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February 8, 2021 By Ellen Wells

Consider These Before Starting Seeds Indoors

My mind turns to starting seeds whenever the first week of February rolls around. When it does, I always have two simultaneous yet contrasting thoughts: Meh, it’s too early to start seeds, and OMG, I’m not prepared! What do I do with these conflicting thoughts? I take a few moments to consider the “before” of my annual seed-starting ritual.

From years of experience starting seeds in my home for my spring vegetable garden I have found that it’s just as important to prepare beforehand as it is to perform the actual task of planting seeds. Scrambling for materials and jimmying solutions to problems can lead to a lot of wasted time, energy and money. Not a good way to start the gardening season! Let’s walk through a few of these prior-to-sowing considerations and get the spring season off on the right foot.

Consider Your Garden Space

We turn to seeds because we consider them to be more cost-effective than buying seedlings. What happens to me, though, is I buy and plant way more seeds than my garden space can handle when all of those seedlings mature. Seed packets typically have spacing suggestions for when the seedlings are ready to plant out in the garden. This will help you determine how many seeds to plant. Jotting down a quick wish list of crops and then sketching a rough garden plan will help you be more planful of how many seeds you should plant.

Consider Your Indoor Seed Starting Space

Where will you grow your seeds? Will you be growing on a windowsill? Do you have space in a corner to set up a shelf (or two!) with a grow lamp? Is the space somewhat warm or are your windows letting in a growth-slowing draft? Will you have enough space to grow them all inside as small plants before they head outside?

You can save some room by planting only seeds that need to be started before the last frost date, such as tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. Crops like squash and bean seeds can wait until the ground is warm enough so you can directly sow seeds into your soil, saving you a ton of growing space indoors.

Assemble Your Materials for Starting Seeds

1. Containers

You can start your seeds in any sort of container you have—old yogurt cups, cleaned pots you kept from last year or even seed-starting trays specially made for the purpose (Fertil US makes a terrific wood fiber biodegradable version). Whatever you use, your container must have drainage holes to allow excess moisture to drain. Soggy, soaking seeds? No bueno. And it’s certainly helpful to have a saucer or tray to catch any drips coming out of those drainage holes, too.
By the way, if you are reusing plastic pots, be sure to wash them to remove old soil and debris, and sanitize by soaking in a 10% bleach solution (hydrogen peroxide works, too) and rinse thoroughly.

2 Seed-starting mix

Fill your containers with a soilless mix specially formulated for providing an optimal germinating environment for seeds. These mixes, such as Organic Mechanics’ Seed Starting Blend, contain a combination of organic materials that holds enough moisture to create a germination-friendly environment while also ensuring it drains adequately. The Seed Starting Blend from Organic Mechanics is also “pre-charged” with a certified organic fertilizer that will power your emerging seedlings for up to four weeks. 

3. Seeds!

Seed-starting wouldn’t happen without the seeds! The information included on the seed packet itself is invaluable, so do keep it well after the seeds are planted. In most cases the packet will explain how deep to plant the seeds, when you should sow seeds indoors so the seedlings are ready to plant after your area’s last frost date and when you can expect the seeds to begin germinating.

There you have it—a plan for your future garden, an assessment of your indoor growing space and an idea of the materials you’ll need. Go on and open those seed catalogs (we love Hudson Valley Seed!) or shop your local plant store’s seed stands and get your garden season off to a confident start.

Filed Under: Articles, Learning Center Tagged With: Mark Highland, Organic Mechanics, organic seed starting mix, spring garden, starting organic vegetable. seeds, starting seeds

Previous Post: « An Interview with Jay Archer from Green Jay Landscaping
Next Post: Preparing Your Garden Bed for Planting »

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  • Preparing Your Garden Bed for Planting
  • Consider These Before Starting Seeds Indoors
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It’s March. No more gazing at your garden and ho It’s March. No more gazing at your garden and hoping for spring. It’ll be here in no time! Start preparing your garden bed for planting. We even wrote a post about it - read it via the Linktree link in the bio!
New post in the #organicmechanics Learning Center! New post in the #organicmechanics Learning Center! Consider These Before Starting Seeds Indoors - these tips will save you some headaches later on in spring. Link in bio - check it out. 

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It’s time to start thinking about seeds, my frie It’s time to start thinking about seeds, my friends! 

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Happy Halloween!!! 🎃 Stay spooky and safe my fr Happy Halloween!!! 🎃 Stay spooky and safe my friends 👻

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Check out the sweet ride that came for our bulk so Check out the sweet ride that came for our bulk soil sale!
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She’s a hungry Praying Mantis! She’s eating a She’s a hungry Praying Mantis! She’s eating a spotted lanterfly, a major pest in PA and surrounding states. Good to see some predation happening!

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Happy Saturday to all you Organic Mechanics our th Happy Saturday to all you Organic Mechanics our there! The garden is really taking off! Keep up the fertilizer schedule and provide consistent watering during times of limited rain for maximum yields. Don’t forget to get out there and look for insect pests, scouting daily can stop a problem before it starts. We’ve already stopped several outbreaks of cucumber beetles, bean beetles, and squash bugs. The garden has something new to share each day. Hope you all find your happy place today! 

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