How to Find & Use Inexpensive LED Grow Light Tubes: Replace Fluorescent Bulbs & Reuse Fixtures

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How to Find Use Inexpensive LED Grow Light Tubes:

Replace Fluorescent Bulbs Reuse Fixtures

The price of LED bulbs have dropped significantly. I show you how to find LED replacements for your 4 foot fluorescent tubes. I go over where to find them, costs, how to use them and the ratings that make effective grow lights. I also show you two inexpensive out of the box LED lights you can use immediately.

Here is the Lights of America LED 4500 Lumens, 5000K 4 foot Shop Light as seen in video http://amzn.to/2DCf8zi Here is the Lithonia Lighting LED 3000 Lumens, 4000K 3 foot Shop light as seen in the video http://amzn.to/2DZWkIl
Amazon price will vary as I quoted Walmart in store price.

The out of the box set-ups only require you to hang them in the location that will host your seed starts. Just hang and turn them on. LED lights are inexpensive to run and you'll find starting your own vegetable starts will save you a lot of money. The video will cover they systems and key elements to help you make an informed decision. 

A Complete Guide for Growing Tomatoes & Peppers - Seed to Harvest: Every Step!/Table of Contents

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A Complete Guide for Growing Tomatoes & Peppers

Seed to Harvest: Every Step!/Table of Contents

This is probably the most complete guide on YT for starting tomatoes and peppers indoors, through harvesting them and all the steps in between. Every step can be found in the digital table of contents. Just click the section you want. I cover all aspects of seed starting, all aspects of taking care of transplants, all aspects of planting and tending, how to mange pests & diseases, how to save seeds and I show you an entire year's growth of these plants. This was a 9 part series from 2106.

Best viewed on my YT channel The Rusted Garden to get the working digital links. Enjoy.

Best viewed on my YT channel The Rusted Garden to get the working digital links. Enjoy.

0:00 Introduction of Video Contents

Section One: Growing Tomatoes & Peppers: When to Seed Start, Starting Mix, Light, Watering & Feeding 2:05

2:42 When to Start Tomatoes & Peppers Indoors - Soil Temps
3:35 Definition of Determinate & Indeterminate Tomatoes
4:15 Mold, Fungus and Fungus Gnats - Seed Starting Mix Fix!
6:02 How to Pack Your Seed Cells with Starting Mix
6:40 Planting Your Pepper & Tomato Seeds
9:30 Lighting Needs & What Thin & Spindly Plants Look Like
11:45 Pepper Growth, Timing and Heating Mat
13:00 What are True Leaves & What They Look Like
14:00 I Don't Use Organic Fertilizer at Initial Planting - Why?
15:15 Bottom Watering & How to Do It & When to Do It

Section Two: Growing Tomatoes & Peppers: Acclimation (to Sun), Fertilizing, Cup Transplanting Peppers 16:42

17:20 When to Start Peppers Indoors
17:44 What is Plant Acclimation & Generally How to Do It
19:36 Feed & Fertilizing Your Pepper Seedlings
21:15 Transplanting Your Seed Start Peppers into Cups

Section Three: Growing Tomatoes & Peppers: True Leaves & Fertilizing, Purple Stems, Cinnamon Anti-Fungal 28:27

29:28 Review of When to Seed Start Your Tomatoes & Peppers
30:20 Growth of the Tomatoes & Tomato True Leaves
30:50 Feeding Your Tomato Seedlings & Bottom Watering
32:15 How Often to Feed Your Seedlings
32:40 Update on Growth of the Pepper Plants in Cups
35:50 How to Label & Keep Track of Your Plant Varieties
38:25 Planting Routine & Acclimation as Way to Improve Health
40:20 How to Use Cinnamon on Your Starts for Fungus & Mold

Section Four: Growing Tomatoes & Peppers: Cup Transplanting Tomatoes, Fertilizing, Stem Bumps, Tips 41:50

42:00 Supplementing Light By Using Sunlight for Indoor Starts
43:30 Update on the Tomatoes that are 4 Weeks Old
44:20 Bumps on Tomato Stems - No Worries
44:55 Transplanting Your Tomato Seed Starts into Cups
49:40 Watering & Feeding Your Peppers & Tomatoes in Cups

Section Five: Growing Tomatoes & Peppers: Pruning Peppers, No Flowering, Feeding & Progress 50:38

51:00 Pruning Tops of Peppers - How, When & Why

Section Six: Growing Tomatoes & Peppers: Pepper Planting, Container Soil, Basic Feeding, Tomato Progress 55:56

56:10 Planting Temperatures & Fertilizing Tips & Pepper Growth
57:35 Planting Tomatoes & Peppers in Containers
1:02:10 Plating Tomatoes & Peppers in the Ground - Principles

Section Seven: Growing Tomatoes & Peppers: Prevention, Splash Barrier, Aspirin & Sprays, Planting 1:07:00

1:07:05 Growth & Seed Starting Tips & Cup Transplanting Tips
1:09:40 Tour of Pepper Growth in Earth Beds
1:10:20 Why You Mulch and Remove Leaves & Actual Process
1:12:58 Iron Phosphate for Snails & Slugs
1:14:30 Planting Your Indeterminate Tomatoes in Earth Beds
1:17:50 Principles of Mulching

Section 8:Growing Tomatoes & Peppers: Side Dressing, Pruning, Suckers, Removing Leaves, Sprays 1:18:10

1:18:25 Preventive Spraying & Baking Soda & Aspirin Spray
1:23:10 Pepper Pruning & General Maintenance
1:26:10 Pruning Tomatoes, Staking, Sucker Removal Demonstrated
1:31:15 Side Dressing Tomato Plants with Fertilizer & Feeding Tips
1:34:39 Spraying for Diseases - Routine & Tips
1:35:59 Tips on Pruning & Options - It's Up to You

Section Nine: Growing Tomatoes & Peppers: My Harvest, Saving Tomato & Pepper Seeds, Final Tour 1:37:10

Thanks for Watching!

