Seed Starting Basics
Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2003 12:42 pm
Seed Starting Basics
Why do gardeners plant seeds indoors? It's not just that we can't wait for spring, it's to get a head start on everybody else.
CONTEMPLATING THE MIRACLE of plants from seeds is often what keeps diehard gardeners from becoming lunatics while awaiting the beginning of Spring. Seed catalogs and good conversation fill the gaps, but the truly industrious will prepare a method for starting seeds indoors.
Seeds are relatively cheap, and it's down right rewarding to spend a buck or so on a seed pack and have dozens of transplants for the garden early in the growing season. And it would be a pity to miss the beginnings of all those juicy tomatoes that you intend to harvest weeks before anyone else. The seasoned gardener will even make indoor plantings in intervals of a week or more, since the very first transplants into the garden may be well before the average last frost date. It's a gamble we enjoy making, and the rewards are great if we succeed. If all goes well, we manage to get a head start on the season with healthy plants well before disease, bugs and vermin become active. In addition, we've also felt only a light frustration of losing that first batch of transplants in the event of frost, since we have their replacements already waiting to try again.
In defense of intervals, we also have Plan B in place not only in the event of frost but for things that we'd never even imagined --like a pet bird who nipped the tops of the basil seedlings, or a dog who felt a need to dig a hole inside the house. There's even an old family rumor of a well-meaning boy scout who applied an entire bag of fertilizer to a seed bed in an attempt to achieve his good deed of the day. All culprits doing what is natural to them, but at the same time justifying the need for germination at intervals.
Average Last Frost - Find the average date of the last Spring frost in your area. Use it only as a guideline for estimating when to begin germinating seeds indoors: Consider the number of days before germination occurs (on the back of the seed packet), and add three or four weeks to this-- at least long enough for the seedlings to form a second pair of true leaves. Subtract the sum of these from your average Spring frost date for a proposed planting date. If you have enough seeds to gamble, plant intervals of a couple weeks earlier, then save enough seeds for a couple weeks after the average frost date.
Better safe than sorry.
Note: Many transplants won't do well if the ground still too cold.
For example, the average date of my last spring frost is from January 30 to February 28. I might plant seeds inside that take 18 days to germinate. I add 3 weeks (21 days) to 18 days and mark my calendar to plant 39 days before my average first frost date. So I can take a chance and start planting in late December --theoretically, I could have sunflowers by mid-April. However, if a late frost takes out my sunflowers in March, and I have no Plan B, it could easily be mid-July before I have blossoms. So just to be safe, I'll germinate some seeds that will be ready to transplant two weeks after my average spring frost date. Subtract germination time (18 days) +3 weeks (21 days); subtract the sum of these (39 days) to TWO WEEKS PAST my average frost date (March 13) and mark my calendar to plant the last batch of seeds on February 3.
If you smoke, don't do it when handling plants and seeds.
Planting Depth - In order to germinate, seeds require moisture and oxygen in addition to the planting medium. Optimum conditions for achieving this delicate balance are determined mostly by planting depth. Follow the instructions on the seed packet for best results, but if these are seeds you've collected and/or no instructions are available, try planting the depth of the diameter of the seed. If they're so tiny that they can't be handled well, scatter them over the top of the seedbed and dust them lightly with your planting medium. Sowing seeds too deeply is the most common reason for poor germination. Very tiny seeds such as petunias and snapdragons can easily be planted one at a time using a seed spoon. These simple but valuable tools come in 4 sizes and are very inexpensive. After going to the trouble to plant tiny seeds one-by-one, be very careful when watering so that they don't wash away from the intended planting space.
Thinning Seedlings - Many times a clump of small seeds will germinate together with their tiny roots intertwined, and though frugal gardeners often attempt to separate and replant the seedlings, this is most often unsuccessful since it disturbs the delicate new root systems. In this case it is always best to use a small scissor to snip the extra seedings away from the chosen one. When the seedlings are removed for transplanting to the garden, do not lift them by the stem; instead, lift them gently by one leaf. If the leaf is damaged, more leaves will come. If the stem is broken, you've lost the seedling.
Light - This is a common problem with seeds started indoors. If seedlings are gangly and thin, they may succumb when their stems are too weak to hold the first leaves. Before this happens, seedlings are tall, thin, and desperately growing toward the light. This gangly appearance is caused by lack of light; move the seed bed closer to a light source. Even if they get ample light from only one direction, they'll lean in that direction; give the seed bed a quarter turn each day to prevent leaning.
