Seed Starting

• Outdoor Plants
• Spring
• Vegetables
• Winter

Seed-starting saves you money on plants and expands your choices in flower, color, taste and size! Remember:  Some seeds grow best when started directly in the garden. Just read the seed packet.

By thinking small, you can focus your efforts and have a better chance of seed-starting success.

Typical plants to start indoors are unique heirloom tomatoes, eggplant, or peppers. Also, cucumber or melon will start easily outside but you’ll have earlier harvests if you start them indoors. Scallions or leeks take many weeks to develop into suitable transplants but you can grow more for less by starting seed indoors. Leeks can be started indoors as early as February 7 and transplanted into the garden by April 18.

Sow a flat of annual flowers for less than the price of a six-pack. Allysum, cosmos, and salvia make nice companion plants for shrub borders, vegetables or late-season perennial gardens.

Again, choose the plants that you and your family will enjoy the most and the effort will be worth it!

And – it’s easier than you think especially since seeds are designed to sprout and grow into thriving plants under the right conditions. So you just need to establish the right conditions!
Printable PDF of seed-starting basics discussed below.

One other tip – 1 seed will grow into a full size plant! Share unused seeds with other gardeners or start your plants together.

The supplies you’ll need:

Seeds! – We have great choices for you. Seed packets are loaded with how-to information that can help you choose exactly what you want and help you match the seeds and plants to your growing conditions.  Note: some seeds are best started directly in the garden. Starting early indoors would be a waste of time and effort. Believe the seed packet!

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Pots – You can choose 6 packs of plastic or the biodegradable kind which are great for squash and sunflower seeds because their roots do not like being disturbed after sprouting.  FYI, paper egg cartons and recloseable clear plasic lettuce boxes work too.  We have the trays and plastic domes as well to keep your seedlings in ideal sprouting and growing conditions.

Soil – Whoops – not soil at all! The ideal sprouting medium is a sterile soil-less mix. The ideal mix retains water but is light and porous, allowing for good drainage. After seeding, sprinkle sphagnum moss or diotamaceous earth over the top to help prevent fungus on new seedlings.

Location – This can be a couple different locations, first for sprouting and then for growing. Most seeds need temperatures of 50o F or warmer for good germination so you’ll want a warm location inside the house to get started. Then after germination, the seeds need light. For natural light, put your containers in a south-facing window during the day and protect from drafts. If no window is available, you could use adjustable fluorescent or LED lights hung a few inches above the pots. Before germination, hang lights about 1 inch above soil level. As plants grow, raise the lights but no further than 3 inches above plants.

If started too early, plants will stretch to the light and get too leggy.  Follow the seed packet guidelines!

Starting Seedlings Step by Step-

At your seed-starting table or shelf:

• • Growing medium – Fill cells almost to the top with seed-starting mix. Water the mix slowly to fill any air pockets and let the medium settle. Mix should be moist throut at the start. Add more mix if necessary.
  • Sowing – Depending on the type and size of the seeds, drop several on top of the soil and gently push down to a depth that’s approximately twice the diameter of one seed. Fill the hole and tap down to put the seed in direct contact with soil. Three or so larger seeds and 10 or so smaller seeds are fine per pot for germination. Once sprouted, seedlings can be separated or culled.
  • Next, water from the bottom up by watering into the tray that holds your cells/pots. Use enough water so that the soil is the dampness of a wrung-out sponge. Too much water can drown the seeds. Here’s the value of a tray or those biodegradable pots. They can wick the moisture up at a steady rate.
  • Sprinkle a little diotamaceous earth or sphagnum moss on the surface to keep moisture from beading up and forming a ‘damping off’ fungus.
  • Cover pots with a humidity dome or plastic wrap to retain moisture and heat.

After germination:

• • Once seeds have germinated and seedlings appear, remove the cover and keep moist be watering into the tray.
  • Monitor the height and growth. If plants start to get leggy, move light closer. Thin seedlings, too, to ensure each plant gets enough light. Gently brush plants to help strengthen stems or run a fan nearby to provide air circulation and strengthen stems.
  • Growing temperatures can be cooler than germination temps but around 65 deg. F is best. Use a thermostat controlled heat mat if necessary to keep plants warm.

Planting out:

• • Seedlings with 2 sets of ‘true leaves’, a sturdy stem and good root development can be transplanted into the garden if outdoor conditions are right. First, acclimate them to the outdoors first by leaving them in a sheltered spot outside for a couple of hours, then gradually extend the outdoor time over several days until your plants fully adjust or “harden off”. Then, you can plant them in their ultimate ideal location!

Visit us in-store to pick up additional ‘handouts and tricks’ for seed-starting success.

Visit these websites for more information and seed-starting calendars:

University of Missouri Extension (Zone 5)

Margaret Roach’s Seed Starting Tips & Calendar

We love Margaret Roach’s seed-starting calendar!

But if the do-it-yourself automatic calendar seems like too much clicking, we’ve used her calendar to assume an average last spring frost date of May 16 in this Seed-Starting Chart-pdf and the photo below.

• • This photo is limited to common vegetables. Herbs and annual flowers are included in the PDF link.