Start Your Garden Indoors

Part 2

Last week we discussed the importance of making sure everything
used in starting your own plants is disinfected. Now it’s on to
actually planting seeds and getting ready for this year’s garden.

Fill your inserts or other well draining containers up to about
3/4” from the top with the seed starting medium you have chosen.
If the mix is very dry, moisten it before hand, it will keep the
dust down and be easier to work with.  As a general rule, seeds
are planted to a depth of two times their diameter.  Very fine
seeds just need a light sprinkling of medium over them.

Check your seed packets on flowers, some need light to germinate
and shouldn’t be covered at all. I like to work with pelletized
seeds when possible. Pelletized small seeds are much easier to
handle. Plant two seeds per container and thin out one of the
seedlings if both sprout. I thin by pinching the smaller of the
two seedlings at the soil line. Don’t pull them out. You may
disturb the roots of the remaining plant. Sow large-seeded plants
like melons, cukes and beans directly into peat pots.

After seeds are sown, place the container in a pan or tray or
warm water. The seed medium will absorb water from the bottom of
the insert or container.  Peat pots must be thoroughly moistened
this way as well. Don’t water from the top, you can disturb the
soil and seeds.

After the seeds are moistened, put in a tray and cover with its
plastic domed lid or slip the flat into a plastic bag to retain
the moisture. No other watering should be necessary until the
seedlings sprout. Place your covered flats in a warm location,
out of direct sunlight, to ensure germination. I use the top of
my freezer in the laundry room. Generally temperatures of 65 to
75 degrees F are best. Some seeds like cold weather crops
broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage are best started around 55
degrees.

Check your seedlings EVERY day. Remove lids or plastic bags and
place the flats in a sunny window or under lights as soon as
seedlings emerge. Check the moisture of the seedlings every day.
Water from the bottom, like when you first started the seeds .
Misting once or twice a day is also good. Planting medium should
be kept moist, but seedlings should never be left soaking in
standing water.

Damping Off Can Dampen Your Spirits

Probably the most deadly disease for all seedlings is “damping
off” fungal disease.  My first year of starting vegetable seeds,
I stuck the flats out of the way (and out of good ventilation).
My husband Brian didn’t want plant flats all over the house.
They all died after sprouting. I found out it was because they
didn’t have adequate ventilation and had caught the deadly
fungus.

Brian and I have reached a compromise, I now start varieties of
flowers he likes along with my vegetables and keep my
contraptions relegated to the laundry room and he doesn’t
complain, too much. You can tell if your seedlings have damping
off if they start out looking ok and just fall over at the soil
line. My recommendation is to get rid of the whole flat and start
over with those plants. You might lose a week or two but it’s
better than losing all your flats. If you only started one flat,
discard all infected plants and their planting medium, move the
inserts or containers to a new THROUGHLY DISENFECTED tray and
start praying.

I’ve never tried to control damping off with fungicides, I’ve
heard of people who have. You can check at a good garden center
for a fungicide and CAREFULLY FOLLOW LABEL DIRECTIONS! When using
fungicides, pesticides, miticides, herbicides or any other
chemical, remember “The label is the law!” With damping off it’s
been my experience that prevention is best.

Use only disinfected containers, trays, and utensils. Use sterile
seed starting medium. Keep temperatures cool. Don’t let seedlings
stay in standing water and have good ventilation. I run a small
oscillating fan in my laundry room and close the heating ducts to
keep it at around 60 degrees after plants sprout.

That’s it for this week. Next week we “move into the light!”

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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.