A new season of gardening has begun!
I started my first planting of this year's crop of vegetables from seeds this week. For many of us, this is the time of year that we start growing with the knowledge that we are getting a lot closer to the good weather and gardening season.
With certain plants, it’s recommended that you start seeds indoors to give your plants a head start on the long growing season. The right time to start your seeds indoors varies significantly by plant and location, ranging anywhere from 2–12 weeks prior to your last frost date and transplanting.
When you start growing from seeds, it can save you a boat load of money, and you’ll also have healthier plants. In my zone here in 6a, heat-loving vegetables such as peppers and eggplant, which are some of our favorites, should be started indoors at least 8 weeks before the last frost date. I will get the tomatoes going in another week or so.
My number one tip for when to start seeds indoors is DO NOT begin planting all your plant varieties too early! This is one of the biggest mistakes made by new gardeners. Planting the wrong seeds too early, can produce leggy, root-bound, or stunting which will reduce or eliminate an early harvest.
Soaking seeds in distilled water before planting will also help jump start the germination process. The water both softens the seed shell and supplies moisture to the seed's interior.
Once soaked, the seed uses that moisture to quickly start germination and push out the new seedling's growth. As a rule of thumb, by soaking your seeds, the germination time also decreases, and the germination rate significantly increase.
Place the seeds in a very small cup and pour a little distilled water over them, allowing the seeds to soak up the water. For some seeds, a water soaking is ok for as little as 12 hours to bring them out of dormancy. For the majority of my startups, I go with 24 hours. For some thick coated seeds, a 48-hour bath is needed.
It's then on to the double cup system of red solo cups to pot up the pepper's, eggplant and tomato seeds after removing them from water. I place a couple of seeds in each cup and when they germinate and start growing, thin the seedlings to one plant per cup. I have had my highest germination rate ever doing it this way.
This will be my second year using the double cup system for starting seedlings and after the success I had last year, there's no going back.
Murdocks Madness The Patriot Gardner has put out a few great videos on using the double cup system that is well worth a look, The difference in his and my seed starts is that I place peppers and eggplants in water for 24 hours first. Good Diggin
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Best way to grow Huge Seedlings.....The Prequel (youtube.com)
Best way to grow HUGE Seedlings... (youtube.com)
2024 Planting Calendar by Zip Code | The Old Farmer's Almanac
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