Seed Starting: Growing Plants
Seed Starting: Growing Plants for Your Garden
There are some people who enjoy having to start out a garden from scratch. Here are some tips on how to start a garden through seeds.
Prepare the following:
- Containers – you can use containers or flats you’ve saved like egg cartons or yogurt cups or purchase pots. Clean and disinfect the pots by soaking it in 1 part bleach and 10 parts of water.
- Potting mix – the seeds will do better in a soilless mix. This is because soilless mix gives fewer inherent problems than garden soil.
- Choose the seeds of your choice.
- Put some labels or markers to help you remember what you’ve planted after a long time of waiting.
- Prepare covers or plastic bags to trap the warmth and humidity that the seeds need.
- You’d obviously need water.
- If the plant is placed where light source might be a problem, you may use a fluorescent or some kind of high density plant light.
Prepare the Potting Mix:
Before you put the mix in your seed’s starting containers, loosen and dampen it. This will give you an easier time when you are trying to achieve a uniform level of moisture. Use a rung out sponge to dampen the mix’s consistency. The sponge should be wet without any dripping and any lumps.
Fill up the Seed Flats and Containers:
- The seed’s starting containers should be filled with the pre-dampened mix.
- The potting mix should not be packed up.
- To help the potting mix settle fill it only 2/3’s full and tap it on the table top.
- Firm it gently with your hand or a small board.
Plant the seeds only after you have prepared the seed flats, containers or pots:
- Always read the package on the seed. There are special requirements for some seeds. If you mishandle the plant’s maintenance, the only things that will grow on your pot are weeds. There are some seeds that will need to be soaked or pre-chilled.
- If the seeds are small they can just be dappled above the potting mix. Larger seeds need to be counted out and individually planted.
- Try to use only 3 seeds per container. Not all the seeds will germinate and those that do, not all of them may survive. Just thin out the extras later on.
Finishing Touches after Seed Starting:
- After you have planted the seeds they should be dampened more with potting mix and gently firm the soil again.
To figure out how much potting mix the seeds need, read the packaging thoroughly again. The common philosophy is that the smaller the seed, the less potting mix is needed. - Some seeds require lot of light to germinate and they should be covered lightly with potting mix.
Even though the soil has been pre-dampened already, it’s not a bad idea to dampen water on top of the newly planted seeds. This helps prevent the top layer of the mix to dry out. This will also make the potting mix become firmer and guarantees better contact with the mix and the seed.
Creating the Right Atmosphere so Your Seeds Will Grow into Plants
- Greenhouse effect: cover the seeds loosely with some plastic, because it helps the seed hold the heat and moisture. You can just cover the top layer with plastic or place the whole container inside.
- Heat: the container should be in a draft free spot that is warm. You should always check it daily. The best temperature for the seeds to germinate is around 65-70 degrees Fahrenheit. An ideal spot is the top of refrigerators. There are also heating mats that can be purchased for germinating.
- Light and air: to prevent molds there should be air circulating on the under the plastic. The seeds will not need light very much until they have emerged.
- Signs of life: when you seeds emerge, move them in a place where there is indirect light. The potting mix should be moist and not wet.
First signs of Seed Growth
- Once the seedlings begin appearing through the soil they will begin to unfurl and straighten up. What appear to be two leaves will appear but they are really cotyledons. These are in reality part of the seed that serves as their food source until the leaves appear for photosynthesis. When this happens move the seed to an indirect light source.
- The seeds should then be given about 12-18 hours of light a day. This does not seem ridiculously high because low rays of winter sun or artificial light compared to a full summer sun is not intense. To ensure the best lighting is given to your plant, attach a timer to your fluorescent or artificial light source.
- When the cotyledons wither the true leaves will form when the seedling becomes active in photosynthesizing. When this happens you will need to give it supplemental feeding. To encourage growth, the fertilizer used should be balanced or high in nitrogen or potassium.
- Once the leaves have formed or have become inches taller it is common that the gardeners will move the seedlings to a bigger pot. This is done to help the roots have more room to develop. A good size of pots to use is about 3 to 4 inches.
- Separate the seedlings into different pots or cut them all off except the strongest one when there is more than one seedling in the pot. Pulling out the other seedlings should not be done because this will harm the seedling you are keeping.
Plant Your Seedlings in Your Garden
Gradually introduce the seedlings into the garden. You should gradually do this for one to two weeks. This is done to acclimate the plant from drying winds, sunlight and climate changes.
- For several days in a row the plants should be in a shady spot.
- When the temperature will dip bring them in.
- When they are strong and appear to be growing out on their own gradually increase their time outside and amount of sunlight they have.
- Before and after transplanting your seeds remember to water them well. Don’t transplant them during the sunniest or hottest part of the day.
If you follow these steps your seeds will flourish from seedlings to full grown plants and your garden will be beautiful.