Seed Starting Overview
It's finally that time of year again! The part of the year where gardeners all around the mid=Atlantic region get ready for spring despite the snow still falling in some areas and the chilly weather comfortably here to stay for the next couple of months. The holidays are over and with the decorations tucked back away in storage, we can bring out our seed catalogs and set up camp at the kitchen table to plan, dream and imagine those tiny seedlings poking up out of the soil.
If this is your first time attempting to start your own seeds, it can seem like a daunting task. We are often led to believe that growing your own seedlings requires lots of expensive equipment or some sort of a greenhouse and while this is helpful, it is not really necessary. For many years now I have started my seeds inside using a variety of methods that are cheap, easy to use and effective. With these tips and tricks, you will gain the satisfaction of planting out your own seedlings in the garden this year!
I am going to break down this post into a few simple steps and will share lots of info on each of them. You will hear my explanation of the ideal methods for completing each step as well as hacks and shortcuts that can be used as a substitute for them. Feel free to use any combination of methods and as always, never be afraid of inventing your own! As long as you meet the necessary requirements of each step, your ingenuity can be the key to your success.
Take an Inventory
If you have started seeds in the past, you likely have the extra seeds you never used stored somewhere. This is an excellent time of year to find them, spread them all out in front of you and take an inventory of what you already have. Since I always have dozens of varieties of seed stored from previous years, I like to make a detailed list of my leftover seeds by grouping them into categories and listing the varieties in each category on paper. I take note of whether the packet is almost empty and most importantly, I check the dates. Different types of seeds will last different amounts of time before they are no longer viable, and I will eventually write a more detailed post on this topic, however most seeds are no longer going to germinate correctly once they are more than 3 or 4 years old. Perfect storage conditions can greatly lengthen their lifespan, but most of us do not have them stored in an ideal way. I like to use this opportunity to toss out the older seeds or at least to make note of their age in my list so that I remember to sow extras when it is time to plant them. If you are absolutely certain about the origin of the seeds (for example: you saved them from your own garden), you could try sprouting the seeds for sandwiches! Even with a very low germination rate, you will still have gotten some use out of the ones that had life left in them! Lastly, be sure to take notes on any relevant details you remember from your experience growing them in the past. If you didn't like the flavor, if they took a long time to germinate, these would be things you would want to know when the time comes to use them.
Selecting Seeds
Starting in March (possibly sooner or later depending on where you are located) you will start to see seed racks appear in stores. Our local feed/hardware store has a large supply and even the grocery store has racks of seed packets set up in the produce department. While any of these locations can sell you seeds that will likely germinate, they may not all be created equal.
When selecting seeds, it is important to do a bit of research on the different varieties available and choose your varieties carefully. Seeds are bred for specific traits and growing requirements and not all varieties will grow well in all locations. Learn which varieties are best suited to your garden by taking into consideration your USDA Zone and details such as the number of frost-free days and the average day length throughout the growing season. Choose a variety that will perform best under your conditions. If you take the time to select one that is appropriate for your garden, you will automatically have a much better chance of success than if you just grab a packet off the shelf labeled "Roma Tomato".
It is also important to consider the uses you have planned for each plant you select and the qualities that are important to you. For example, many types of vegetable come in a "dwarf" size that can be grown in a small space, such as a container, or in front of other plants without blocking their sunlight. Plants such as peppers come in dozens of shapes, sizes, colors and even the flavor from one variety to the next can vary greatly. You will need to have some idea about the traits you are looking for as you select your varieties.
I typically request a couple of seed catalogs in the mail so that I can flip through the pages, see pictures and descriptions of each seed variety and take my time learning about the options. Because I know that I will be buying multiple packets of seeds, it is worth it to me to put together an online order from one or two of these companies. Even if there is a shipping fee, it is usually pretty minimal. If this is an issue for you, I would still recommend requesting free seed catalogs just for the education and insight you can gain from looking through the choices that are out there. Request catalogs from companies that sell open pollinated, heirloom and/or organic seeds. Seed Savers Exchange, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange and High Mowing are some examples of great seed companies to use. You will have a much better idea of what you are shopping for when you walk up to the seed rack at your local store.
