Troubleshooting Poor Germination + Do You Need a Walk-Behind Tractor?

Hey nerds, Farmer Jesse here. Welcome to Growers Daily, your daily dose of ecological farming insight. It is Thursday, February the 6th, 2025, and today we're talking about germination troubleshooting. I give my advice on buying a walk-behind tractor and what you're gonna do when the snow comes for you or your gardens. Pretty corny. I'm gonna keep it. So let's do it. All right, happy Thursday to all who observe. I am whooped from yesterday. I did the show, obviously, and then I decided to take down this weird gazebo thing that we have, this like sort of weird structure that's kind of been obscuring our view of the garden for a long time. I was kind of here when we bought it, but it's just a massive job of disassembling someone's hard work with a hammer and a pry bar. So not much to look at or talk about, but after that, we went bowling with the kids and some friends of ours, and now I have no right arm. It's completely fallen off. So RIP to that for the day. But anyway, that's not the topic du jour today, being that it is Thursday, as is sometimes but not consistently a tradition, we are going to do a Q&A show where we try to catch up on a few questions from our wonderful Patreon members. So we'll hop right on that. Our first question of the day comes from Patreon member, Daniela Williams, who writes, quote, loving the daily show. It keeps me entertained while grinding out a run on the treadmill. Thanks, Daniela. We are two years into market gardening and the idea of getting a BCS is very appealing. We have four market gardens totaling just under one acre, so each one is pretty small. Using a tractor isn't practical most of the time. I went to the BCS site to get an idea for cost and was overwhelmed. So many base tractors to choose from and then the large array of attachments. Do you have recommendations on which tractors would be a better fit or suggestions on how to narrow down the list? And are there any attachments you'd recommend to get? Good bang for the buck, or stay away from, not worth the investment, or surprisingly useful, end quote. Love it, great question and questions, Daniela. For the uninitiated, BCS means it's a brand of a walk-behind tractor. And in the name of full disclosure, BCS is often a sponsor of our work. We did buy a BCS and pay for the whole thing on our own before they were a sponsor, so it is also something with which I understand the daunting investment. I should say from the outset that this purchase will come down to a lot of what your systems are, and I will discuss that presently. But the first thing that stands out about your question is that you have four market gardens totaling less than an acre. So I'm assuming here that you either have a single property with four different plots, or you have maybe more of an urban farm where the plots are separated. If the plots are substantially far apart, a BCS can work, but it may be a lot to lug around on a trailer or whatever from spot to spot. Having a good mower at each spot and a tilter would cost you less money and be significantly easier to move around. Now, if they are all relatively near each other, like on the same plot where you don't have to load and unload the tractor every time, then a BCS or Grillo walk-behind tractor makes sense. All right, so your implements will determine what size of walk-behind tractor you're going to get. So I would start with the implements. Some implements require a bigger motor. The two I use the most personally, especially once the garden is set up, is the flail mower and the power harrow. The flail mower feels essential for our systems, at least on our farm. It chops the material and puts it right back down into the bed, which is very helpful for us. The other implement we use a decent amount is the power harrow, but considerably less than the flail mower. It's what I use to establish cover crops and sometimes to prep seed beds, depending on their condition, especially in areas on our farm that I manage primarily with cover crops as opposed to like a compost mulch. However, you could get a smaller tractor and use a tiller with a precision depth roller attached to keep the tiller from going more than a couple inches down into the soil, like the tilter tool, but on a tractor. And not only would that save you money, but that would allow you to get a smaller tractor as well. The other thing I would recommend is just to call someone like Joel from Earth Tools if you're on the East Coast. Pretty much everyone at Earth Tools really knows their stuff. And what I like about Joel in particular is he just has no interest in selling you stuff you don't need. He's somewhat of a legend in the small farming world for it and will just shoot you straight. They will also make sure you get anything that you need to make that particular tool run at its best. They are not sponsors, just saying all this stuff because I think they're good at what they do. I'm definitely a fan of our BCS tractor and it's been going hard for, I don't know, over 10 years now, despite my best efforts to kill it. But whether it makes sense for you just depends on your systems. It really comes down to what you need. So it's hard for me to say what implements do and don't make sense or what's the most bang for the buck. For you, it may make more sense to just sit down and ask yourself what jobs do you really need or want a tractor to help you with because you may find that it's really hauling that you need more help with, or just mowing or something else that a walk-behind tractor maybe can do, but so can other less expensive tools. Or maybe it's composting, and a BCS is just never going to be effective in moving large quantities of materials. That's a big tractor job with a front-end loader or a Bobcat or a Dingo or whatever. Fortunately for you, unlike a lot of new growers who often build their systems around their equipment, with two years experience already, you can presumably build your equipment around your needs and your systems, which is a great advantage. You can narrow down what you need, and that way you don't go $10,000 or $15,000 in debt for a tool that could have cost you a few hundred. Anyway, I love this. It's a great question, and I hope I've been somewhat