Creating Nirvana: How to Start Your Garden Seeds Indoors Cheaply

This is an exciting time of year for our family as we watch our little seeds for our spring garden germinate and turn into little plants. The kids love checking on the seedlings every day to see their progress. Many gardeners I talk to seem overwhelmed by the prospect of starting seeds indoors so they either direct sow their seeds or start from plants. The trouble with direct sowing is that it shortens your growing season which can be very short in northern climates. Likewise the trouble with starting from plants is the lack of options. If you want to grow exotic things or rare heirloom seeds, then you will probably have to start the seeds yourself unless you are lucky enough to live near a greenhouse that sells heirloom plants.

Seed starting is not difficult if you have a little extra space in your house and a sunny window or an extra light, then you can start seeds in your house. We keep our seeds in the guest bedroom. The bed room is warm and has two windows. The room is very sunny when the sun is actually shinning, but we live in an area where sunny days are limited, so I invested in two shop lights (40 watt florescent lights) to aid in the growing process. If you go to your local hardware store and explain to them that you are starting some garden seeds in your house, then they can lead you to the most economical shops lights that will get the job done. My lights cost $10 each, and they will last me years. You do not need to buy a light that is specifically a “grow light.” A few years ago I got suckered into buying a “grow light” that was $10 for a light that was about 1/3 of the size of my current lights. The plants did not germinate faster with the “grow light,” and I ended up investing in the larger lights a few years later when I moved up north and did not have an abundance of sun light. I will not make that mistake again.

I use a basic seed starting mix recommended by Organic Gardening. The mix is very simple to make consisting of compost, perlite, vermiculite, and peat moss. If you are starting a lot of seeds this year, then consider buying your vermiculite from the insulation section of the hardware store. The vermiculite in the insulation section comes is much larger bags and is often a fraction of the cost of the smaller bags sold in the gardening section. Also, look for the big bale of peat moss usually found in the soil section over the smaller bags sold in the specialty seed starting section if you need to start a lot of seeds indoors. A heating pad is a nice addition to your seed starting kit, but it is not necessary if you starting your seeds in warm location.

This year I started my seeds in styrofoam cups which is not the most environmentally friendly option, but it is economical when you are starting lots of seeds. In the past I have made newspaper cups to start my seeds in but making newspaper cups is very time consuming, so I opted for the styrofoam cups instead. The cups can be saved and used again year after year to decrease the environmental impact. You can also make little seed pots from toilet paper rolls if you are very tight on money and have an abundance of time to shape the cardboard into seed cups.

The last item that you need for your seed starting kits if plastic. I use basic plastic wrap found on the same isle as the aluminum foil. Draping a piece of plastic over your seed containers will keep the humidity inside the pots giving your seeds a nice cozy place to germinate. Most seeds prefer to germinate with the plastic wrap on top, but I have a found a few seeds including sweet peas (flowers) prefer to germinate without a plastic cover. As you work with your seeds you will find that some seeds prefer different micro conditions than others. I keep a gardening notebook to document these nuances of gardening so I do not forget these tips from year to year.

Ingredients

4 parts compost

1 part perlite

1 part vermiculite

2 parts sphagnum peat moss

Directions

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a large container.

2. Add the seed starting mix into your seed containers. I use Styrofoam cups with three holes poked on the bottom for drainage.

3. Label your seed starting cups with the plant name and date.

4. Add water to the seed cups. The seed mix should be moist but still crumbly. Do not add too much water to your seed mix. Too much water will cause your seeds to germinate and then topple over and die due to a fungal infection.

5. Add two seeds to each seed cup.

6. Place the seed cups on top of the heating pad (if using) and 2 inches under your shop light or in a sunny window.

7. Drape a piece of plastic wrap over the seed cups. I do not drape the plastic over tightly. I simply just gently lay it on top.

8. Keep the seedlings under light for 12-16 hours per day.

9. Remove the plastic off of seedlings that have germinated.

10. After the first true leaves appear (not the first two leaves that appear on the plant that all look similar to one another but the first real leaves where you can actually start to tell a swiss chard plant from a broccoli), cut the weaker plant at the base of the soil. Each plant contains two seedlings, and you want to keep the stronger of the two seedlings.

11. Move the shop light up as the plants grow. Keep the plants moist. Do not allow your seedlings to dry out.

12. A week before you plan to plant your seeds outside, take the seeds outside during the day to acclimatize them to their new environment. Bring them inside every night.

13. Plant your new plants in the garden.

More resources:
14 tips for starting your garden seeds
How to make newspaper pots
How to make toilet paper pots