Beginner's Garden: Start Plants Indoors from Seed

Before you plant dozens of seeds indoors...
Starting your own seeds indoors to transplant to your garden can save you a great deal of money over purchased plants. Before you get into seed-starting, be sure that you have enough light. Once your seeds germinate, they will need bright sunlight, or the equivalent from grow-bulbs. You will also need plenty of space for your seedlings. They will be tiny for only a few days. In a couple of weeks, you'll think they are taking over your house.

Many seedlings need to be transferred to larger grow pots before they are set outdoors, so allow for this space, too. It is possible to plant in cell-packs or peat pot trays and leave the plants there until you set them out into the garden. In my experience, plants started this way become potbound unless they are moved into larger containers. This is especially true of tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. It's best if they have the opportunity to grow unencumbered from seed to garden. I find that being potbound slows their growth, although they usually recover as soon as they are set into the ground outdoors. It's just a stress factor I like to avoid whenever possible.

Starter Pots
Here is an easy method of making your own biodegradable plant pots. This slideshow illustrates the method. Reuse plastic cell-packs you have saved, or wash and save yogurt cups and other small containers. You might as well reuse these plastic items a few times before you send them to the recycling bin. Wash all seed starting containers and utensils in warm soapy water, and rinse well. Have a bucket of chlorine bleach/water solution to use as a disinfecting rinse. Use a ratio of 1 Tablespoon bleach to 1 gallon water. Then use clear water for a final rinse. Let the planting containers air dry before you use them.

Planting Soil/Medium
Purchase sterile potting mix for seed-starting. Regular potting soils may contain soil borne fungi that cause a disease called "damping off." The fungi live in moist soil, and if one little plant succumbs, pretty soon you will find it throughout all your seedlings. Symptoms are a weak place at the base of the seedling, or seedlings that seem to break over at the soil level. Seedlings do not recover from this disease, so use sterile growing medium to avoid it. Sphagnum moss has some natural preventative properties; sometimes I mix equal parts milled sphagnum and vermiculite for starting seeds.

The soil should remain soft and loose after the seeds sprout, too. Some packaged soils become rock-hard after they have been watered a few times. Imagine tiny roots trying to grow in that! Buy good quality starting soil from a reputable dealer.

Light
Most seeds do not require light to germinate, but once they sprout they need plenty of light to grow. If your window space is limited, you may need to supplement natural light with an electric grow-light. Insufficient light causes plants to grow leggy and tall with few leaves. They lean toward the light source. Plants like this are weak, and they usually are not healthy in the garden.

Temperature
Seedlings must be protected from drafts and cold air. Windowsills are often too cold for seedlings to survive. Think of a humid, warm greenhouse, and that's the perfect indoor climate for seedlings. Clear covers over small seedlings help provide a mini greenhouse effect.

Fertilizer
A seed contains the energy it needs to germinate and grow for a few days. When you water seedlings, use only pure water at first. Then after the plants have been up for about 7 to 10 days give them very mild, water soluble fertilizer. Use a weak dilution of an organic fertilizer on seedlings, no more than half the recommended dilution ratio at first. Liquid fish fertilizer is perfect. Never use dry fertilizer, pellets or granules on seedlings.

Water
Draw water the night before you will use it, and allow it to sit in an open container overnight so chlorine will dissipate. If it is time to fertilize, add organic fertilizer right before you water your seedlings. Mix only what you will use at that time. Use up any extra on your regular houseplants.

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