Spring Series: Starting Your Seeds & Caring for Them

With visions of beautiful, juicy tomatoes, peppers and broccoli dancing through your head you’ve carefully selected the finest seeds. Time to grab the garden gloves and your trusty spade and get planting! 

Great idea, but there’s a little more to it. Starting your seeds rather than just putting them in the ground can be just the boost they need.

You’ll want to start seeds in clean, sterile seed-starting mix made from peat and coconut coir. This helps keep pathogens from ruining your work before you’ve even started. At this point the young plant has all the energy it needs from the seed itself. Once the seedlings have broken the soil and produced their first set of leaves then it’s time to transfer them to regular soil. At this point the plant starts to need nutrients from the soil to keep growing.

As far as temperature goes start warm (roughly 75f) to give the plants a jumpstart and then move them to cooler areas (around 65f) to prevent them from getting thin and leggy. They’ll need plenty of light, so if possible place them in a south facing window. Don’t have a great window? No problem. Here are some solutions for good lighting.

Timing is the key here. Check the back of the seed packet for instructions as to when to start. Too early and your plants may outgrow their container before you can move them outside. Too late and your new seedlings may be choked out by competitors before they’ve had a chance to establish themselves.

Starting your seeds from scratch is a great way to save money, especially if you’re planning a larger garden. For the price of one plant you’d get at a garden center, you can get a dozen or even a hundred seeds. 

Sure, it’s easier and quicker to buy sprouted plants from a garden center, but you have no idea where those plants have been. Starting the seeds yourself gives them their best chance to reach their full potential so you get exactly what you want.