HOW TO START YOUR SEEDS INDOORS, SUCCESSFULLY (LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES!)

The more I have read gardening books, magazines and blogs, the more I have realized how much I have done wrong with my garden thus far!

Tall & Spindly VS. Thick & Strong

For example, I thought my original attempt at growing greens (top) was quite a success. Little did I know that these seedlings are really "tall and spindly" resulting from a lack of sunlight. They have to stretch and reach for light creating tall, spindly and weaker stems.

After reading numerous gardening websites and blogs, I learned that it is best to start seeds in a seedling mix instead of a rich potting soil like I did. I also learned that new seedlings do significantly better under fluorescent lights 15 - 18 hours per day.

 The seedlings in the top picture were planted in rich organic potting soil and taken outside for only a few hours a day in the sun. The seedlings in the bottom picture were planted in seedling starting mix and put under fluorescent lights. What a difference! You can see the stems of the collards in the bottom picture are much thicker, their cotyledons are bigger and thicker and they even have thick true leaves already forming!

Planting Greens Using Seedling Mix & Florescent Lights

Using Aluminum Cake Pans to Start Seeds

I planted the greens above (Starbor Kale, Red Russian Kale, Collards and Cherry Roma Tomatoes) on November 12, 2013 in Black Gold Seedling Mix. I used an aluminum cake pan with a clear plastic top to create the greenhouse effect. I then placed them under fluorescent lights. After 10 days they were crowding each other out, so I gently separated them, being careful not to tear their roots, and transplanted them into another container using Dr. Q's Organic Vegetable & Herb Planting Mix and continued to keep them under fluorescent lights. The picture at the top right of this collage is how they look just three weeks old!

To start my seeds, I used several aluminum cake pan that I just bought at the grocery store. I used a nail to poke holes throughout the bottom of one of the pans. This allows for the soil to drain. Place the pan with the holes inside a pan without holes. Cover with a clear plastic lid until they start to germinate. Once the seeds germinate, then remove the plastic lid, so they can get air. I also read that you can use saran wrap as your lid. I tried using saran wrap with my snap peas because I wanted to plant them in a deeper pan that didn't come with a plastic lid. The saran wrap worked just as well as the clear plastic lid.
                                                                       

Germination Station Sean Built for Me

My husband, Sean, built me a little germination station. He bought a plastic greenhouse frame, 2' fluorescent light fixtures and bulbs and wired them together, so they all turned on and off with a single switch. Originally, I just had one light fixture in the center of three shelves. You can see from the picture on the right that he added lights to the top shelf as well as readjusted the light fixtures to accommodate two fixtures per shelf. You can see from the shelving that I have several different plants growing! I'm running out of space!

FALL GARDEN 2013 - MIDDLE OF WEEK 9