Start Seeds Indoors

By Rita Randolph

Start your seeds inside while the weather is still cold outside and your seedlings will be ready to put in the ground once the weather turns warm enough and the chance of frost is past.

Checklist:

• Seeds suited for your area, or growing zone
• Table
• Lighting system
• Seed-starting mix
• Small pots
• Watering trays
• Plastic wrap
• Spray bottle
• Optional: capillary mats to improve drainage

A sunny window is the best place to start seeds.

Preparation

First, dedicate an area just for this purpose, preferably a south-facing window because it provides the most light for ensuring healthy starts. If you don't have an available south window, select the brightest one you have.

Use a sturdy table — anything from a folding card table to a sturdy workbench will do. Cover it with heavy-duty plastic so moisture won't ruin the surface.

Set up a stand with a fluorescent light fixture for your plants after they begin to grow. Though stores carry "grow lights," fluorescent lights are cool heat and still provide a wide spectrum of proper light for seedlings and other plants.

A damp capillary mat helps keep the tiny seedlings damp, but not wet.

Use a seed-starting mix, sowing seeds thinly in your pots. Cover seeds with a small amount of the mix, but only as much as the seed is in diameter. Small seeds need only a dusting of mix over them while larger seeds like a little more. Label the seeded pots with a waterproof pen. You'd be surprised how fast you'll forget what you sowed.

If you choose to buy a capillary mat, which is a good idea, place it in the watering tray. Wet the capillary mat, but not to the point where water is pooling anywhere. A capillary mat is a spongy fiber about one-fourth inch thick. When you water your seeded pots, this mat will wick away excess moisture from some containers while providing it for others, keeping the plants moist but not wet. Seed that's germinating will require 100 percent humidity but don't like to stay constantly wet.

Set the seeded pots on the capillary mat in the watering tray and moisten them with a sprayer. A light spray is best, so you don't flood or wash seed into each other.

Cover the newly seeded trays with a sheet of plastic to "chamber" them, which holds in humidity, allowing them to germinate more uniformly without drying around the edges of the trays.

Then cover the tray with another tray, preferably black or dark in color, balancing it directly on top of the other like a lid. Most seeds like to germinate in total darkness, and this tray will further hold in humidity and shut out light.

Check your seeds a couple of times a day for moisture, being careful not to let them dry out. As soon as you see the first two leaves pop up, remove the lids and turn on your lights.

Place the light an inch or two above the young plants for 16-18 hours a day (no more). Raise the light as the plants grow.

When young seedlings are an inch or two tall, it's time to decide whether they will be planted outside in the ground, transplanted into larger pots, or hardened off for planting later.

Reducing the average temperatures, withholding some water, and yet still maintaining high light conditions will accomplish this hardening.

When seedlings reach an inch or two tall, they can be repotted or planted.

When transplanting young seedlings, bury the stem up to the first set of true leaves. This allows the plant to root out from the stem, creating a stronger development and structure.

Be careful, however, not to pack soil mixes too tightly. Simply sift the soil up around the seedling and water. At this point, a weakened, half-dose of water-soluble fertilizer or root stimulator will get them off to a great start.

Keep plants under lights until they go out, and be sure to stay on top of their watering needs until they're established in the garden.

Label seeds as you plant them and keep records of what you plant.

Record keeping is really important if you plan to be successful at growing your own plants. Keeping notes of the date sown, plant variety, number of seeds you sowed, and when they matured enough to transplant will help with timing your crops each year.