Ten Steps To Successfully Starting Vegetable Seeds

In my last posting in this series, I shared a free seed starting calculator with you to help you determine when to plant based on the last frost date for your area.  In this posting, I cover the ten steps you should follow to successfully start seeds.

Ten Steps to A Successful Seed Starting Program:

1. Containers - First select a container system for your seedlings. You can buy a variety of commercial products or even start seeds in used egg cartons or yogurt cups.  I've tried a number of systems over the years and would recommend either individual plastic pots filled with soilless potting mix or complete seed starting kits like Burpee's Ultimate Seed Starter.  These containers are relatively cheap, extremely convenient, and almost fool proof. (I'll cover the pros and cons of various seed starting containers in my next posting for those interested.) When you buy your containers, also purchase some plastic trays to set your pots into as well as some clear plastic tray covers. (Below: a photo of a plastic tray and clear cover and also Burpee's Ultimate Growing System that includes a tray, plastic cover, water wicking mat, peat pellets and plastic cell containers)
    
    
2. Potting Medium - Fill the pots about 75% full with a soilless potting mix.  These soilless mixes are made from sphagnum moss, perlite, vermiculite and as the name implies contain no soil.  Soilless mixes are easy to work with an are also sterile.  Yup, sterile.... Don't plant seedlings in either garden soil, or dirt from your back yard.  Traditional soil contains micro-organisms, some of which are good and some of which are bad.  The bad ones can kill delicate seedlings so go with growing mediums that are sterile and free of any such nasties. 
3. Add the seeds - Place a seed into the center of your container.  The general rule of thumb is to plant seeds at a depth that is three times thicker than the seeds. That means that tomato seeds will planted relatively shallow in the container because the seeds are small, but squash seeds will be planted deeper because the seeds are much larger. Place a seed in the center of the pot, tamp it down to ensure good contact, and then cover with more soilless mix to the appropriate depth. 
4. Set Containers Into Trays & Label Them - once the seed is in it's container, place the container into the plastic tray and label it with a wooden or plastic stake. Do this right away so you don't forget what is in each pot.
5. Water- Add some water to the base of the tray and allow it to wick upward into the pots until your potting medium is thoroughly moist. You want to add enough water to soak the pots, but not so much that they are swimming in water. Watering is tricky and depends on your indoor temperature and humidity.  Try to adjust the daily watering amount so that by day's end the soil is still moist but there no visible water left in the bottom of the tray. Seedlings have enough food stored in the seed for the first few days of life, but after that, they need additional nutrients. Soilless mixes may, or may not, include added fertilizer.  If your mix does not contain fertilizer, you'll need to add some to the water that you give your seedlings.  Use a 50% dilution of the normal strength fertilizer until you transplant the seeds.
6. Temperature & Light - To germinate, your seeds need to be kept warm.  Start your seeds indoors in a relatively warm place in your house.  I highly recommend purchasing a seed starting mat.  This mat looks and functions a lot like a heating pad.  You place the mat under the seed trays and plug it into an electric outlet.  The mat keeps  your containers at a temperature that is approximately 70 degrees Fahrenheit - the perfect temperature for germination of a wide range of vegetable seeds. During the first few days of germination, you don't need light. However, once the seedlings emerge they will need to be placed near a window or under a grow light.  Seedlings to get +6 hours of light each day. 
7. Post Germination - At the same time as the seeds emerge from the soil, you should also remove the clear plastic tray cover. This cover is great during germination, but can create too much humidity for the young seedlings and cause them to become infected by fungi. Removing the cover allows air to circulate around the seedlings so they stay healthy.
8. Transitioning to the Garden -  Seedlings emerge with a set of oblong shaped leaves called cotyledon.  All subsequent leaves will be shaped like that of the mature plant.  These latter leaves are called "true" leaves.  You should not attempt to transplant seedlings into the garden until they have 3-4 true leaves, and not before you have taken the next step to "harden" them.  
9. Hardening - This is the process of acclimating the seedlings to an outdoor environment.    Hardening allows seedlings to accommodate themselves more variable conditions of light, humidity and temperature than those inside your house.   To accomplish this, take your seedling trays outside in the morning and let them stay outside for a 3-4 hours on the first day, 4-5 hours on the second day, and 5-6 hours the third day. On day 4, you can transplant the seedling into the garden.
10. Transplanting - Remove the plant from the pot by first tapping the sides and bottom of the pot to loosen the soil. Press on the bottom of the pot and until the plant slides out.  Then gently tease some of the roots from the root ball prior to placing in the ground. 

Starting seeds isn't that hard, but occasionally things don't work out. Don't blame yourself or get frustrated. Even experienced gardeners lose some seedlings each year.  The fix for a partial or total loss is to go to the garden center and buy seedlings that are ready for transplant. 

In my next posting, I'll go into more detail on the pros and cons of various container systems.

Comments

[Frankie Dawson]

Thanks for these tips. I've tried a similar process before and it didn't work. I'm not the best gardener and are constantly learning and trying new things. Hopefully these tips will help me to achieve success.

[H. Mark Delman]

Thanks for leaving a comment. If you have questions, or run into a problem, leave a comment here or on the PlanterTomato page on Facebook and either one of my readers or me will try to help you.