I look forward to spring, or actually the six to eight weeks before the last frost date, because that is the time to plant seeds and watch them grow. It's so rewarding. So, if you're interested, here's a small tutorial on how to get started. This is only for seeds that benefit from an early start. Other seeds, such as beans and peas, can be directly planted outside.
1- Think about exactly what it is you like to eat. Write a list of fruits and vegetables. It helps having a catalogue or two to guide you. I recommend Seed Savers Exchange. They can be a bit pricey, but the seeds are heirloom, meaning you can save them, and can be organic. Considering it's about $2.75 for a packet of seeds, it's really not that much.
2- Really read the descriptions of the types of plants you would like. It helps to have a book on fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Although I generally don't buy Burpee seeds, I do have their book because it's very informative. The descriptions of different plants helps you figure out how big your plant will get, and if it can even survive in your area.
3- Once you have figured out what you would like to grow, if this is your first time, really narrow it down. You'd be surprised how easy it is to get carried away.
4- Order seeds. Try to do this as early in the year as possible. Look up your area's last frost date, and shoot for ordering about 10 weeks ahead of that.
5- Find a local gardening center or two. I don't mean a home improvement store, although they can be handy in a pinch. A local garden center will carry the necessary equipment you need for starting seeds, as well as the seeds themselves. You can order this stuff online, but the other really nice thing about garden centers is they usually have staff that are knowledgeable about what can be grown in your area.
6- Once you have found you local garden center, pick up a couple plastic trays and compartmentalized pots to go in the trays. The pots should look like what you would normally buy veggies in, about 5"x8" with 4 individual cups. A tray should hold about 12 of these. Make sure the tray has no holes in the bottom.
7- Also buy seed starting mix. Seed starting mix is a mixture of peat, vermiculite and perlite and is soil-less. Because it's soil-less, there are no nutrients in the soil. Surprisingly, most seeds prefer to start off in a low nutrient mixture.
8- Other materials, optional- grow light, clear plastic domes, heat mats, plant markers. These items are very helpful, and can produce much better seedlings, but are not completely necessary.
9- Once you have all of your supplies, clear about 1 hour of your schedule. Use a bucket or similar container to mix the soil-less mixture with some water. Because it's peat-based, it is very fluffy and will not tamp well when dry. The first time you water your seedlings, it will compact and lose half its volume, so start with damp material. Don't make it too wet, just wet enough to be crumbly.
10- Put your damp soil-less mixture into your containers. If you are reusing these containers from a previous planting (thanks for recycling!), then it is best to clean them out and soak them in a 1:10 bleach mix (1 part bleach to 10 parts water). Tamp mixture down, but don't pack too tightly. Once the seeds sprout and grow roots, those roots will need a place to go.
11- Once your containers are filled, figure out how many seedlings you would like to have. It's best to plant 2-3 seeds in each little compartment. Later on, you will choose the hardiest and kill off the others to leave one plant per small compartment so there is no over-crowding.
12- Make sure to keep track of what is being planted. You can use plant markers, and if you do I recommend plastic ones. I've used the wooden ones, and so has a friend of mine, and both times the wooden ones ended up moldy. I now keep track with graph paper. I map out how many little containers there are and exactly what went in each. To avoid confusion, I mark one side of the tray with nail polish so I know which direction to face when figuring out what is what.
13- Follow the planting directions. Plant at the correct depth, around the correct time. I plant my tomatoes and peppers way early to fully establish them, so by the time they are ready to upgrade to a bigger pot, I can start other seedlings, such as melons.
14- Once everything is planted, place next to a window that gets lot of light. You can alleviate lack of window space with a grow light. It helps here to add the clear plastic domes if you bought them. This helps increase the humidity for the plants. Since you started off with wet mixture, you should not need to add moisture for a few days. If you do not use clear plastic domes, make sure any air vents will not blow directly or even indirectly onto the seedlings- it will dry out the soil quickly. It also helps at this point to place any heating mats under the trays. The heating mats are great for kick-starting tomatoes and peppers, which love warm soil. I have had good luck without them, though, so if you don't want to spring the $25 for one, don't.
15- Patiently wait. Some seeds will have sprouted within a couple days, others will take a couple weeks. Keep an eye on the soil moisture. It needs to stay barely moist, not wet, and certainly not dry. I recommend watering from the bottom, which means adding about 1" of water to the tray every few days. These keeps the seedling from being disturbed from any movement around the roots. My friend also does very well with a spray bottle. She just aims for the base of the plant and very lightly squeezes.
16- Once the seeds have spouted, there will be it's first set of leaves, the seed leaves. It is the second set, or true leaves you want to watch for. Once the plant has it's true leaves, it will need to be fertilized. First, pick your best looking plant if you over-planted. Trim any others off at the base- DO NOT PULL. If you pull, you will disturb the roots of the other plant you are keeping and seedlings are not fans of having their roots disturbed. Then, fertilize. I recommend fish emulsion, but beware, it is some strong smelling stuff. If you opt for something else, pick a fertilizer that has equal parts nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium- it should say 10-10-10 somewhere on the container. Follow fertilizing instructions. Once you get to the third set of leaves, it's time to upgrade to a bigger pot.
17- Go back to you garden center and pick up about 18 3" pots per tray. You may even need another tray. Go ahead and get a couple trays with holes or slits in the bottom. These will come in handy when you are ready to move your seedlings outside. You will also want regular potting soil. The seedlings will need a lot more nutrients now.
18- Since most potting soil is peat-based as well, once again moisten the soil. Add it to the pots. Leave a good sized hole for the seedling. Very carefully, with something along the lines of a spoon (dirt washes off, no need to get squeamish), loosen the seedling from its current pot and move it over. Try very hard not to handle the leaves, and be gentle with the stem. Tomatoes benefit greatly from burying the stem up to its seed leaves, but bury other seedlings at the base of the stem in its current state. Very carefully tamp down dirt around the roots up to the stem baseline. Once complete, place back in the window or under the grow light. Hint- if in placed in a window, you will need to rotate your tray of seedlings as they will grow towards the sunlight. A grow light close to the top of your seedlings will help them grow straight and not get spindly.
19- Once the days start to warm, you can move your seedlings outside during the day. If the nights are mild, you can even leave them out overnight. This is called hardening off and it prepares them for the onslaught of various weather conditions that they did not get indoors. Some people suggest using a cold frame, which is basically a large frame with a window on top. If it's too cold, keep the window nearly shut, and if its really warm, open the window up so you don't fry your seedlings. I use a frame with a screen on top. If it gets too cold, I move then seedlings either back inside or shelter them close to the house. The screen protects my seedlings from bugs and curious birds. After about a week or two of hardening your seedlings off, it's time to plant. Make sure to time hardening off so that you can plant your seedlings when they are ready. It's no good planting peppers in early April, they will be very unhappy.
20- Once your seedlings have been moved outside to be hardened off, change the tray to the one with holes in the bottom. You can start top watering your seedlings, and it will also likely rain on them, so it helps to ensure good drainage.
Here's an idea. February 5- plant tomatoes. February 9th- tomato sprouts. February 15th- seed leaves fully emerge. February 22nd- second leaves emerge. March 1st- third set of leaves, upgrade pot. March 13th- another set of leaves. March 20th- another set of leaves. April 1st- start hardening off. Watch out for frost, move indoors. April 20th- move completely outside. April 28th- plant tomatoes!
It's a long process, but totally worth it.
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