helpful. Others can feel free to add their two cents in the comment section. Up next, we will change gears. Just gonna let that one hang there for a second, and get a question about poor germination. BRB. Today's episode of Growers Daily is brought to you by GrowSmart. Curious if your soil will be ready for planting this spring? GrowSmart can help you find out with their at-home soil tests. They'll ship it right to your door. Just send it back with your prepaid shipping, and you'll have your lab results in just two business days. Their reports are simple, with tailored seasonal recommendations for fertilizers and amendments. Order now at growsmart.com, and use the code DAILY for 10% off. That's D-A-I-L-Y. Begin your soil prep now for a great spring with GrowSmart. All right, back to the show. I'm really proud of that pun I did there at the end. If you, the listener, are enjoying this content, getting even a small amount of value from it, consider supporting our work over at patreon.com slash no-till growers. I will try to get to questions from everywhere that questions come in, but I will always get to your Patreon questions now. Today's second Patreon question comes from Patreon member Tyler Quattrochi. I nail that one every time, Tyler, I know it. Who writes, quote, love your work, long-time follower regarding the daily from 1.14, which, to remind the listener, was about soil blocks and our lost relationship to fire, but I think in this particular case about soil blocks, and I'll link it in the show notes if you wanna go back and listen. Anyway, Tyler writes, I have had a heck of a time with germination ever since I switched to cell blocks, which I assume is soil blocks, particularly, but not exclusively, on the mini blocks, 3 1⁄4 inches. I love the quality and resilience of the plants that I do get, but I just don't understand what I'm doing wrong. I start seeds indoors on a wire rack in the basement, constant temps around 68 degrees. I mist them with a pump sprayer one to two times a day after they are sufficiently moist to start. There is a box fan on low, and the rack is covered with an old comforter to keep it from getting below 65 degrees. If I add a dome or a heat mat, I get temps over 80 degrees and can't find any in between. I also try starting trays on top, outside of the wire rack, with a dome and no light until my first sprout or two, and then move inside. I am lucky to get 50% germination. I use a mix of compost, peat, sand, 40-20-30, and have lastly tried store-bought bag mix, potting mix, to eliminate issues with my compost. And the seeds are mostly from Johnny's, stored in an old cigar chest, no humidifier, end quote. Okay, so great questions. I imagine that germination will come up a lot this spring. Also, others can feel free to chime in here, in case I missed something. So, for everyone's understanding, with vegetables, there are a few things that are absolutely essential in germination. Temperature, moisture, and air. These have to be in good balance. Too little air, and they won't germinate well, or grow well. Too much air, like the mix, has too much sand, and the seeds germ and have nothing to grab onto, and they will not take. Too much moisture, and the seeds may germ, but not grow. Too little moisture, and they may not germinate at all, or the germ will dry out. You get the idea. Now, reading through your description here, those are not the likely culprits. My guess is that it's the temperature, and that it's the mini-blocks exacerbating the issue. At 65 degrees, that's like 18.3 degrees Celsius, germination is gonna be slightly slower for most things. At over 80 degrees, 26.6 degrees Celsius, depending on the crop, it may not happen at all. Lettuce, for instance, does not like to germinate at temps above 75 degrees Fahrenheit. That's 25.5 degrees Celsius. Like you said, you're struggling to get a nice in-between. Now, you could also have the challenge with the mini-blocks of having so much surface area, because they're so small, and so little insulation, that there is less room for error on the temperature and moisture, meaning, unlike bigger blocks that have really slow fluctuations in temperature, those mini-blocks feel it much faster, which may play a role. I would be interested to know if you didn't have better luck with bigger blocks. My recommendation would be to separate the trays from the heat mat by placing an upside-down tray in between the two, in between the tray and the mat, and then adding the dome over top. Then, for crops that do not like heat, such as lettuce or spinach, don't cover them. In fact, those should germinate fine at your ambient 68-degree temperature range that you mentioned. It just may take a few more days than normal. Really pay attention to the soil moisture and the temperature. Another issue that you could be running into is damping off, as we call it, where the seedlings germinate, but then die off really quickly. It's a very common fungal disease in transplants that get too much moisture, or not enough air movement. For germination, though, I would guess that heat management is your limiting factor here. I do hope that was helpful, Tyler, and I love these specific situational questions. So, keep them coming, Patreon members, and I have posted a show thread for February for you to do just that over there at patreon.com slash no-till growers. All right, up next, we'll talk row covers and snow. Be right back. Today's episode of Growers Daily is brought to you by Farmhand. I don't know about you, but I got into farming to be in the field growing food for my community, not creating elaborate pack lists, not writing newsletters or responding to emails, not designing and maintaining web stores, and et cetera, and I especially don't enjoy doing those things after an already full and fulfilling day of growing food. Actually, if I spent less time on my phone and behind the computer, that would be great. If only there were a solution for that. Enter Farmhand. Farmhand is the only all-in-one virtual assistant built by and for farmers. With one single platform, Farmhand enables you to offload your administrative tasks, send and manage communications, and sell more to your customers. Farmhand saves growers an average of six hours of administrative load each week. That's six