Today we went above and beyond and furnished a previously built potting table into a full-blown seed-germination factory.
Just as I was leaving Aroma Joes, I thought to ask for extra cardboard trays. The kind coffee shop girls obliged. I explained that I am starting seedlings in mouth-wash cups, or Dixie cups as my neighbor Joe called them.
Painting the cardboard trays with acrylic sealer to give it durability when watered, I soon realized I did not have enough.
I prepared the Dixie cups for growing seeds. I fixed a screwdriver in the vice, using the flat-head to puncture holes for drainage. 200 cups flew by, and I was able to move the process along by punching holes in 2-4 cups at a time.
On my way back to the table, I attained a realization. The cups will not stand up on the table. made of 1”x1” slats set approx 3” apart, but they will fit in the space between the slats. It’s tough to describe, here it is:
With some joy, I report that the table holds 13 cups per row and there are 28 rows. in the slats, there is enough friction to hold cups full of soil. Whoo!!! We’ve got our plant-holder. I showed my neighbor, who asked me, “what’s next?” The seeds, I thought, and began showing off my collection of various flowers, grasses…really all types of plants that come as seeds.
I’m excited to share my accidental intentional potting table, I thought, with the world. But first, my parents gotta check this out. They wound up having a completely different take than I expected.
Both my parents had a huge impact on the evolution of this table. My mother, the wonderful conserver of words, sentences, and heat, observed that it was too cold in the work shop for seeds to germinate. A quick check spotted the indoor temp at 34 degrees. No wonder I had my “Russian” hat on.
My dad, Mo-, also around to witness, immediately began devising ways to reduce heating costs , but still have a heated space for the seeds to grow.
Having thrown shower curtains under the table to catch soil, it turns out they are better served as curtains. He stapled the shower curtains to the sides of the table to make an enclosed space under the table. Then we got the space heater.
As my friend Carlin pointed out, the ground has a natural effect of heat produced by Nitrogen decomposition. The 1,000,000 microbes going to work on the organic matter produce a lot of heat.
Flipping the shower curtain skirt up on top of the table, the excess fabric acted as a blanket, holding the heat in and keeping our seed babys warm. It took a little adjusting to get the sheet to fit over the table, and continue to retain heat under the table, but it worked like a charm.
The bright Christmas lights are there for ambiance … a sort of “cross between a boarding school student and bringing the outdoors in.”
Now to pot some seeds! Stay tuned.
Chadd G Hippensteel 