Be aware of the many seeds on the market that should be avoided. It is not uncommon to see seeds for sale in the hardware store or box store that have been coated with different products. The labels and salespeople will have you believe that without these coatings, the seeds will never grow correctly. Some are covered in fertilizers to "feed" the seedling after it emerges. Others are covered in fungicide and anti-bacterial coatings to ward off disease. The fact that you are growing your own plants from seed implies that you care about where your food comes from and about what is in the soil in your garden. Buying seeds with these additives will completely contradict the positive impact you are having by taking on this task for yourself! If you follow the next steps correctly and take the time to improve your garden soil naturally, you will have absolutely no need for any of these extra chemicals. Healthy soil grows healthy plants! These coatings can damage the biome of the soil around your seedlings and many chemical fertilizers are actually adding salt to your soil with each use. Buy good seeds from a reputable seed company, choose varieties suited to your growing conditions, and build your soil naturally. You should have success with just these three steps.
Potting Medium
The potting medium you use can make it or break it for your seedlings. Seeds will germinate in almost any moist soil that is the correct temperature. Almost immediately after germination, however, they will begin to need nutrients to continue to grow. Poor potting soil can stunt the growth of your plants right off the bat and this can crush the possibility that they will ever recover.
If you plan to buy potting soil, it is a good idea to invest in some that is better quality. Soil mixes such as Miracle Gro are relying on soluble fertilizer pellets scattered throughout a sterile medium. This is a cheap trick for feeding plants that will wear off quickly and will once again counteract your attempt to grow better quality plants than what the nursery is selling. Invest in an organic potting mix such as Happy Frog that uses natural sources of fertilizer and feel comforted by the fact that your high-quality soil will give your seedlings the strength and immunity to fight off other pests and diseases as they mature. One last tip for store-bought soil mixes: Resist the urge to "stock up" on bagged soil. These mixes have a tendency to lose their nutritional value over time and can also start to grow mold and fungus that could negatively affect your seedlings. Plan to buy new soil at the start of each season.
Now as usual, there is no need to buy potting mix if you are willing to get creative! Seedlings will grow with great success in a variety of planting mediums and I would encourage you to try mixing your own! If you have nothing else to work with, I have honestly had wonderful results just using my own homemade compost to start plants. Yes, there are many weed seeds that germinate along with my seeds and I just pick them out as they sprout, but it can't really get easier than this if you already have your own compost pile.
Potting soil needs to be light and fluffy to prevent the roots from getting soggy or compacted and it needs to be full of a variety of micro and macro nutrients. Vermiculite is my choice for adding air pockets to the soil. This is a type of volcanic rock that you can buy in a bag and use to amend your potting soil. Coco coir is an environmentally conscious alternative to peat moss that can also be used to lighten soil. The three macro nutrients that need to be made available to plants are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Blood meal is a great source of nitrogen and can be bought bagged from most garden stores. It can also be made at home if you are feeling ambitious and you have a hunter in your family! Composted chicken manure is a readily available alternate source of nitrogen for many gardeners. Rock phosphate is an excellent source of phosphorus that can also be bought bagged up, although this is a mined resource that has its own list of environmental impacts. Bone meal and fish emulsion are other animal sources of phosphorus as well as is composted animal manure. Potassium is the last macronutrient you will need to consider when making your own potting mix. Greensand and kelp meal are sources that can be bought in bags. Greensand is mined from the sea floor and kelp meal is made of kelp that is dried into a powder. Hardwood ashes are a great household alternative for adding potassium. In fact, the wood ash from your fire pit is always a great addition to your garden as long as you burn only natural materials! By starting with either homemade or commercially made compost and adding an amendment from each of these categories to it, you will have provided great soil for your baby plants to begin their lives in!
Containers
There are literally dozens of types of containers that you can buy to start your seedlings and the choices can seem overwhelming. This is where you need to consider your own needs as well as the plant's and remember that there are many different ways to achieve the same results.
Plastic seed starting supplies have both pros and cons. The plastic is effective at keeping moisture in the soil and the seedlings will not need to be watered quite as often. There are also a wide variety of shapes and sizes available that can accommodate just about any type of plant you intend to grow. Large seed flats can be a space-efficient option for someone planning to start many plants. This option will keep you organized especially if you will be seeding many of the same type of plant such as lettuce. Seed flats are also better choices for smaller seedlings that will not need to be potted up into a larger container. Plastic seed flats can come with trays to catch the water that drains out and some even come with clear plastic lids to help create a warm, humid environment for the seedlings. The best part about plastic seed starting supplies is that just about every plant you ever buy at a nursery comes in one of these containers. I have saved mine over the years and I have accepted them from other people who were looking to get rid of them. There is very little reason to even NEED to buy plastic supplies with so much excess. Each year, any used plastic containers should be washed in warm soapy water and rinsed to clean them from any mold spores, bacteria or diseases that may be lingering from the year before. For most home gardeners, this added bit of work is not a big deal because the number of containers needed is usually pretty manageable. If you have a larger operation, this method may not be feasible. The downside to using plastic is, of course, the waste stream. With so much plastic being produced on a daily basis, it is a shame to let our gardens participate in the generation of trash. They also do not last forever and tend to tear, crack and crumble with time. No matter how carefully they are cared for, they will eventually wear out. One last downside is that if plants are not potted up or planted out in time, they can become root bound which can stunt their growth.
