Start Your Garden Inside

A Seed Starting Primer for Northern Climes

If you’re itching to get your hands dirty, there’s no need to wait for the snow to melt. You can get started right now on this year’s garden by getting a head start indoors. Now’s the time to get organized and figure out what you want to grow, especially if you’re located in a northern, short-season climate. Some folks spend the winter pouring over seed catalogs, but most of us don’t have time for such luxuries. I usually pick whatever’s available from Walmart, as the prices are reasonable and the selection fair. Don’t let anyone tell you seeds can’t be saved for several years. You’ll often have seeds leftover, and they will store quite nicely if kept in a dry, dark place. I usually stuff all the leftover seed bags into jar and store in the basement until the following year.

In order to time your indoor starts correctly, you’ll need to figure out which USDA gardening “zone” you are located in. I am in zone 5, which means winters can get down to 20 below (I’ve seen them get lower). It also means my average last frost date happens around May 28. Because my frost date is so late, I have to start some of my plants inside several weeks before planting time. Otherwise, the plants will not produce fruit in time for harvest season. I have to factor in elevation and a unique micro-climate as well. I’m in a mountainous area some 1500 feet higher than the surrounding valleys, but my garden gets southwestern exposure, mitigating some of the elevation difference. Oddly enough, the valleys are often colder in the winter, as cold air travels down the mountainside and settles in the valleys many cold pockets. It’s not unusual for those of us at the higher elevations to experience sunshine while the valleys are covered in thick fog. But being at this elevation means my last frost comes a good two weeks later. Finding your zone is important, but check with local gardeners for the best information on frost dates.

If you haven’t done so already, get those peppers in the dirt right now. The general order of seed starting goes something like this:
10 weeks before your last frost: Peppers, Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower and Brussel Sprouts
6 weeks before last frost: Tomatoes, Eggplant
4 weeks before last frost: Melon

You’ll notice a lot of vegetables are left out of this list. That’s because they can be direct seeded in your garden, and there’s no need to go through the hassle of starting them indoors. Most hardware and garden stores sell seed starter trays at a minimal cost, or you can use whatever you have laying around that happens to be 2” deep. Cream cheese containers, old milk cartons, tupperware – they’ll all do the trick. Just make sure you poke a couple holes in the bottom for drainage. I personally like the plastic trays I bought at a local feed and seed, and have re-used them year after year. While you’re there, pick up some seed starter dirt. It’s a little pricier than regular potting soil, but you’ll get a higher germination rate and healthier starts.

If you plan to make gardening a regular hobby, consider building yourself a plant stand. Similar in appearance to a bookshelf, this stand will allow you to hang lights on each shelf. No need to spend a fortune on fancy grow lights. The cheap fluorescent lights sold at hardware stores are your best bet. A small investment in a grow stand will pay off dividends year after year.

Once you have your tools, it’s time to get started. Get a large bowl to put your seed starter soil in, then wet it down with some water. Not enough to where the soil is saturated, but well moistened. Transfer the soil to your desired containers. If you’re using commercial trays, you’ll plant one seed per small cell. If using a larger container, plant seeds about two inches apart. Make a small indentation in the soil with a pencil about ¼” deep, then drop in the seed. Tap down lightly, covering the seed with soil while not compacting it. Now mist with warm water and label the container. Next, cover the container with clear plastic to keep the environment moist. If the soil is allowed to dry up, the seeds won’t germinate. Commercial seed starting trays often come with plastic lids, but in lieu of that, simply wrap in a clear plastic bag, but leave a small air gap to prevent mold growth.

I use a heating blanket to increase germination rates and keep sun-loving plants happy. Lay the blanket on your growing surface, then place the plant container on top of it. You may want to lay a sheet of plastic on top of the blanket just to protect it from dirt and spills.

Once the seeds germinate and raise their little heads out of the dirt, you can turn off the blanket and turn on the fluorescent light (the lights will now provide the heat). Use a timer and set the light to stay on about 18 hours a day. The lights should hang just two or three inches above the seedlings, and be raised little by little as they grow. It’s important to keep those lights hovering just above the plants. If hung too high, the plants will grow tall, spindly and weak as they strain to seek out the light. A short, stocky plant is a healthy plant.

Once the seedlings have sprouted their second set of true leaves (the first one doesn’t count), it’s time to pot those babies up to bigger containers. You could waste money on expensive store pots, but why bother when cheap styrofoam cups work just as well. Poke a couple holes in the bottom and fill with regular potting soil, then gently transplant the babies into their new homes. Then water with a weak solution of fertilizer. Keep them under the fluorescent lights until ready for their final transplant: the garden.

But before you get too excited, there’s a short transition your young plants should go through before being subjected to the harsh realities of outdoor life. Until now, they’ve had it easy with the protected environment you’ve given them. No wind, rain, cold, or direct sun. They will need a short period of adjustment before being thrown to Mother Nature. This time is referred to in gardening vernacular as the “hardening off” phase. Set the little guys out on your deck a short time each day, exposing them in larger and larger increments to the elements. Make sure you bring them back inside each time, and don’t set them out if it’s too windy or rainy. After they’ve adjusted to your porch (or other protected area), set them out on a less protected area in increments. After about a week of “hardening off,” they are finally ready to transplant to your garden, and hopefully, provide you with a bounty of produce!

If you have any questions fire away....I've been doing this the past four years and can probably answer most of your questions right here. If not, I can certainly point you in the right direction. Or maybe you want to share your own seed starting experience. All the better, as gardening is an ongoing information-gathering process and we can all learn from eachother....

This post has been edited by Misanthrope: Apr 2 2007, 04:09 PM

Great post, maybe you can shed some light on the problem I had this year.

