Starting seeds

Starting seeds

Some seeds really need to be started indoors early and transplanted; or, they need to be purchased as plants at planting time. Some plants can go either way -- you can start early to get a harvest a little sooner, or you can wait and just direct sow outdoors.

Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and most onions really need more time to mature than you can get just planting them directly in the garden, so I always try to start these in the winter or buy seedlings in the spring.

At the end of February I started eggplant, peppers, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, and basil. 

About week later I planted my tomatoes.

Everyone who starts at least some of their seeds themselves has their own system. I plant things that are fairly cold tolerant and can be transplanted at the end of April or early may first -- broccoli, lettuce, cauliflower, and onions, for example. I usually plant some other things that take a long time to grow in a cool house at the same time -- including eggplant and peppers. This is about as much as I can fit on my one "heat mat" which is actually an old heating pad. I set this up on a shelf in the living room. Almost all seeds do not really need light until after they are up; they just need a warm environment to germinate.

Once plants start emerging, I move them down to the basement under the grow lights. It is cool down there, but young plants shouldn't have too much heat because it will be cool out when they are transplanted -- at least at night. What they really need is a lot of light to grow strong.

Usually when some of the fast-germinating plants get moved under the grow lights I plant my tomato seeds and put them on the heat mat to germinate.

Yesterday, March 12, I moved all my seedlings down to the grow lights and have nothing on the heat mat anymore. 

As always, I had a few things fail to germinate: I planted four varieties of lettuce and only two germinated. And about half of the eggplant failed to germinate and of the three onion varieties I planted, only one germinated. In all cases I'm pretty sure the problem was old seed. This is a weakness I have -- I grow something I really like and want to keep growing it every year and can't face throwing out seed when I still have plenty. Onion seed is notorious for going bad after only a year or two. Some vegetable seeds last much longer.

But since I generally plant much more than I really need, it is OK when I have things fail to come up. Also, most things can be purchased in the spring from plant sales if necessary.