Soil block makers are a super innovative and eco-friendly alternative to plastic pots and trays. During my time managing a farm, we used these handy little tools to start all of our seeds. By mixing together a dense, wet soil, the soil block makers are used to create little cubes of soil into which the seeds are planted. The blocks stay together on their own without the use of plastic and need to be misted daily to maintain their moisture levels so they don't crumble. You will never need to worry about your plants getting root bound with this method and you will never run out of containers! It does require a little more time, however and you must use a recipe to mix your soil to the correct consistency. Eliot Coleman, one of the first big promoters of these soil blocks, has the recipes which we use in his book "The New Organic Grower". Other recipes can also be found online.
There are plenty of other interesting seed starting supplies on the market. I have seen tools used to make newspaper into little biodegradable pots and rubber flats that have a longer lifespan than plastic and can be washed for continued use. Egg cartons can even be used for the first couple of weeks in a seed's life. If one method doesn't work out for you, try another! Or feel free to use more than one simultaneously.
I will end this section with the options which I do NOT recommend. The little peat pots that come in packs or other "biodegradable", one-time use containers that you can supposedly plant directly into the ground with your seedlings are not usually good options. They never seem to break down fast enough in the soil and often times I have found that the plants were still root bound and stuck inside their tiny pots even after a month in the garden. On the flip side, I have also had them fall apart indoors long before I was ready to put them out which was pretty inconvenient! Clay pots are another less-than-ideal option. I felt fortunate when a neighbor of mine moved and offered me all of her tiny clay pots for my seedlings. In the end I have found them to be really difficult to use successfully. As with the plastic, they should be washed prior to use, but they also need to be soaked in water overnight before soil is added. If you skip this step, the dry clay will suck all of the water out of your soil. Even with pre-soaking, it is challenging to keep them moist and they eventually end up dry anyway. If by some miracle you get a seedling to live until the day it is to be planted out, the stiff curved sides of the pots make it extremely challenging to remove the seedling without damaging its roots.
Providing Light
One of the more difficult steps for the home gardener can be getting enough light for your plants. Many people have success getting their seeds to sprout and then start to lose hope as they watch their seedlings grow into pale stringy disasters that flop over with no hope of recovery. Most garden annuals require full sun and most homes will never have this much sun even in summer. Keep in mind that many of us are starting seeds in the dead of winter when the sun is still low on the horizon. Even if you have a greenhouse, there is a good chance you will require supplemental lighting until the Spring Equinox at least. Fortunately, there are tons of good options for lighting that can be used in any size operation!
Plants have evolved to make energy from the light of the sun and many lightbulbs are actually very different than sunlight. It is important that you are using lights that mimic the spectrum found outdoors. The amount of lumens (or brightness) produced by the sun is also significantly more than what can be produced with artificial lighting. A good grow light will likely be much brighter than any bulb you would want to turn on in your living room. There are high-end grow lights for sale all over the internet that boast different special qualities and most come with pretty big price tags! I'm sure that they all work great, but I have never needed to buy one. Incandescent bulbs will never work for plants, but fluorescents can be great and now that LEDs are so much more affordable, they may even be the best option! Any fluorescent shop light fixture will work for you. On the farm we had a variety of shelf lighting and freestanding hanging lights, but in my own home I have been using an old shop light that used to belong to my grandpa. You will need to suspend the light somehow low over your plants. There are stands for sale that do this, you could install hooks on your ceiling or on a bookcase or you could even build something with an old chair, a step ladder and a pile of books. (Yes, this has been my setup at home several years!) You also need to be sure you have the right bulbs in the fixture. Look for the light temperature of the bulb which is measured in Kelvins (k). You want a bulb between 5600k and 6400k. Also look at the brightness of the bulb which is measured in lumens. You need a bulb that is at least 2000 to 3000 lumens if not more.