I had a fair germination rate, but the plants failed to thrive. The seed was fresh, most purchased from Heritage Seed Co. We are trying to collect varieties that we can save our own seed from and that is what this company specializes in. I did pretty much everything you listed, though I did use regular potting soil. I had them under a grow light and everything.

I planted one entire package of Big Jim pepper plants (I think that was the variety) and virtually every seed sprouted, however, none of them were able to break out of the seed cap. They got about an inch tall and the little seed just stuck to them until they died. It's been a very dissapointing growing season so far.

But my driveway flower bed is doing great! Flowers are actually growing like weeds!
I'm new here, so I am going to try to post a picture of what the bed looked like last year, hope this works......
Well, looks like maybe I'm not smart enough to get it to post.

Sorry about the double post, I'm still trying to figure out how everything works here.

Howdy Sheepdog (you wouldn't by chance be a sheepdog fan?).

Peppers are a little touchy. Sounds like you were trying an heirloom variety? I like them too, especially given the possibility of saving viable seed. These days it's almost an act of protest given Monsanto's encroachment on the seed industry. Other than not using seed starter soil, was there anything else that may have been omitted from the starting process? If everything else was followed to the "t," my guess is the seed itself wasn't good, and I would get a refund. Another possibility is they weren't kept moist enough during the sprouting process and dried up. In the future, you may try keeping a mister on hand for times when the seed seems "stuck."

But don't give up, Sheepdog! It's not too late to start some more peppers indoors. You'll just want to pot them up to planters instead of out into the garden this time, that way you can bring them inside when things start turning cold (I'm guessing you're in a northern clime).

Look forward to seeing pictures of your driveway flower bed. Sounds like it's much more colorful than mine..

Yes, I actually did mist them too. Did everything else right too.
One question, how far do you keep your grow lights away from the plants? Mine was about 8 inches, I'm thinking maybe too far? I also may of not regulated the lights just perfect, forgot to turn them off a few nights.

That Heritage seed co is really nice, they do have a web site, but the place is not very far from where I live, so we went over there when they were having one of their garden shows. It was a lot of fun, they had old time costumes on, and were playing live folk music, a real party! Lots of vendors with plants, garden ideas, demonstrations, and all kinds of neat stuff.

Oh, and yes, you guessed it, I am a big Old English Sheepdog fan, can't ya tell?

No wonder you're disappointed. I would be too after going to all that trouble. May as well get a refund from Heritage, 'cause it sounds like everything was done right from your end. I don't think having the lights eight inches away from the seedlings would have prevented them from sprouting correctly. I usually keep the lights just a few inches above the plants to keep them from getting too spindly. The further the light is the more they have a tendency to reach. The goal is to produce a short, stocky plant. Not sure if I mentioned it in the original post, but having a fan on helps to this end as well, as the stems bulk up as they build up resistance to the air circulation.

I'm not sure what happens when the lights are kept on all day and night. The growers around here suggest keeping them on around 17-18 hours a day, which seems a little high, but it seems to work.

Yeah, I love those garden shows and farmer's markets when all the country folk show up with their wares and awesome produce. Very inspiring. Makes me want to go home and try doing the same thing. How they manage to get their produce out so early in the season remains somewhat of a mystery to me.

I have absolutely no idea how I guessed you love sheepdogs! My favorite canine is the rottweiler.

Well, I do have a few tricks for early crops! One is of course, the clear plastic crop row covers.
Or, if your cheap like me, you can save those 2 liter plastic soda bottles, or milk cartons. (any clear or light plastic jugs) Cut off the pour out end, and then just thumb tack them to short scrap pieces of 2X4, or anything else you have handy to weight them down and put them over your plants at night, or in case of frost warnings.

Another trick is to hill up a row of dirt, then cover it with black plastic. This helps it to drain, so it isn't so wet the seeds rot, and the black plastic soaks up the heat and warms the soil so the seeds will go ahead and germinate. This trick works real well with green beans.

Rotts are one of the few breeds I have never owned. Nothing against them in particular, there are some really nice Rotts out there, but there are also a lot of mediocre ones. It is a breed that is being bred too far from it's original working purpose (butchers dog) and in so doing, temperment issues and other problems are not helping the breed at all.

Oh, if you want to check out that seed place, the web address is www.oldseed.com

Thanks for the excellent ideas. I know a couple farmers around here utilize greenhouses, but our property is pretty hilly. We'd have to excavate. I've been trying to get my hands on some "floating row covers," otherwise known as "remay" but no one seems to carry it around it here. And since I'm also a tight wad, I'm remiss to order them through a catalog 'cause of the shipping costs. Guess I might have to break down though, 'cause we'll probably get our first frost in September and I want to be ready. I like your trick with the green beans and black plastic. I've heard some people use red plastic around their tomatoes, though I've never tried it myself.

Yeah, I know what you mean about Rotties. I did some rescue work with them and back-yard breeders have definitely taken their toll on the breed, but then - they seem to have that effect on everything they touch. I lost my Rott (Helga) several years ago when she died suddenly at the age of seven. Since then I've only fostered, though Helga herself was a rescue dog from the Humane Society, and had suffered at the hand of some back-yard breeder piece of trash. She was just a puppy and the shelter had to remove one of her eyes because the breeder allowed it to get infected to the point of no return, then dumped her at the shelter for someone else to deal with. I guess she was no longer "marketable" with just one eye. As it turns out, she got along just fine with one eye. Cats, however, are a perennial favorite at our household. I can't remember a time in my life (other than traveling) when at least one cat wasn't blessing me with it's presence.

*checking out oldseed.com*