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Wednesday, March 22, 2017

How To Sucessfully Start Seeds

Hello dear friends!  Since I had several comments  in my last post that it was hard to start seeds, I thought I'd let you in on how we do it.  We successfully start a couple hundred plants every year for the past four decades, so I guess our system works.

First refrigerate your seeds for at least a week.  We keep our seeds in our garage, so they are naturally refrigerated.  What you are doing is fooling your seeds into thinking they have  experienced a Winter.  Then when the are planted, they think it's Spring and begin to "wake up".

Next use a good quality starting soil.  We use the one from Miracle grow.  Starting soil is not the place to cheap out.

Moisten the soil, but don't saturate it.

Plant in one of these covered planting trays:
Or create your own from old enamel pans and some sort of plastic (even plastic wrap) to cover them.  We reuse the same ones over and over each year so it's worth the outlay of money for us.  You can find these sort of things at estate sales, also.

Use warming pads under the planting trays. 
These can be purchased inexpensively on-line and are well-worth the money.

Once the seeds begin to sprout, crack the lid a bit, it keeps the plants from becoming too wet.

Once they sprout, remove the plastic cover and  use a grow light for  10-12 hours a day.  Place it just a few inches from the plants.  We bought one of those grow light contraptions, but when the grow light burnt out, we replaced it with  fluorescent lights, one is "cool" and one is "warm"  (it says on the package).  This mimics natural sunlight.

Mist your plants with a plant mister.  Avoid getting the plants too damp.

Once the plants get bigger and leggy, transplant to 3-inch  pots. Once they get this big you can begin watering them. If your plants are leggy, plant them deep into the pot.

Harden off your plants, by putting them outside, first in a shaded sheltered area, gradually increasing their time outdoors and in stronger sunlight, until the are ready to  be planted.  About  four weeks before our last frost date, we place ours in a cold frame so they become accustomed to the cold nights.

The minor expense of a few pieces of equipment such as the grow light and warming pads net really nice plants, and the cost is nominal over the course of years.  An added advantage to starting your own plants is that you get to grow the varieties you want and not be dependent upon the commercial varieties that most garden centers and nurseries offer.  Hope this helps!

Hugs
Jane



28 comments:

  1. Thanks for this post Jane! I appreciate the tips of putting the seeds in the fridge, and also how you get the plants hardened to be planted. I have been able to start plants indoors in the past, but they have been spindly and also they tend to die when I put them outside. So I think gradually increasing their time outdoors and acclimating them to the outdoor weather will be helpful! Hugs, Andrea

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    1. Don't be afraid to plant the stems deep, Andrea, it won't hurt the plants and makes for stronger stems. You have to be patient acclimating them, it's quite a babysitting job!

      Hugs
      Jane

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    2. I think that is the ingredient I lack...patience! ha. Hugs, Andrea

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    3. Ha! We were discussing that today, and apparently that's a trait that I lack also!

      Hugs
      Jane

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  2. Thanks for sharing. Do you always use a light even if by a window?

    Blessings,
    Leslie

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    1. Hi Leslie! Yes, I always use a light. When I was starting out I just kept them by a window and had mixed results. The light plus the warming pads are the key, I believe. All my seeds that we planted last week are sprouting. So success again.

      About the missing e-mail. I've searched all of my e-mail folders and it's not in any. I hope that it is just a matter of resending it on your part. I'm anxiously awaiting reading it.

      Hugs
      Jane

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  3. I have never refrigerated my seeds. I also have mixed results with my seed starting, so you can bet I'll be trying that. I pretty much follow the rest you mentioned. Thanks! I hope the little green sprouts conjure thoughts of spring.

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    1. Hi Laurie! That's an old trick. Hope it works for you. It will be Spring soon, even if the weather doesn't cooperate. Never had a year without one, yet!

      Hugs
      Jane

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  4. Up until last season, I started all our vege plants from seed, giving seedlings away when we reached saturation point in the garden beds. 200 seeds per packet was just a bit too many!!!. Yes, I use store bought seed mix, then good quality potting mix, then they go from glasshouse to a hardening off area that has a netting cover, and a shed wall behind, then into the garden.A huge saving. love the heating mats, we don't need them here, or lighting, but a friend in Alaska uses long lighting in her hothouse.

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    1. How nice to have a greenhouse, Jean! I'd love one but can't figure out where I'd put it. New little plants take a lot of care, I think a lot of novice gardeners don't realize just how much you have to baby them along. I always start too many plants too, then I always feel bad when I can't use them all. That's why I always end up with too many peppers and tomatoes.

