I’ll be honest with you — starting vegetable seeds indoors is not rocket science, but it’s also not entirely easy. It’s a little bit like raising little kids: they need daily attention and nurture, but you don’t have to have a Ph.D. in horticulture to grow them. The secret is, well, it’s really pretty simple! From pot to plot, starting seeds indoors can be a fun and rewarding experience with a few of my helpful hints.

Why Bother?

It seems so easy to just go get seedlings from the garden center. And trust me, I do that, too! But as you grow in confidence, you may want to consider some of the benefits of starting early:

• You can save money. Buying seedlings from a garden center is more expensive than starting your own from seed.
• You have more options for what to grow. There is a greater selection of what you can grow if you shop for seeds rather than buying the seedlings available at the store.
• Planting seeds indoors gets you weeks ahead of the growing season over starting seeds in the ground.
• You have more control over your growing season and harvest times. Starting early means you can beat the heat, or extend a shorter growing season in colder climates.

Start Small

Choose a couple of easy-to-grow veggies.

Sometimes I can get gung ho about doing something and then end up overwhelmed. If this is your first season to try seed starting, I recommend beginning small with one or two types of vegetables.

Beans are the easiest to grow and would be a great way to start with some relative assurance of success. If you like green beans, why not try growing some green ones and some yellow ones? Bush types are easy to cultivate, but runner beans offer more yield because they grow upwards. You might try the Big Kahuna Burpee (known for its great taste, crisp, nutty flavor, giant 11” pods and productivity) or the Blue Lake Bush bean (a heavy yielder that keeps well and remains stringless and fresh for a long time).

Or, if you aren’t a green bean fan, some other vegetables that are easy to grow include cress, lettuce, radishes, Swiss chard, carrots, spinach and onions. Of course, you’ll want to research which vegetables grow best in your area.

Select seeds with care.

Use fresh seeds (from last growing season), and definitely not seeds older than 4 years. Don’t use seeds from produce you bought at the grocery store as most of it is infertile.

Seeds from “heirloom” produce are fertile and good to plant. If you purchase from a catalogue, make sure they offer a guarantee.

A Few Simple Supplies

Here’s all you need to get your seeds going:

Light - Your seeds need a steady source of light, 10 to 14 hours a day. Florescent shop lights hung from a chain are a great way to provide this. Or, a south-facing window will do, but do not make the mistake of putting the seeds on the windowsill or too close to the window. Initially, warmth is essential for germination and temperature fluctuates too much near a window.

Warmth – Seeds require temperatures between 65 and 75 degrees to germinate. You can place them by a space heater or vent, or use a heating pad made for gardening.

Water – My best tip about watering is to make sure you have a spray bottle. You don’t want to over water because flooding can wreak havoc on the seeds, cause fungus growth, smother the seeds or alter their place in the soil (too deep or too shallow). You can also water from the bottom up, so a tray to sit your pots in can be helpful, too.

Pots – Wide, shallow pots work best. Plastic containers actually work great, so buying small ones at a garden center, or reusing single serving yogurt tubs, egg cartons or even fast food salad containers with lids is a good plan. Just make sure you thoroughly clean containers out and soak in a 10% bleach solution for 15 minutes to sterilize. And, also important, poke holes in the bottom to make sure water can drain out well. Some gardeners like to use peat pots and those are great, too, just remember that they will absorb more water so you’ll have to watch that closely.

Soil – Just like you wouldn’t feed adult food to a baby, your seeds need a seed starter mix. Dirt from your backyard is too dense, contains other seeds (think “weeds” among other things) and insect eggs. Potting soil contains fertilizer and is made for “grown up” plants. You can mix your own seed starter, too, with perlite, peat moss and vermiculite.

Markers – It’s easy to forget what you planted where, so be sure to mark your pots in some way. Popsicle sticks are useful for this purpose.

Journal – Write down what you do and what you observe so that you can remember what worked and what didn’t. You’ll be glad you did next year!

Steps to Planting and Growing

Before you begin, be sure to read the information on the seed package for specific instructions. This will also tell you when to plant the seeds and how much time they need to grow before harvest. It is better to plant late than early. Generally, here’s what you do. I’ve included some helpful little tips I’ve learned over the years:

1. Soak seeds in water 4-8 hours to encourage germination.
2. Moisten the seed starter soil lightly. Don’t saturate it, just make sure it’s lightly damp throughout.
3. Fill the containers almost full with the seed starter mix.
4. The standard recommendation is to plant seeds 2 times their diameter. Very small seeds can remain on the surface. Avoid planting too deep. This one of the primary causes a seed fails to germinate.
5. Tamp the seeds down lightly so they make contact with the soil, also a key to successful germination. Use a kitchen pestle or flat glass bottom.
6. You can also use a hand-held metal kitchen strainer to spread seed starting mix evenly over the top of the seeds.
7. If your soil mixture is already moist, you do not need to water the seeds at this point.
8. Cover with plastic wrap until the seeds germinate. This helps retain moisture and warmth.
9. The first priority is warmth, so place them somewhere where the temperature will be constant.
10. As soon as you see the plant pop its head out of the soil, make sure it has lots of light. It will get too much stem and stalk if it doesn’t get enough light. And, be sure to remove the plastic cover at this time.
11. Check daily!

Troubleshooting and Tips

Seeds are sensitive to over watering and under watering. Watch closely. When the soil appears to be getting dry, mist with spray bottle until the soil begins to turn dark.

If pots are by a sunlight source, rotate a quarter turn once a day to prevent arching and long stems.

Periodically run your hand lightly back and forth against the top of seedlings to encourage strong stem growth.

Seeds don’t need fertilizer to germinate; the general rule is to fertilize after you see the second set of leaves on a seedling.

When your potted seedlings are ready to be moved outside to your garden plot, you’ll want to “harden them off,” or, acclimate them gradually to the outdoors. Let them spend a few hours outside in increasing amounts over a few days before you plant them in their permanent place.

The daily attention you give to your seedlings will pay off big dividends when you see them flourishing in your garden later this summer. And the joy you’ll experience when you taste your first bite of the fruits (or rather, vegetables) of your labor will make the effort entirely worthwhile!