hours so you can get back into the field, spend more time with friends or family, or have a life outside of the farm, which is actually a thing. Think about it. What would you do with an extra six hours a week? Sign up for a free trial with the link in the show notes, because now is the best time to dial in those systems for the next growing season. Follow the Farmhand link in the show notes to learn more. All right, back to the show. All right, our last Patreon question of the day for this Q&A comes from Patreon member Alex Smith, who writes, quote, hey nerds, let's talk about snow and row covers. We have a good amount of outside production with row covers for frost protection. This Georgia farm received an unexpected three inches of snow last week, which weighed down and collapsed our hoops and tore a few fabrics. We're gearing up for round two this week, and I'm wondering if I would be better off pulling out the covers and let the two to four inches of forecasted snow blanket the plants and insulate everything. We would then recover everything for the remaining below freezing days, end quote. Okay, so awesome situational question again, and because this particular situation is pressing, just so you all know, I did respond to this in the thread as I try to do for more pressing concerns at the Patreon page, but what I said was that this particular situation is a tough call because if you don't get enough snow, then the plants are left uncovered and exposed. What I suggested was that I would go with leaving the cover on personally, but if you feel confident, and by that I mean the forecasters feel confident in the snow, then taking it off would work. The challenge with a situation like this is that the row covers could become so weighed down that they crush things like kale or lettuce, and it won't recover that easily, but if you leave the row covers off, well, the plants could die, or at least get burned heavily from the cold, especially if they don't get enough insulation from the snow. Now, a third option could have been to just really, really stabilize slash support the row covers ahead of the snow and to add more hoops underneath and a second layer of cover over top if you had it, but that may not be possible given the material someone has access to in the moment, especially on the fly. Oftentimes, we have a few days warning before a big snow. Growing in a region like that over the winter can be so nice because, for the most part, you don't have to worry about intense cold or snow, but the difficult side of that is the one or two times that you have to worry about intense cold or snow in a five or 10-year stretch can be devastating. Now, cat tunnels or even high tunnels can come in handy all year, even in a warm climate, and it may be worth the investment eventually. Then, the open areas, the non-covered areas of the field can be more dedicated to crops like spinach, which don't care about the snow and can handle being smushed a little bit for a couple days with a heavy row cover. Also, it may be worth investing in some stronger hoops for next year or just more of them and making sure the low tunnels are really, really tight and well-secured. The nice thing about tunnels versus low tunnels, however, is that a caterpillar tunnel is something that you can literally walk through and harvest inside of. For a low tunnel, there's nothing you can really do once the fabric is frozen to the ground. It will just rip when you try to pull it up. Sometimes, managing these uncommon scenarios is about assuming they are going to happen and building that into the budget. More covered space, better hoops, strong row cover, preparing for the worst-case scenario always feels like overkill, but the annoying thing is that it's the worst-case scenarios that can cost you the most money. This is especially true in the winter when recovering from a crop loss is basically impossible in any short amount of time. So anyway, I hope, as always, that that has been at least a little bit helpful. All right, I think that will do it for this Thursday. Before we go, I want to give one last shout-out to the good folks over at Rimmel Greenhouses for making this possible. Whether you're growing tomatoes for market, flowers in the spring, or vegetables for your family, growing in a high tunnel protected from the weather provides the right environment for a harvest you can count on. Rimmel Greenhouses are strong, durable, and easy to assemble, offering the quality you need to grow productively year-round. The team of experts at Rimmel Greenhouse Systems will be your trusted partners to ensure you get exceptional value from your greenhouse or high tunnel investment. Visit Rimmel.com today to get growing. That's R-I-M-M-O-L. Big, big thank you to all of our show sponsors. Huge shouts to Willie Breeding for the theme music and the team at No-Till Growers. Also shouts to Epidemic Sound for the background music that you are presumably hearing here, or you're just staring at me waiting for me to start talking again. Either way, pick up a copy of the Living Soil Handbook or the Seed Farmer at NoTillGrowers.com to support our work. Enormous thank you as always to everyone over at Patreon.com slash NoTillGrowers where at a certain level, or if you just bump up from one level to another, or you sign up in the month of February, you get a shout-out on the show. So big shout-outs today to John and John Doe Plays. Two Johns. Let's see. I think this is definitely the story of like two detectives in Virginia Beach who are sort of called to follow up on the disappearance of a couple YouTubers, fishermen YouTubers, who were going live on their, let's say Twitch. Yeah. And they, I don't even know if you can go live on Twitch. I've never been on it, but let's assume in this world you can. And they're going live. And what happens is the last thing you see or the viewer sees is a pirate ship. And so the Johns are forced to investigate this, but secretly what their boss doesn't, the chief doesn't know, is that they are both big pirate history nerds. So it's actually pretty fun for them. So they take the case. I'll leave it at that. All right. Thanks for watching and or listening to tomorrow's Feedback Friday. So make sure to get your feedback in. Otherwise we'll see you then. Bye.