Starting Seeds for Spring Planting
It’s finally that time of year again, that exciting time when we get to prepare for spring gardening! Gardening season is approaching quickly which means it’s now time to start our seeds so we’re ready to go when the weather warms up. So for today’s article, I’m going to go through my method for starting seeds and also what should be started inside versus what can be planted directly outside.
Planting Inside vs. Outside
Up here in gardening zone 5, it’s still getting pretty chilly outside in March and April. The days are mostly 40s to 50s, and the nights still drop into the 30s. This is too cold for many seeds to tolerate but there are a few plants that thrive in this weather.
Planting Directly Outside
Peas, spinach, and lettuce for example, can do quite well in this colder weather so I’m going to plant these seeds directly outside.
For the sugar snap peas, I dug a one inch trench in my larger raised bed, and planted a double row of peas, 2 inches apart, and spaced out six inches from one another as shown:
I covered the peas with about an inch of soil and then gently patted it down and firmed it.
Next, I planted my spinach and lettuce directly into my new elevated raised bed. For the spinach, I dug 4 trenches about 1/2 inch deep and six inches apart. I then sowed a thin row of spinach seeds in each trench, covered them, and gently firmed the soil.
I also planted a couple different types of lettuce blends into my elevated raised bed. I decided to try seed tape for the first time this year, just for fun. The seed tape is made from paper which dissolves when watered, releasing the seeds. So like the spinach, I dug trenches about six inches apart and then cut pieces of seed tape to fit the length of the trenches.
Then, I covered the seed tape and gently patted the soil down.
Luckily, it began raining just as I finished planting all of my outdoor seeds so it saved me the step of watering. Otherwise, I would’ve watered the spinach, lettuce, and pea seeds right after sowing them.
Indoor Planting
Some seeds won’t tolerate the colder weather so for these, I am starting them indoors on my grow rack. For timing purposes, it’s March 30th today, which means in about 8 weeks I’ll be able to plant seedlings into the ground.
I am going to start several warmer weather vegetables indoors including squash, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers (both sweet and hot), and tomatoes.
Starting Seeds Indoors
Seed starting is pretty simple, but one thing you need to decide is what you’re going to plant into. You can use a wide variety of different containers including yogurt cups, plastic seed starting trays, or even cardboard or paper pots. I will use homemade paper pots.
I made these paper pots out of strips of packing paper. (My fiancee has a slight addiction to Home Goods, and every time she buys something, it gets packed with this thin packing paper.) I don’t have a paper pot maker so i just wrapped the strips of paper around a shot glass, folded the bottom, and voila!
The Benefits of Paper Pots
There are a few benefits of using paper pots. First, since they are made from organic material they are environmentally friendly. This makes them a more sustainable option than plastic seed starting trays. Second, since the paper will break down, the whole pot can be planted directly into the ground when the seedlings are ready.
Planting My Seeds in Paper Pots
I filled all one hundred of my paper pots with organic gardening soil outside on the porch. I then took the trays inside to plant all my seeds.
NOTE: I don’t plan on planting one hundred plants in my garden but as you can see, it doesn’t take up very much room to plant this many paper pots. I like redundancy though. If I plant 15 or 20 of each vegetable seed and half of them sprout, then I’m in pretty good shape! And if they all sprout, I can always give some of them away to friends and family.
To plant my seeds, I used the end of a sharpie to make an indent in each pot. (I made a 1″ deep hole for cucumbers, zucchini, and squash and I made a 1/4″ deep hole for peppers and tomatoes.)
After placing one seed per pot, I covered them with soil and gently patted and firmed the soil.
Then, I used a water bottle with a hole in the cap to water each paper pot. I was careful not to drown the pots, but I made sure the soil was well moistened.
I also made sure to label the pots so there wouldn’t be any confusion about which seedling was which. I just used masking tape on the side of the tray.
Then, I placed my trays of planted paper pots on my grow rack to allow the seeds to sprout. I have both my trays on seedling heat mats which helps raise the soil temperature in my paper pots above 70 degrees F.
It’s not necessary to turn the lights on until the seeds have all popped up out of the soil.
Temperature and Humidity Range
A temperature range of about 70-78 degrees F, and a humidity of 45-55% should provide good conditions for my seeds to germinate. It’s about 70 degrees in my grow room and the humidity is about 52%. I bought this inexpensive thermometer/hygrometer online for just a few dollars.
As far as my seedling maintenance, I will monitor the soil moisture every day and water them as needed to prevent the soil from drying out. And hopefully, nature will take its course and we’ll have seedlings ready to go in the ground in the next couple months!
Seedling Growth Progression
Day 5-
My cucumber seedlings are popping up nicely. A couple of my zucchini seedlings are just barely starting to poke through the soil as well.
Day 10-
My indoor seedlings are all doing great. The tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, and yellow squash are all looking strong and healthy. My peppers are just barely starting to sprout so I will monitor those.
My spinach and lettuce is starting to pop up nicely too in my outdoor raised bed.
Day 12-
As my seedlings continue to grow, I moved my cucumbers and sweet peppers to a new tray and spread my paper pots out a bit. This has multiple benefits including reducing the seedlings from competing for light as their leaves grow bigger, and also helps improve air circulation around the paper pots to reduce the risk of fungal growth.
And now that most of my seedlings have already germinated, I shut off the heat mats. The heat mats are most helpful during the germination period but can create too warm of an environment for the seedlings and lead to mold growth and “damping-off” disease.
Conclusion
Hopefully this helps you get your own seeds started and eases some of the uncertainty of starting seeds. I’ll provide more updates as my seedlings continue to grow and I’ll definitely post another article when its time to transplant my seedlings into the ground!
For any questions or comments about starting seeds, please reach out in the comments section below. I’ll be happy to get back to you!
Happy Gardening,
Cody
Thistle Downs Farm
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