For many of you who have been planting seeds indoors under lights or ever on a shelf next to a window ledge, a lot of this may appear to be old hat. But for someone just starting out needing encouragement or a sense of how to, well then let’s just try to be helpful. We all know it is about learning and remembering past gardening practices. What works verses what doesn’t. And importantly, new things we can learn that makes it all worthwhile.
Starting our seed indoors under lights is about preparation and follow through. First, how big is the area, how many shelves we plan to use. Do we plan cover the area with heavy plastic, and are we growing just for ourselves, neighborhood, or others as well? How many trays are we using and most importantly – how do we plant our seeds, so we are successful. Entries here will serve as a running commentary of our daily progress.
It begins with our potting mix and understanding how we want to transfer our plants to a bigger tray as grow larger. An important thing is not starting seeds to soon or they will get too big before we are ready to plant them. This is a challenge because we always want to start our plant too soon. Next week I will begin a daily account of what I am planting each day. For now. it’s the process of beginning. Your trays are designed for inserts for your soil and seeds. Your seed packets are usually for fifty to a hundred seeds. This creates our first real challenge… how many seeds do plant.
We’ll continued tomorrow when we’ll plant some seeds for some basil and coriander (they’re early for my greenhouse). Just to show how we do it. I like to follow the mantra of teaching by doing and doing by teaching. It’s that Missouri show me state thing you know. Also, you can call me at 561-254-0009 or come by my house at 1956 S Jefferson Avenue here in Springfield for a visit in my greenhouse for a cup of tea of coffee. Gardeners are always welcome.
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