. When we've had our hens raise chicks, we've never had problems with pasty butt. It seems to happen with brooder chicks who get overheated, and the idea with a brooder plate is that it mimics the shelter of a mom hen, with heat from the top and the opportunity to get fresh air if it gets too hot. 

The other two chicks (a light blue laced red wyandotte and an olive egger) both had a good start on wing feathers and were a few days older than the bantams, and decidedly sturdier. So I adjusted the back two legs of the heat plate so that the plate was really low, and the front two so that the two bigger chicks could get under it and warm up without difficulty. You're supposed to know that you've adjusted it properly if everyone is quiet.

But the olive egger -- the biggest of the four -- kept hopping on top and peeping loud enough to hear on the other side of the house. I tried readjusting, moving things around, and the only thing that made her happy was if I picked her up and cupped my hands around her. They go through cycles of noisy and quiet, but I wasn't entirely happy with the mood of the brood.

Has it made a difference with pasty butt? Not sure. While the two Bantams have needed cleaned up every day, the two bigger chicks have not. The smallest of the two Bantams didn't seem to be thriving and was continually having problems with pasty butt. I had probiotics and electrolytes in fresh water, chick starter in a low pan, and the brooder placed and adjusted and readjusted. But last night, despite all efforts the little one died, and I have started worrying about the plate brooder. Was it because I didn't have the brooder adjusted right or was it just the fragility of very tiny bantams. Is it too high for the bantams? Should I have put an extra heat source in the bathroom so the room itself is warmer? With the heat lamp, you can check temperatures, raise and lower it, and see the chicks more easily. But then there's that fire threat... 

Light blue laced red Wyandotte, Shirley.

So, the jury is still out. I can't say I've had greater peace of mind as far as chick health. But I may still need to work on adjusting it properly. One observation: Some of the plate brooders come with a clear plastic pyramid-shaped cover. I wasn't sure how important that was to have, as it was cheaper without the cover. When the olive egger chick has spent most of her time peeping noisily from the top of the brooder, and pooping on it, it began to make a little more sense.  

UPDATE: Three weeks later, and I'm much happier with the brooder plate. I don't like to bed with shavings the first week or two -- I prefer newspaper with grit/sand or paper towels. They can grip, and not slip, but it gives them a good surface for newly developing feet. It's always worked fine. But this time, the chicks just did not seem content. The olive egger (AKA Laverne) would stand on top of the brooder and peep loudly enough to hear on the other side of the house. I'd hold her, she'd calm down, I'd put her back in, she'd meep like a squad car on a high speed chase. Clearly, something wasn't right. No pasty butt, eating properly, still drinking probiotics and electrolytes. Mostly happy, bright-eyed and busy, but just not content. I kept trying to adjust the brooder. But they didn't seem cold. I added an old feather duster for some pseudo-mom-hen comfort. But it wasn't until I dumped a bucket of shavings in and tucked them back in that all became silent, and they've been happy little peeps ever since.

One additional note: This is the first time we've gotten bantam chicks, and I think in the future, I'd be hesitant before mixing bantams and LF chicks. The big girls (let's hope they are girls, anyway) can be a bit more boisterous. And though the brooder plate is adjustable enough to work well at two heights, for a small quantity of chicks, it complicates the process.

Adding to the flock

Our Australorp, Thelma, loved raising babies.

After a dog killed four of our hens last Thanksgiving, I decided to add new birds to the flock. We lost a couple of favorites, and I just haven't had the heart to think about it much until now. It's been a few years since I've integrated new girls, and I've mulled over my options for the last couple of months. Given that we have a small backyard flock, limited space, no room for cockerels, and a number of older hens who lay sporadically (if at all), I wanted to choose carefully, adding good egg layers while satisfying my chicken breed cravings. But increasing an existing flock is more than just a matter of finding a hen on Craigslist and plopping her into the coop. Here are a few options -- with pros and cons:

Thelma also hatched out three Cream Legbar chicks.

Hatching Eggs:

You can borrow or buy an incubator, or find a broody hen, buy fertilized eggs from a breeder and hatch out chicks.

PROs: Huge variety available. Good way to get quality chicks, easiest to transport and ship if you want an breed not available locally, and there is nothing better than watching a hen mother her chicks. It’s also the easiest way to raise babies, or introduce new birds into an established flock if the hen raises them. You don’t need a brooder. And the mom will (usually) protect them from the rest of the flock.

CONs: Hatch rates can be low (40 to 50 percent is average). Be prepared to pay for quality -- breeders work long and hard, and you'll need to pay more for their good results. You have no idea how many cockerels or pullets you’ll get. Need to be prepared to rehome or process young cockerels. With a mama hen watching over them (and protecting them from all potential threats, including humans) hen-raised chicks can be more difficult to catch and handle than hand-raised chicks.You also need to be prepared to bring the chicks inside to brood if the hen isn't a good mother.

Chicks from hatchery or feed store:

PROs: You can be about 90 percent sure you’re getting pullets, and you can pick from the breeds they have or the breeds they’ll special order. Many will have had the marek’s vaccine (but that's a whole 'nother post). No need to wait -- you'll have a box full of peeps in a short time (be careful, it's hard to stick to the number you planned on when you're standing in front of a trough full of little fluffy chicks. I speak from experience).

CONs: Not always the highest quality as far as breed standard (depending on the hatchery). Chicks are very hard to sex, so it’s not uncommon to end up with a cockerel or two. You’ll need to keep them under a light (or even better and safer, use a brooder heater), in a safe enclosed place (we use our bathtub, but large feed troughs work well, too), and watch them for pasty butt (seriously, that’s what it’s called. Can cause death in new chicks, and so you need to steel yourself to clean off that little bum as the chick squawks. Pasty butt is often caused by shipping stress, cold temps, and overheating when a heat lamp is adjusted so that chicks can't escape to cool off.) Once they are feathered out enough, you'll have to gradually introduce them into the flock if you have an established flock.

Chicks, Pullets, Point of Lay or Hens from breeder

PROs: The older the bird, the better sense of pullet/cockerel. You can see pictures of the parents, have the reassurance of buying from a breeder who has selected for higher quality birds than what you'd find from a hatchery, and have the opportunity to support a local breeder. If you're searching for a specific breed and/or show quality, you can find breeders online who ship chicks, juvenile birds and adult birds. Again, if you're buying from a breeder, remember that they put a lot of time and effort into raising their birds -- be prepared to pay for their hard work!

CONs: Any time you bring birds home (other than brand new chicks) you need to quarantine the birds for a recommended 30 days. Keeping them separate helps you make certain that they don't have a communicable disease. Even the healthiest looking birds can carry disease or be asymptomatic. One sick bird can cause chaos by getting the rest of your chooks sick – and you can lose an entire flock. Once quarantine is done, you’ll need to integrate them slowly. Even then, there’ll be squabbles to establish pecking order. And they don’t call it pecking order for nothing. It’s awful when they draw blood.

Laying hens from show

PROs: Hens are usually pretty tame, have been well-cared for, and you know for sure if you have a hen; at a 4H show, you’re contributing to scholarships or rewarding a 4Her’s hard work.

CONs: Again, you’ll need to quarantine new birds for 30 days, and integrate gradually.

So what did I decide? I'm hoping that I have a hen go broody in the next two months. I've found a breeder in Colorado who has a couple of breeds I like. I'll bring home about a dozen eggs once we have a hen who's insisting on sitting on eggs, and let her do the hard work. Fingers crossed we get mostly hens and don't have to re-home (or process) too many cockerels.