If you’ve never grown anything from seed before, you might be surprised at how easy it is to have a beautiful, productive summer garden starting with a few packs of seed. As an enthusiastic indoor seed starter for nearly 50 years, I have found it to be an enjoyable winter/early spring hobby and a major money saver. For example, we start all our own tomato, pepper and eggplants and some other vegetable and flowers and herbs for a few dollars, compared to $3 to $9 for a single plant at a garden center! As we have a large garden, we can grow, eat fresh, share and preserve bushels of vegetables every summer.
Use Quality Seed
You may be tempted to use old seed, but think first. Was it kept in someone’s garage? Is it more than two years old? If in doubt, buy new seed from a trusted seed seller.
TIP: First plan your garden; then order your seeds. Some of the tastiest vegetable varieties, most interesting herbs, and old-fashioned flowers such as larkspur, four o’clock, and love-lies-bleeding are available only from seed.
Where Should I Start Indoor Seedlings? A south or west-facing window will provide adequate light, assuming you wait until the longer days of April to begin planting. If you have a sun porch, even better, but keep an eye on the weather; you’ll need to provide heat on frosty nights. If natural light is not available you can purchase lights. Cool white fluorescent tubes will do the job, and are much more economical than full spectrum grow lights. Place them two to four inches above your seedlings, and keep them on 16-18 hours a day.
If you are starting seeds in a cool space, purchasing a heat mat to place under your seedling trays will speed germination. Once seeds sprout, remove the tray from the mat.
Supplies
For indoor seed starting, get a good soilless mix and some containers. These can be recycled plastic containers from the grocery store, half-gallon milk containers sliced lengthwise, purchased trays and cell inserts, biodegradable pots, or anything that is at least 2 inches in depth. Be sure to add drainage holes if your container has none. We use trays and cell packs rescued from the recycled bins at garden centers and washed in a solution of soap and bleach.
Maximize Light.
Whether natural or artificial, adequate light is necessary for good seedling growth. We use recycled flourscent fixtures with six lamps in them.
Don’t Start Indoor Seedlings Too Soon.
The earlier in the season you start your seeds, the more likely it is that your seedlings will be weak and spindly. Determine your seed starting date by reading the seed packet to see when it is safe to plant seedlings outdoors. For tomatoes this is generally when nights are above 50 degrees. Count back a month to 6 weeks.
NOTE: Just because a tomato plant can go outside immediately after danger of frost, there’s no law saying it must.
Planting Indoors
Moisten the soil mix to the consistency of a wrung out sponge before planting seeds. A rule of thumb when it comes to starting tomatoes indoors in cell packs: plant two to three seeds in a cell and thin to one when the seedlings grow their first set of true leaves. This goes for all plants that you are starting from seed, including peppers, eggplants, squash, annual flowers, and even greens.
Transplanting
If you sow rows of seeds in flats or recycled containers, drop them no closer than 1/2 inch apart. Transplant seedlings into individual cells or pots when they have one or two sets of true leaves.
Seedling Health
Seedlings thrive when provided with plenty of light and enough water to keep the soil moist but not wet. Use a large fan to keep the air moving and preventing damp-off. Begin feeding them with a half-strength liquid fertilizer when they have
at least two sets of leaves.
Not every type of seed needs to be started indoors. In fact, many are best sown directly in the garden soil. In some regions it makes sense to start seeds of spring greens indoors to get an early crop, and then sow more of the same greens outdoors to extend the growing season.
Seeds to Start Indoors Tomatoes
Peppers
Eggplants
Broccoli
Cabbage
Cauliflower Brussels Sprouts
Perennial flowers
Herbs – many types
Onions
Start in Containers or Sow in the Garden
Lettuce and other salad greens
Kale
Basil
Chard
Cucumbers
Melons
Nasturtiums
Parsley
Spinach
Squash
Sunflowers
Zinnias
Sow Directly in the Garden
Carrots
Beans
Beets
Corn
Peas
Radishes
Arugula
Parsnips
Spring Onions
Turnips
Cilantro
Dill
There are many excellent resources available on the internet. One we found very helpful is Home Garden Seed Association
Submitted by Jim Fitzgerald, Tri-County Master Gardener
