When you buy seeds in packets there are going to be a lot of seeds, don’t feel you have to plant them all or you’ll have so many plants you will be asking every friend, relative and neighbor if they want some.

Some of the plants I have started from seed have been tomatoes, green beans, winter squash and all kinds of peppers. You can start these with just some 3” peat pots and some Seed starter mix at Ace hardware, Lowes or Home Depot or any garden shop.

To start, put the seed starter mix in the pots, wet the dirt but don’t flood it. Pack the dirt down firmly. Make the holes about 1/8” deep. Put a seed in, I usually put two seeds per pot depending on the plant. Plants like squash or green beans that are rather big I might just put in one per pot since they always seemed to germinate and grow. You can also start herbs like this that you want to keep in the house as well.

Don’t start the seeds to early, about 6 - 8 weeks or so before you will be able to plant them in your garden. You don’t want them to sit in the small pots once they get too big.

Once you have all your pots seeded with the plants, put them in some type of tray. I have used trays like you get with a case of beer or pop. Makes the seed pots easier to move. Label your pots in some waterproof way so you know what is coming up. Put the pots in a sunny location in the house, a south facing window is best but good direct sun from the east or west will work. Seeds germinate best at about 70-80 degrees F. Put some plastic like saran wrap loosely over the top of the pots to keep the moisture and heat in to get them to germinate.

You can also use a grow light or even fluorescent shop lights which works very well, if you use the shop lights, you need to have the plants just a couple of inches from the light. Some people also keep their tray of seeds on top of the refrigerator for the heat at night Any warm place will do, since most likely they will be near a window for the warm sunlight during the day, you might think about moving them to a different spot at night when the cold air might come through the window. If you use the lights, they should be on 17 hours.

Tip: Watering the seeds in the pots can be difficult, you might flood the pots and the seeds might move to the edge or float to the top. A spray bottle can work nicely for watering these plants. Germinating seeds just takes moisture and warmth. Don’t let the pots dry out and over watering can cause the seed to rot

Tip: It also helps to have some air circulating around the plants, a ceiling fan or any fan set to low just to get air circulating in the area.

Not all the seeds will germinate and come up, in some of the pots you might have several come up, you can thin them and keep the best one or if more than one looks really good, you can separate them when it is time to plant them. Most of the time you want one really good plant in a pot so it can get all the water and nutrients.

Before planting them in the garden, you need to harden them off. This means you have to introduce your new plants to the outdoors slowly. If they have been indoors a long time, it will take longer to get used to being outdoors. When you first move them outside, put them in shade and protected from wind. Watch them because they can dry out quickly. You can also use a cold frame. The first couple of days outside I never leave mine out below 50 degrees. Bring them in at night when you think it will be too cold for them, they will die quickly at freezing temperatures. Basically you’re getting them used to the outdoor climate.

Some common problems

Leggy seedlings: What you get is a long limp stem and then it flops over. This usually happens with not enough lighting, too much fertilizer, causing it to grow fast and not develop, not enough air circulation or too much heat. If this happens you can start over or you can repot the plant deeper.

Leaves stuck to the seed: This happens when the first leaves from the seed (the cotyledons) are stuck to the seed. Don’t try and separate them, they usually separate on their own. To help this along, continue to keep it moist with the spray bottle.

Damping off: This is a fungus in soil that can cause the stems of the new plants to be very narrow where the stem meets the dirt. This will kill the seedling. Ways to avoid this is better air circulation and using the premixed soil. Also make sure there is good airflow, don’t cut off the air flow when putting plastic over them too tight.

What to look for when buying plants at the garden shop

If you should decide there are some plants you want to buy that are already started and ready to go, and many times you will do this if its too late in the year to start by seed. You might have to go to several different places to find the vegetables you want and in good condition. Look for good color, no yellowing leaves is best. Size isn’t as important, as a healthy plant, tall and spindly isn’t as good as a short healthy plant. Look for damaged leaves. If you can look at the roots, look for discolored roots. The roots should be white.

Sam Montana © 03 January 2009