Seed Starting for 2008
Marguerite Rickett, Penn State Master Gardener
January and February are the months to start seeds indoors for your springtime garden, especially the seeds for those plants that need a longer growing season. Tomatoes and peppers are tropical plants that need a longer season. They can easily be started now indoors so that they will be ready to set outside in May or June when all danger of frost is past. Refer to each seed packet for specific directions for the plant you want to grow.
I use a process called pre-sprouting to start my seeds. If you save seeds from year to year, this is an excellent method to determine if your seeds are still viable. To pre-sprout seeds, you will need paper toweling, each sheet folded in half three times to make eight sections. Cut out each section. Moisten a section with water and spread out the number of seeds that you want to grow on it. Arrange the seeds so they do not touch each other. Fold the strip of toweling in half so that each seed will be surrounded by moist towel. Place the seeds in the folded towel strip in a plastic sandwich bag and be sure to label the bag with the name of the seeds and the date they were started. To wake up your dormant seeds, you need to give them moisture and warmth and oxygen. You have already given them moisture in the moist towel. Next you need to put the baggie in a warm place like a kitchen cabinet above the stove or the refrigerator. Each different seed variety that you want to start now needs to be put in a separate strip of moist paper towel and then into a plastic baggie with a label on it. The next step is very important. CHECK THE SEEDS EVERY DAY WITHOUT FAIL. They will die if they dry out, so remoisten the paper towel if it is dry. Seeds also need a little oxygen, so opening the baggie to take a peek at the seeds will provide a small amount of oxygen each day.
At the first sign of a sprout on a seed, you need to prepare to transplant the germinating seed into seed starting soil or potting soil. Do not use garden soil to grow plants indoors. Gardening stores usually get seed starting soil and potting soil on the shelves by January and February, so it should be available. Next find a container for the soil. I use empty cottage cheese tubs in the smaller 8 oz. size. Punch holes in the bottom of the tub for drainage and then fill with moistened seed starting soil. Pick up each of the sprouted seeds and place it carefully into the soil. I use toothpicks to do this. Space the seeds so each seed is not touching the other seeds, and gently push each seed down under the soil. Do not forget to label and then cover the container and place it back inside the plastic baggie and into the warm place where it was. Continue checking the seeds every day. When little stems start poking up through the soil, it is time to place them in the light. If you covered the container, be sure to remove it to make room for the stems to grow. Place the container on a sunny windowsill or under a fluorescent desk lamp. Fluorescent bulbs can be as close as four inches from leaves, but incandescent bulbs need to be at least three feet away to avoid burning leaves.
When the seedlings get their first true leaves, they are ready to be transplanted into individual containers. Some plants love to be transplanted when they outgrow their containers, and others do not do well when transplanted. Tomatoes and peppers seem to do well when transplanted, so when they outgrow their containers, you can safely transplant them into larger containers. Do not forget to label each container. During the germination of seeds, they will do better at warmer temperatures of 70 to 75 degrees, but after leaves appear and plants go under lights, they will grow better at lower temperatures, 60 to 65 degrees.
When the weather begins to warm up in April and May, you need to harden off your plants before planting them outside into your garden. You do this hardening off process by bringing your plants outside each day, starting with one hour, and then increasing the time each day for a week or two.
Fertilizing is not needed until the seedlings get their true leaves. Then you need to use a liquid fertilizer of liquid kelp or fish emulsion once a week, which you just spray on the leaves. This is a natural fertilizer that is best for the plants that will be producing food for you and your family to eat.
May this information help you to have a successful and productive garden this year! If you need more information about seed starting, I recommend the book, THE NEW SEED STARTER’S HANDBOOK by Nancy Bubel. Some information in this article came from this book.
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