Starting Vegetable Seeds Indoors
Germinate Plants in a small Greenhouse to Extend the Growing Season
Apr 6, 2009
With the skyrocketing price of food and general bland taste of most grocery store-bought produce, there has never been a better time to start a home vegetable garden. While space is a limiting factor, it's possible to grow healthy great-tasting vegetables and herbs on an acre or a sunny windowsill.
There are many commercial greenhouses and nurseries that sell seedlings ready for transplanting at reasonable prices. However, if the quantity and variety of vegetables desired is large, it can become expensive to purchase everything from them. Rather, the grower benefits by carefully planning their garden and starting their own transplants from seeds at home.
Choosing Seeds
Selecting which vegetables to grow is eclipsed in joy only by actually biting into a ripe fruit that miraculously metamorphosed from a small seed into a bushy verdant beast. A trip to the local garden store or a quick web search will reveal myriad choices in respect to flavor, hardiness, disease resistance, size as well as different heirloom varieties.
When choosing seeds, it's important to be cognizant of the planting space available. Different vegetables vary in their spatial needs and crowding plants into a small area is never a good idea as they will compete for resources and the benefit of saving space will ultimately be overshadowed by poor yields and potentially unhealthy plants.
The GreenhouseThese components are usually sold as a single unit in garden stores:
- Heating mat - This is essentially an electric mattress for seeds. The mat raises the soil temperature to around 90 degrees Farenheit and speeds up germination time. Sizes range from 10' x 20' to 48' x 20'.
- Seed Tray- Should be the same size as the heating mat. Many sizes are available, some with as many as 400 cells or more. The seed tray is placed directly on top the heating mat. Another option is to put a thin towel beneath the seed tray to capture water that will leak out of cells after watering.
- Seed Starter Mix- Typically a blend of perlite, sphagnum and vermiculite. It's very friable and provides a loose aerobic environment for the roots to penetrate. Use a spray bottle to keep the mix moist while the seeds are germinating.
- Dome- A plastic cap that sits on top of the seed tray. This lid traps in humidity and retains a moist environment. If the entire seed tray is not filled and watered, often there isn't enough moisture. There should be a film of water vapor that coats the dome. If this doesn't form, one solution is to place a small cup of water inside the greenhouse.
After filling the desired cells with starter mix, create a small depression in the soil and place a single seed in the cell. If the seeds are new, it shouldn't be necessary to add more. However, if the packet is a few years old, drop two or three in to ensure that at least one germinates. Cover the greenhouse and keep it out of the light until the seedlings emerge.
Don't allow the plants to get leggy or spindly. After plants become visible they need as much light as possible. Move them to a strong light source where they can receive over twelve hours each day. As they get bigger and stronger, they can eventually survive on regular daylight. Then they can either be transplanted directly in to the ground or, if very sensitive to the cold, into larger containers until all danger of frost has passed.
To learn more about veggies and seed starting visit Johnnyseeds.com.
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