Ladies and Gentleman, Start Your Seeds!

Posted by Chris Field
January 12th, 2010
Filed in Seed Starting
Tags: coir, planting, seeds

APS Seed Starter Kit, available at Gardeners’

It’s the middle of winter, but it’s already time to begin thinking of seeds for this spring. Crops that are best transplanted during cool, early springs (lettuce, spinach, onions, broccoli, cabbages, and kale) need to be started indoors between early February through late March. That means the time to select seeds and prepare for planting is NOW. Other cool weather crops like peas, radishes and turnips grow best when direct-seeded into the garden.

Seed Starting Supplies

You can start seeds in just about any old container with a hole poked in the bottom and some potting media, or seed starting mix. (NOT topsoil – it is too heavy). However, it is easier to do your seeding with some equipment:

• Grow light – You don’t absolutely have to have a grow light, but some seedlings grow very slowly, spindly, and anemically without certain wavelengths of light. Unless you have a room with a pop-out window that receives a lot of natural light, if you want healthy transplants, consider a grow light. The one in the link from Amazon has an adjustable stand, and you can grow four flats of seedlings under it.
• Heating mat – An increase in temperature of the soil increases the metabolic processes within the plant. Translation: a little bit of warmth helps seeds sprout faster and grow faster.
• Seed flats – Dixie cups work well, too, but for super-easy seed starting, get a tray specially configured for starting seeds. It isn’t necessary to keep seeds covered with a plastic dome or plastic wrap, except, maybe, before the seed sprouts. Once the seed leaves are up, remove the cover. (This is why we are not recommending a seed starting kit with a cover. You don’t need one.)

  When selecting a seed starting kit, or materials for your organic garden, STAY AWAY from peat moss. It is a non-renewable resource, and has no place in an organic garden. Instead, try coir fiber, an organic alternative made from coconuts.