6 Tips for Starting Seeds Indoors

Are you starting seeds indoors this year? If you’re in a Zone 3 gardening zone like Winnipeg, Manitoba, mid March to early April is the time to get some of your favourite garden veggies started inside.

leeks

Based on our average first frost free date of May 24, mid March to mid April is the time to get leeks, tomatoes, peppers, and ground cherries started. I know, many people started weeks ago, but while I’m usually a keener on most things, I really don’t like starting my plants too soon. I find my plants get too tall and spindly and difficult to manage if started too early. But that’s just me – every gardener has their own way – you gotta do what works for you.

planting chart for manitoba
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Years ago, I started keeping a chart of when to seed what, how to plant them, whether to seed indoors or outdoors and so on. The chart changes and grows every year – here’s the latest version. It saves me from looking up the same info every year – perhaps you’ll find it useful too. Just remember, no two growing spots are alike, so tweaking and adjusting to your garden is important. 

In addition to figuring out timing, here are 6 tips for starting seeds indoors.

Tips for Starting Seeds Indoors

1. Lighting

Even a nice big south facing window is barely enough light for little seedlings to thrive. While the sunlight at noon may be super bright and hot, it just doesn’t shine bright long enough during the day. At the very least, you’ll need to rotate your seedlings so they don’t start growing lop-sided and so that those in the back row get a chance to move front and center.  If your window is an old, drafty one, your seedlings may suffer from the cold at night or from the extreme temperature difference between blazing sun at noon and icy cold drafts at night. You may need to draw the curtain at night or use a heating pad to keep your babies warm at night.

Proper lighting is a game changer. For me, having the proper lighting has made all the difference to successfully starting seedlings. You can’t grow good, hardy plants that you can successfully transplant outside without good light. I use a timer and keep the lights 1-2 inches above the plants for 16 hours per day.  I’ve mounted my lights on chains so I can move them up or down to accommodate plant height.

under grow lights

If you’re going to invest money to start your own seeds – start with lighting. Luckily, for starting seeds and little transplants, you don’t need to spend a fortune. If you’re just starting seedlings, shop lights mounted directly above the trays will work just fine. If you grow plants for mature fruits (tomatoes, cucumbers) or buds (you know!) you’ll need more specific and expensive lights that have the proper color and temperature requirements. When you google lighting for plants take this difference into consideration. Many plant lighting recommendations are for growing fruits and buds – not just seedlings.

I have a mixed system that I’ve added to as I could afford it. I started with old shop lights with flourescent bulbs, added some shop lights with T5 bulbs and now I have a few LED light strips. They all work to grow seedlings.

Use what you can afford, but use something! Seedlings without proper lighting will be weak and have a poor chance of making it in the outside world.

2. Seed Preferences

Every seed has its unique preferences regarding how deep they like to be planted, spacing, lighting, temperature, etc.  Those preferences are provided on commercial seed packs so just follow their advice. If you don’t have the instructions, you’ll find some basic guidelines in the Planting Chart .

Get your seeds ready

3. Containers

You have a lot of options when it comes to containers to start your seeds in.  The key criteria is that they must be: clean, have good drainage and able to hold 3 inches of starting mix.  You can reuse last year’s garden centre containers but you really should clean and bleach them to ensure there are no pathogens that will compromise your seedlings.

For most seeds, you’ll want either small, individual containers, or large trays with divided cells.  This prevents roots from growing together and makes it easier to divide your plants when ready to transplant.  Onions and leeks are less finicky and can be seeded in large trays. I use a mix of store bought containers, re-used (washed) containers from previous years, trays and toilet paper rolls.

lettuce containers

For lettuce and mesclun mix that I plant to eat, not transplant, I used an old lettuce container.  Ironic, don’t you think.

Remember, to ensure there are good drainage holes in your containers and that you have a drip tray underneath.  Things can get pretty messy if you forget that drip tray!

The plastic dome that comes with store bought seed starting trays is intended to help keep moisture and warm air in the container.  If you have it, great, if not don’t worry about it too much, just keep your plants moist and warm.

4. Soil

Soil is also key for starting seeds and a good rule of thumb is buy the best soil you can afford. Something light and fluffy.

I can’t always afford the best of the best and sometimes, I just mix together whatever I happen to have in the house, in the garage and around the yard. My mix may or may not include garden soil, vermiculite, vermipost (worm castings), compost, sand, peat moss and potting mix from the store. My goal is to mix up something that is light and fluffy, that holds moisture well but that also drains well and something that offers some nutrients.

The drawback of my method is that it’s a gamble. By not using the optimum soil, I’m taking a risk of not having proper germination or not having sufficient nutrients for my plants to be strong and healthy before transplanting outside.

If you’ve had seedling issues in the past or just want to avoid any risks, talk to a local garden center about the best soil you can get. Those big box stores that only sell gardening supplies for a limited time usually don’t have staff trained and knowledgeable about gardening. Go talk to experts and support their local businesses.

5. Watering

Before I put my soil in the containers, I make sure my soil is damp throughout.  Basically, I just mix in water until it’s damp, not sopping wet.  Once I put the seeds in the soil I use a spray bottle to keep the soil moist while the seeds are germinating.  I use a watering can only when the seedlings are big and strong enough to handle that kind of watering. Another option is to water the containers from the bottom up, by pouring water into the drip tray and letting the water get soaked up.

6. Labelling

It’s a really good idea to label your containers the moment you put a seed in them.  While eventually you’ll be able to tell the difference between a pepper plant and a tomato plant – it’ll be challenging to tell the difference between a roma and a bush tomato or a hot and a sweet pepper.  Whether it’s a piece of tape on the container, a sharpie scribble on the side or a fancy copper plated marker – label your containers!

label your containers

At this point, you may be wondering is starting seeds inside worth it?  Good question.  There’s no doubt that it takes time, energy and maybe a bit of investment (if you’re considering lighting) to start your own plants.  My recommendation is that if you don’t love it, don’t do it.  There are so many great options for buying healthy, strong plants at planting time, that the only reasons to start your own are because you enjoy it or you’re growing specialty seeds.  Sure there’s a price difference – $2.79 for a seed pack vs $3.00 per plant at the garden center.  But a $3.00/plant is still considerably cheaper than $3.00/lb of tomatoes at the store.

So, what are you gonna do?

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