Why do gardeners plant seeds indoors? It's not just that we can't wait for spring, it's to get a head start on everybody else.
CONTEMPLATING THE MIRACLE of plants from seeds is often what keeps diehard gardeners from becoming lunatics while awaiting the beginning of Spring. Seed catalogs and good conversation fill the gaps, but the truly industrious will prepare a method for starting seeds indoors.
Seeds are relatively cheap, and it's down right rewarding to spend a buck or so on a seed pack and have dozens of transplants for the garden early in the growing season. And it would be a pity to miss the beginnings of all those juicy tomatoes that you intend to harvest weeks before anyone else. The seasoned gardener will even make indoor plantings in intervals of a week or more, since the very first transplants into the garden may be well before the average last frost date. It's a gamble we enjoy making, and the rewards are great if we succeed. If all goes well, we manage to get a head start on the season with healthy plants well before disease, bugs and vermin become active. In addition, we've also felt only a light frustration of losing that first batch of transplants in the event of frost, since we have their replacements already waiting to try again.
In defense of intervals, we also have Plan B in place not only in the event of frost but for things that we'd never even imagined --like a pet bird who nipped the tops of the basil seedlings, or a dog who felt a need to dig a hole inside the house. There's even an old family rumor of a well-meaning boy scout who applied an entire bag of fertilizer to a seed bed in an attempt to achieve his good deed of the day. All culprits doing what is natural to them, but at the same time justifying the need for germination at intervals.
Average Last Frost - Find the average date of the last Spring frost in your area. Use it only as a guideline for estimating when to begin germinating seeds indoors: Consider the number of days before germination occurs (on the back of the seed packet), and add three or four weeks to this-- at least long enough for the seedlings to form a second pair of true leaves. Subtract the sum of these from your average Spring frost date for a proposed planting date. If you have enough seeds to gamble, plant intervals of a couple weeks earlier, then save enough seeds for a couple weeks after the average frost date.
Better safe than sorry.
Note: Many transplants won't do well if the ground still too cold.
For example, the average date of my last spring frost is from January 30 to February 28. I might plant seeds inside that take 18 days to germinate. I add 3 weeks (21 days) to 18 days and mark my calendar to plant 39 days before my average first frost date. So I can take a chance and start planting in late December --theoretically, I could have sunflowers by mid-April. However, if a late frost takes out my sunflowers in March, and I have no Plan B, it could easily be mid-July before I have blossoms. So just to be safe, I'll germinate some seeds that will be ready to transplant two weeks after my average spring frost date. Subtract germination time (18 days) +3 weeks (21 days); subtract the sum of these (39 days) to TWO WEEKS PAST my average frost date (March 13) and mark my calendar to plant the last batch of seeds on February 3.
If you smoke, don't do it when handling plants and seeds.
Planting Depth - In order to germinate, seeds require moisture and oxygen in addition to the planting medium. Optimum conditions for achieving this delicate balance are determined mostly by planting depth. Follow the instructions on the seed packet for best results, but if these are seeds you've collected and/or no instructions are available, try planting the depth of the diameter of the seed. If they're so tiny that they can't be handled well, scatter them over the top of the seedbed and dust them lightly with your planting medium. Sowing seeds too deeply is the most common reason for poor germination. Very tiny seeds such as petunias and snapdragons can easily be planted one at a time using a seed spoon. These simple but valuable tools come in 4 sizes and are very inexpensive. After going to the trouble to plant tiny seeds one-by-one, be very careful when watering so that they don't wash away from the intended planting space.
Thinning Seedlings - Many times a clump of small seeds will germinate together with their tiny roots intertwined, and though frugal gardeners often attempt to separate and replant the seedlings, this is most often unsuccessful since it disturbs the delicate new root systems. In this case it is always best to use a small scissor to snip the extra seedings away from the chosen one. When the seedlings are removed for transplanting to the garden, do not lift them by the stem; instead, lift them gently by one leaf. If the leaf is damaged, more leaves will come. If the stem is broken, you've lost the seedling.
Light - This is a common problem with seeds started indoors. If seedlings are gangly and thin, they may succumb when their stems are too weak to hold the first leaves. Before this happens, seedlings are tall, thin, and desperately growing toward the light. This gangly appearance is caused by lack of light; move the seed bed closer to a light source. Even if they get ample light from only one direction, they'll lean in that direction; give the seed bed a quarter turn each day to prevent leaning.
