We have all been in the position where we are wanting to start giving our green thumb a go. Having seedlings sprout up is just about as heat warming to us gardeners as watching a child be born or watching our favorite pet grow up. We sometimes because of weather, animals, or maybe we just want to try something different, so below I will be outlining five tips to get your seeds started indoors.
Best Seeds To Start Indoors
Plastic trays designed for seed starting are useful for starting a lot of seeds in a small amount of space. You can also mix varieties as long as you remember to label everything!
The first decision to make on what seeds to pick, is to make sure they will grow in your zone. Make sure that it is a non-invasive type. The dates on your seeds package is not way out of date and are fresh, and even with this be aware even with the best practices a seed company may try there can still be a dud seed in a batch. Below is a listing of seed’s that do exceptionally well indoors as starter seeds.
- Tomatoes
- Eggplant
- Okra
- Watermelon
- Lettuce
- Peppers
This is just to name a few if you go to Farmers Almanac it will list some more that are great for indoor seeds to start out with. Now that we have some seeds to start our budding garden out with now we will need to go over lighting, soil, containers, and the five tips to assuring that you are on your way to gardening bliss.
Needed Seedling Gear
Baby kale plants growing in peat pots. Like egg cartons, peat pots can be planted directly into the ground when the plants are at a good size.
Now unless you are doing this farm scale the first thing you will need is containers, usually you can get empties for free from your local store after their busy season or you can use egg cartons, which I have had some luck with myself. You will need soil, not regular potting soil but soil that is made especially for starting seeds. Water the life force of most plants. Then you will need warmth and eventually once we get that sprout some light, if you have a window that lets in plenty of sunshine then mother natures way is always best, but you can purchase led lights to fit this need and they work just fine.
Seed Starting Five Tips
- Once you press your seed into the soil mixture cover with a small bit of plastic, poke holes in it, this holds in the heat and moisture for your seed.
- Keep your seedlings at an appropriate temperature, best results are usually between 65 degrees to 75 degrees F (18 to 24 C).
- Read your packet to see if you need to soak, chill, or even scratch your seed prior to planting.
- Once your seedling has sprouted, remove the plastic and place in light.
- Most important tip of all is to follow through with what is called the ‘hardening process’ if you will be putting your indoor plants outside.
What Is The Hardening Process
This is where you are basically letting your plant not have a culture shock when it is placed outside in mother nature. The seedlings once they have at least a second pair of leaves you will be transplanting them into pots with lots of compost and regular potting soil. They will be getting plenty of water at this time, when they are spending their last week indoors you will taper off fertilizing and watering. For about ten days set them outside in their pots in a place that has some shade but not too much and blocks most of the wind from them, you will do this for a few hours each day, make sure you are watering plants but not over watering. Then slowly over those days expose them to more sunlight and wind, this is the process where the plant hardens up to life outside.
Author Bio : Sarah Bradley has loved gardening and nature since childhood. She loves to read about new plants and gardening tips. She works for “YourGreenPal” which helps you to quickly find, schedule and pay for Lawn Care Services.