Permaculture in Action

Friday, October 11, 2013

Propagation

It's a busy time in the propagation house for me. It started way back in June using an underheater to get the summer crops underway. This gives us a head start on tomatoes, capsicums and basil -- those seedlings that like it to be a certain temperature before they will germinate. Since then, I have been potting them up into pots and waiting for conditions to be just right in the garden. Usually that means waiting for the threat of frosts to be over, but now we're waiting for a little rain!

In the meantime, the propagation house is full...



...as is the hardening off area.



The tomatoes have been potted up a few times now, each time a little deeper into a slightly larger pot. This gives them a strong root system.


We now have around 50 tomatoes ready to go in and some left over to sell. We grow Tommy Toes and Romas as they have slightly tougher skins and cope best for us with the fruit fly. We have a small range of other seedlings for sale also, including capsicums, marigolds and cucumbers, along with some seeds.

For more information on propagation you can find as at the Dungog Food Affair where we will be running a workshop. We will be sharing our recipe for our seed raising mix and potting mix. We will demonstrate how we propagate here on the farm on a commercial scale and how it can be tailored to fit the backyard gardener. Mark will also touch on the Biodynamic planting guide.

7 comments:

  1. wow you have been busy - we are even waiting for rain up here in the tropical north! It is most unusual to see brown grass up here!

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  2. Sounds like a great workshop, too far away for me though I'm afraid :( which is a shame because propagation is the thing I struggle with (apart from my rotten sandy soil) my seedlings never get much beyond two leaves before they succumb to damping off or shrivel up and die. the exception is parsley which has self seeded everywhere at the moment. I pretty much have given up and mostly buy my seedlings at the markets but it would be so much better and cheaper to grow my own.

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  3. Might be time for some Webinars! ;-)

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    1. That would be a giant leap forward Lindy. Something for the new year?

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  4. Thanks for your comments on my blog about your method from raising seedlings - very informative. Glad I found this post though as it so true that pictures tell a thousands words. I now understand that the poly boxes are cut down to the same level as the pot. This answers why you didn't experience the same overheating issue I did. I love how you have used cut down stockpots - they fit so nicely in the poly boxes. I am inspired to give this method a go. Re the use of an underheater... what type do you use?

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    1. Mark made it using a waterbed heater. I don't know the intracacies of this but can ask Mark if you're interested.

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  5. What specific variety of romas do you grow Kate? I've all but given up on summer tomatoes due to fruit fly, but if you have success with a particular type, I'd love to give it another go.

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