Seed Starting

Its sounds so easy doesn’t it. That’s what I thought and boy was I wrong. It really becomes painfully clear as you try and start seeds inside why plants produce so many seeds. It take a specific set of conditions that are unique to each variety of plants and most of the seeds don't make it. They will fall prey to moisture and rot or get eaten by animals or will simply never have the conditions they need to be viable.

There a few key things that are important for all seeds to germinate they need some moisture but not to much and good seed to soil contact. To much water will cause the seed to rot instead of germinating and if it is placed incorrectly in the soil it will not receive the needed indicators to germinate. This is done in nature simple through fortuitous circumstances and by plants producing

many seeds in the attempt to get a few seedlings.



Seed Starting in yogurt cups and terra cotta pots

But luckily we are no longer forced to rely entirely on nature for the germination of our seeds. Through wonderful things like artificial lighting and custom made seed mixtures getting seeds to germinate is easier than ever. The right mixture will be light textured, pathogen and parasite free and will allow water to be easily taken up by the plants after they have germinated. After seeds have germinated they will quickly exhaust there internal energy stores and will need to begin photosynthesis. Most sunlight especially inside a house is too weak and directional when seed starting usually begins to be used by itself. Some artificial light must be used to prevent the plant seedlings from getting leggy and reaching for the sun. The most commonly used lights for this are fluorescent lights since they are cheap, easily available and work well in many situations. They can be strung up on chains or ropes and raised and lowered as needed above the seeds to keep them at the optimum height. It is critical during early development that they get as much light as they can get which ends up being about 12-15 hours a day with the lights so close they are almost touching the plant

Regular watering is critical for seedling due to there fragile nature and the small amount of soil available to them. Watering can be easily accomplished by punching holes into the bottom of soil containers and placing all the containers into a water proof tray. Then by placing water in the tray it is easily taken up by the soil in the containers which provides even watering. Just make sure drain the extra water from the trays to prevent over-watering of the seedlings or seed rotting. This method also makes it easier to do any fertilizing that needs to be done.

With the proper soil mixture, good watering, good lighting and a little luck you will have home grown seedlings at a fraction of what they would cost you at a greenhouse. For more information check out this article at Mother Earth News and other resources likeMini Farming by Brett Markham.

 

 

If you are looking for ways to start seeds without buying all the special seed trays and greenhouse lids check out an article I have on Infobarrel call 3 DIY Seed Starters for Garden Seeds

Until next time

 

Josh