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How to Make Inexpensive Sterile Starting & Potting Mix: Peat, Vermiculite & Perlite - No Fungus Gnats

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How to Make Inexpensive Sterile Starting & Potting Mix:

Peat, Vermiculite & Perlite - No Fungus Gnats

If you don't use a lot of seed starting mix and you only pot up a few plants to grow as your vegetable transplants, you are better off buying prepackaged mixes. However, you need to sterilize it to decrease your chances of hatching fungus gnat eggs.

If you use a lot of starting mix and use potting mix to grow your seeds starts to a larger size, making it yourself will save you a lot of money. It is very simple and you can adapt the mixes to your personal needs.

A 2.2 cubic foot compressed bag of peat moss will cost you between $10 and $15. A 2 cubic foot bag of fine vermiculite will cost between $20 and $30. These are the two key ingredients for making starting mix. You will be able to make 60 - 90 quarts of mixes. I recommend not using perlite in the starting mix as it just isn't needed for your germinating seedlings. You can add perlite to make more of a potting mix when your plants are ready to be moved into larger containers. This video explains the ratios and it will show you how to make the different mixes and what they look like.

A key to having successful seed starts is sterilizing your seed starting and potting mixes. Always buy dry ingredients as the first rule. Never bring in soil, dirt or other amendments from your garden as the second rule. You will bring in dormant fungus, diseases and insect eggs. Once they are given the warmth of your home and the grow lights... they will mature along with your seedlings and cause great problems. Problems you can prevent by using heat.

Peat moss comes dry but fungus gnat eggs will sit and wait for moisture. Rule three, is to use boiling water to pre-moisten your starting mix before you start your seeds. You can also use the microwave to heat pre-moistened starting mix but should do this at your own risk. Boiling water is safer. The video discuss these principles for sterilizing your soil and ridden them of fungus, diseases and insect eggs.

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My Seed and Garden Shop: My First Shirt - A Garden Wants to Give!

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My Seed and Garden Shop: My First Shirt - A Garden Wants to Give!

Some much can be found in the vegetable garden. I have written a blog post before about memories of my grandfather and how he taught me to grow a garden. I'll be doing a long format video series this year called Mental Health, Wellness and The Vegetable Garden which is really about how gardening can help you have a better quality of life. These are some ways a garden gives back to us.

Last year I launched my Seed and Garden Shop. It is packed with all the things I use in my videos. This year I just added my first shirt with the phrase 'A Garden Wants to Give'. I chose the word Give over Grow for several reasons. Vegetables want to grow but a garden wants to give. It gives back in so many ways. It gave me a chance to connect with people (fellow gardeners) from all over the world. It gives me peace of mind. It adds to the quality of my life. And I truly believe that a garden truly wants to give.

It just needs a little help and guidance from each of us. And when we need a little help, it is there to give back. That, thought inspired this shirt. If you are interested in purchasing one, I wanted to explain the history of the shirt and what it means to me. You can find my shop here: The Rusted Garden Seed and Garden Shop.

It comes in 3 sizes 

From 1/13/18 through 1/20/18 it will be $12.99 instead of $14.99

The Rusted Garden Show EP 2: Building Simple Inexpensive Grow Lights & Seed Starting Herbs

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The Rusted Garden Show EP 2: Building Simple Inexpensive Grow Lights & Seed Starting Herbs

In addition to my short focused videos all about vegetable gardening, I will be doing an ongoing long format video series called The Rusted Garden Show. It will be packed full of information and the topics will be relevant in real time to what is going on with gardening in Maryland Zone 7. It is also available for free as a podcast, just search The Rusted Garden on ITunes or at Podomatic.com. 

The Rusted Garden Show EP 2 teaches you how to build simple and inexpensive grow light stations. I show you several designs and explain how to use the lights to grow strong transplants. I also show you how to seed start herbs and onions using my over seeding method.  Please use the table of contents to move through the EP 2 as it will show up below on the video description. You can jump to the parts that interest you.

0:00  Start and Introduction
1:34   Grow Lights - Different Types
2:43   Building  Two 4 Foot T-8 Fluorescent Grow Lights (Parts)
5:35   How to Use Two 4 Foot T-8 Grow Lights on Your Shelves
6:32   Using Timers
7:30   How Long to Keep the Grow Lights On
9:40   Growing Options Using One 4 Foot Grow Light
11:00 Alternative Grow Light Builds Using Single Bulbs
12:35 Building Grow Light Boxes from Storage Containers
14:50 Cost of Electricity and How to Calculate it Monthly
16:40 Cheat by Using the Outdoor Sun Occasionally
18:45 Seed Starting Herbs and Onions
20:50 Over Seeding Chives
22:55 Over Seeding Oregano
25:00 Over Seeding Thyme
26:40 Seed Starting Lavender and Rosemary
28:40 Seed Starting Sage
30:00 Seed Starting and Over Seeding Onions
32:15 Bottom Watering - How and When

The Rusted Garden Show EP 1: Indoor Vegetable Seed Starting Basics & Preventing 4 Major Mistakes

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