Place the light one inch over the soil when you start your seeds. I know this seems ridiculously close, but the plants really need as much light as you can give them. You will also get the added benefit of warming up the soil to encourage germination. After the seeds sprout, continue to move the light upward as they grow so that the bulbs are one inch above the leaves. LEDs will not burn the leaves but fluorescent bulbs can, so try not to let the plants grow into the light. If you can place this whole setup in a sunny window you will have the added benefit of the actual sunlight mixing with the grow light! Move the seed trays around occasionally so that they get even light on all sides. This will discourage the plants from all leaning in one direction towards the brightest light. Also either set a timer or turn the light off each night for at least 8 hours. Just like animals, plants perform different functions at different parts of the day and need the dark just like they need the light.
If you have a greenhouse, install artificial lighting higher up away from the plants and leave it on for a few hours after the sun sets until the spring equinox. You will not want the light down low where the fixture would block the actual sunlight from getting to the leaves.
Hardening off
If you have made it all the way to this step, you are doing awesome. This means you have grown seedlings that are mature enough to be considering their transition from the nursery into the great outdoors. Just like with children, if you don't prepare them for the real world, they will go into shock when you plant them out and can die. After putting in so much time and effort, it would be a shame to have that happen now!
Be sure your plants are prepared for what awaits them by getting them conditioned to wind, fluctuating temperatures, and bright, unfiltered sunlight hitting their leaves directly. You need to do this at least a couple of weeks in advance of the day you hope to plant them in the garden to give them time to get conditioned.
Wind or even gentle breezes can quickly snap the stems of plants that have never experienced it before. Just like with humans, the stems of plants need exercise to encourage them to grow sturdy and strong. Clipping a little fan onto the shelf your plants are on will give your seedlings the workout they need. A bigger fan can work fine too if it is set on low and placed farther from the seed trays. Be sure the wind is gentle and also be sure to periodically move either the plants or the fan so that it is not always blowing on them from the same direction. You may want to set the fan on a timer or turn it on and off occasionally to give the stems a rest so they can recover from their workout!
At some point before planting out, you will want to move the plants to a less conditioned environment. This could be a covered porch or a shed with windows. You could even build a simple cold frame for this step. The plants have most likely never experienced the wide range of temperatures found in nature, and especially in the spring in the mid-Atlantic, this fluctuation can easily be 20 degrees or more each day. At first you will want to bring them in at night to protect them from the coldest air and certainly never leave them out during a frost unless they are frost hardy. Try to work up slowly to full days and nights outdoors.
You will need to do the same technique for introducing full sun and this can be done simultaneously with introducing temperature changes. Always start with setting your plants out in full shade. Full shade outdoors in May will actually be pretty similar to the amount of light they were experiencing indoors with the grow lights. Every day or so move them into brighter and brighter conditions until they are out in full sun for several days. If you have row tunnels set up in the garden, this can be a great location to harden off plants.
Be sure to protect the seedlings from pesky animals such as squirrels and some birds who seem to just love messing with potted plants. I try to set them up on a table or somewhere that will discourage curious critters from checking them out! Once you are able to leave your seedlings overnight in a full sun location overnight for several days, you are ready to plant them in the garden! A sign of a healthy, hardened off plants is dark green leaves and a bushy appearance. If they have gotten long and leggy but their color is darkened, don't worry, you may be able to fix this in the next step.
Planting Out
Hooray! The day has finally come to plant out your precious seedlings! You should be so proud by now. Try to do this step in the morning and choose an overcast day. Even a day with light rain can be perfect for setting out seedlings. If you are transplanting hardy annuals such as broccoli or kale, you may be doing this under row cover. If these are tomatoes or peppers you are setting out, it should be past your last frost date before you do this.
Gently remove the seedlings from their grow container being careful not to break off the roots. Squeeze the sides of the container gently to loosen the soil and roots before pulling gently on the base of the stem. If you are using soil blocks, you can skip this step. If the plant seems root bound, massage the roots carefully to untangle them.
Dig a hole in the garden that will fit the entire root ball of the seedling. If the plants are leggy, you should bury them all the way up to the first leaves. It is ok to have a long section of stem underground as long as it doesn't get bent or crimped in the process. This will give the seedlings a fresh start with their leaves at the correct level above the ground.
Lastly, water your plants deeply and stand back to admire them! You have succeeded in starting your own seedlings! This is a great accomplishment! Do not expect rapid growth for the first week or two. It can take some time for the plants to get established in their new home and start to branch out, but when they do you will be enjoying the satisfaction of not just choosing the perfect varieties of everything you wanted to grow, but also of knowing that you have provided nutritious, organic soil for your plant babies to start their lives and will hopefully be well on your way to seeing great yields! Congratulations!