Start Your Garden Indoors

Seed starting part 1

Even though much of the country is braving sub-freezing
temperatures and covered in ice and snow, it’s not too early to
Think Spring. And for me Think Spring means Think Gardening.

One of my favorite parts of gardening is starting my own
vegetable and flower seeds in the basement. With not much of a
financial investment and a little patience and dedication, anyone
can experience the joy of seeing a pan of soil sprout new life.

Plants of many of your favorite flowers and vegetables can be
started indoors. Healthy, vigorous plants started early, indoors
will flower sooner and produce an earlier harvest. Additionally,
the home gardener that starts his own plants has thousands more
choices than the limited offerings at most garden centers.

When to start your seeds depends on when they can be safely moved
outdoors, the environment in your home and the amount of time is
takes a seed to germinate and reach the appropriate size for
transplanting in the garden.

GETTING STARTED…

For best results buy your seeds from a reliable dealer. Many
people get heirloom varieties of their favorite plants from
family or friends that garden. Seeds should be kept cool and dry
to ensure good germination. Many seeds purchased today are
hybrids. Hybrids often offer unusual color, growth habit, size,
increased vigor and or resistance to disease or pests. Seeds from
hybrid plants cannot be saved for next year’s garden, as the
plants usually do not grow true to its parents.

DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER…

As for what to start the seeds in, you can use your imagination.
The most important things to remember is to make sure the
containers are clean and sturdy. I’ve started plants in
everything from egg cartons to butter and yogurt tubs. Over the
years I ’ve purchased the black garden flats and a variety of
insert sizes. The inserts will last three or four years and fit
the trays perfectly to allow for more plants per tray. I’m still
using trays that I bought eight years ago. Look of these supplies
on sale to save some money.

I find the compressed peat pellets too expensive. I’ve bought the
regular peat pots on sale and use them for hard to transplant
seedlings like melons and beans. Be sure to plant the entire peat
pot below the surface of the soil to prevent the pot from wicking
off the plant’s moisture. I gently rip the bottom out of the
bottom of the peat pot as well.  Clay pots will also wick off
water so they must be soaked before being planted in and kept
moist.

NO TALKING DIRTY…

The best medium for starting your plants is one that is light,
loose, well draining and CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN! Outside soil is not
recommended unless you sterilize it first. This is a long, messy
and smelly job. I use either fine vermiculite alone or mixed 1:1
with sphagnum peat moss. Vermiculite is a silicate mineral. It’s
clean, light and doesn’t form a crust like soil can. The
vermiculite alone or the mix has little fertility so seedlings
will require watering with a very dilute fertilizer solution a
week or so after they emerge. I believe the peat moss helps
reduce the chance of "damping off" fungal disease. Damping off
can kill your entire crop of seedlings over night.

Since you’ve taken such care to make sure your containers and
starting medium are clean it would be a shame to use dirty
trowels, knives or other utensils and waste all your hard work.
Make sure EVERTHING used is clean! I soak my trays, inserts and
utensils in a tub of bleach-water. I use one part bleach to nine
parts water. Soak for at least 15 minutes.

Next week’s tip will be the actual planting of seeds! Hurray!!

This may seem like a lot of preparation, but after time it will
all become second nature. Additionally, a little work before hand
will ensure healthy seedlings and all that preparation will be
worth it when those seedlings start poking through the
vermiculite. And when you’re eating that first Big Boy three
weeks before your neighbor, you’ll have forgotten all about the
early drudgery.

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Cheryl is a Master Gardener who volunteers with the Lake County
(Ohio) Extension office of Ohio State University. She won a
Cleveland Press Club award last year for her feature and column
writing.