      Hugs
      Jane

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  5. It is interesting to see how others start their seedlings, the only seedlings I start indoors are tomatoes, capsicums and aubergines, I too use commercial seed compost, I usually put them on the windowsill just have to remember to turn them everyday or they get a lean! Then when they are about 2 inches they can go out into the green house. I have never in general refrigerated seeds, but admit to doing that to lettuce seeds for mid summer sowing they like a bit of cool to get them going. You are right there is nothing like homegrown from scratch, they also make sturdier plants.

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    1. Hi Sharon! I never think to do that for late lettuce. Thanks for the suggestion! We don't have enough sunny days in the early Spring (or enough windowsills, Ha!) to start our veggies your way, but I can imagine it works very well for people fortunate to live in sunny warm places.

      Hugs
      Jane

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  6. Great seed starting tips Jane!
    It certainly helps in the budget to start your own seeds.

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    1. Thanks Vickie! It certainly does!

      Hugs
      Jane

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  7. Jane,
    Thanks for all the details on starting plants. My thumb is not very green, but I manage to have a small herb garden. For people who only start with plants, I got some live herb plants at the grocery store in the produce dept. and there were actually about six different plants in one container, so they were pretty inexpensive, but not as much as seeds, of course. But for me they worked.

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    1. Great tip, Sheila! I've spotted herbs in the produce section also, and thought they were nicer than the ones in the gardening section. Can't wait to get out there and clean up my herb bed and see what plants need to be replaced. Were your ears burning? I was telling my husband about your amazing tiny quilts last night. They still boggle my mind!

      Hugs
      Jane

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    2. Nope, my ears weren't burning, but my face got hot a few times - does that count? Delivered the quilt to the museum yesterday and am always relieved to turn it over to them. Thanks for your kind words.

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    3. All I can say is that if I had your talent, Sheila, I'd have to buy a barn to convert to hang all my quilts. So I guess it's a good thing that my quilting is hopeless.

      HUgs
      Jane

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  8. Well. I have been doing this all wrong. Which explains why I need to buy replacement plants by the time planting season starts. I trust your knowledge - you haven't steered me wrong on your oven fried chicken recipe and a few other things, but now all I am thinking of is "fried" chicken.
    I haven't invested grow lights because I knew there had to be another way (of lighting). Thanks Jane!
    Hugs, Jen

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    1. Well if four decades of experimenting and experience count, Jen, then I guess I'm as much as expert as most gardeners. Ha! As long as you get a cool and warm light, you'll get the full spectrum. We hang ours by that chain for hanging plants from the old plant light set-up, but you could rig up something from scrap wood. It's just a rod across to legs. You're clever, I'm sure you can figure it out.

      Hugs
      Jane

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  9. Great tips! I had not heard about keeping the seeds in the refrigerator for a week before planting if they have been in a warm environment, but it does make sense! Now you have me wanting to get my seeds starts. I'll have to ask Jeff where he put my grow light that I bought last year at a garage sale. :)

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    1. Locating the equipment is the hardest part of the task, Debbie!

      Hugs
      Jane

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  10. Dear Jane,

    A great idea, showing your process for starting seeds! I can never figure out where I would stick seedlings in our already-crowded house, which is why we built our greenhouse. Of course, we've been bringing the plants in and out with the fluctuating temps; it certainly is a big babysitting job!

    Love,

    Marqueta

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    1. Our house is always crowded this time of year, Marqueta. Two large tables in our tiny dining room, is really a bit much. Wish we had a greenhouse, but the zoning laws in the village...sure wish we had more independence to do what we want to do with our own property.

      Wanted to tell you that I loved that Japanese video you put up on YouTube. Thank you for sharing it!

      HUgs
      Jane

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  11. Great advice about starting seeds - especially those that aren't typically available at farmers markets and in the store. I didn't know that about keeping them in the refrigerator for a week before trying to start them.

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    1. Thanks! It's an old farmer's trick. Every little thing helps

      Jane

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  12. Hi Jane! Well, I missed this post - seems my blog reader isn't working right. I kept waiting for a new post to show up in my feed, but it never did. Love the seed starting tutorial. Mine are usually hit and miss. I've never had heating pads for seed starting, but Goodman found some on Craigslist he's going to check into for me.
    Hope you have a great week!
    Toni

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    1. Those warming pads are one of the main keys, Toni. It's amazing how quickly the seeds sprout with them. Like all little babies, seeds love to be kept warm. Ha!

      Hugs
      Jane

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