Indoor Growing by the Window

l008com

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It is January in New England. This spring I want to grow some trees from seeds, since it shard to find the exact species I want in stock anywhere.

Simple enough, but theres another problem which is, Massachusetts is infested with rabbits, and they eat and destroy EVERYTHING you plant. I'm hoping to plant at least 9 trees in various spots around my yard. So ideally I want to grow the trees in pots until they are large enough that the rabbits won't or can't kill them.

And the sooner you start growing, the sooner they'll be big enough to plant.

Which brings us to now. All the seeds I need are in the mail and they will be here soon. I have one window in my house that is perfectly south-facing and will get tons of sun. So I think I want to plant 10 seeds in 10 little pots and put them in the window very soon, and give these little trees a nice head start on life.

Here is the problem though. This house is under construction and nobody currently lives there. I'm by often but not every day, and sometimes I'm busy with other things and it might be a bunch of days.

So I guess my primary question is, is there a way to set up some sort of automatic watering system where I can fill a reservoir and keep my little seedlings perfectly watered as they grow for the next few months?

Beyond that, I guess any other tips or things I should know? I've never grown indoor plants before. Hopefully as soon as its time to start mowing the lawn, I can transplant what I have to larger pots and put them outside, off the ground so rabbits can't eat them. And in the summer its easier for me to make sure I get here every other day or so to water them.

Also I suspect some might think I'm asking about growing "funny" stuff, but I am not. Even though that is legal to grow in my state, I'm actually hoping to grow a few of each of these kind of tress:
Japanese Maple
Shantaug Maple
London Plane

I guess I'll have to build some kind of shelf to put by the window, but that shouldn't be too hard. Actually I have some plastic shelves I can put there. So I guess the issue is just watering. I'm probably going to start with potting soil in quart-sized containers and then switch to some much bigger containers with real dirt in the spring.
 

Meadowlark

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If the house is unoccupied, you may need to add heat and/or get you a plant heating pad...like this one available on Amazon for about $14

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I would place at least two seeds in each container and thin keeping the strongest in each.

Watering can be addressed with these cheap watering spikes available at just about any box store.
waterer.jpg





Plants benefit from regular attention and the more you check on them the better your chances of success.
 
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The easiest way is to use plastic bottles. They will give enough protection to the tiny seedlings and will keep them warm. The last picture show self watering option but maybe you can put a cotton or other cord to go from the soil to the water for more effective watering when the water level goes low.
 

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l008com

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I'm googling those plant water spikes but i'm coming up empty? Is the idea you use a poland spring type bottle screwed in to the top? If so, how long does that last ? Like how many days does it water for before it goes try?
Do they make something like that with hoses instead, so I could have 10 of them going to 10 pots, with one big reservoir at the top?
 

Meadowlark

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This video probably shows it better than I can describe.


How long it lasts depends on how you set the valves and how much water you have in the bottle...but you can go days.

I haven't used tubing/reservoir but yes, they have them...search Amazon
 

l008com

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I just came across this thing and given the price, I wonder if I should just go this route? https://www.amazon.com/Watering-Aut...grammable/dp/B0DDBZ28GG/ref=asc_df_B0DDBZ28GG

I'll probably be doing ten plants at a time, and I like that you can feed it into a giant reservoir that i probably only have to fill once every two weeks. Although filling one of those water bubbler containers will actually be a problem, but I can find another container to use.

What do you think? For $40, a worthy investment? Or a waste of money?
 

Meadowlark

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The reviews on it are good...might be just what you need.
 

oneeye

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If you plant your seeds in Dixie cups and water them once a week you will be ok. You won't have to be there every day. I use a 4 tube fluorescent light on a timer to start my seed. Under a light, I have to water about every 4 days however in the South Window I only have to water once a week.

IMG_7183.JPG
 

l008com

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Wait you only have to water them once a WEEK? Well shit if thats all they need, then I'll just water them by hand, i don't need any "equipment" for THAT!
 

pepper2.0

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If you plant your seeds in Dixie cups and water them once a week you will be ok. You won't have to be there every day. I use a 4 tube fluorescent light on a timer to start my seed. Under a light, I have to water about every 4 days however in the South Window I only have to water once a week.

View attachment 106648

I grow those "trees" too! lol!! But I am curious @oneeye what the numbers are for?
 

Oliver Buckle

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So ideally I want to grow the trees in pots until they are large enough that the rabbits won't or can't kill them.
That is a big tree, they won't eat the whole thing, but they love nibbling bark. Where trees are planted on roadside embankments you can see those things that go around them, they are to keep rabbits off, and those are three or four foot trees. Chicken wire protection works too, you need to go high enough that a rabbit standing on its back legs can't reach the unprotected part, and have a post either side of the tree so they can't push the wire up against it and get through that way. The others are a sort of stiff plastic spiral that threads around the tree and covers it completely.
 

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