Starting Seeds

 Starting seeds is rewarding......almost instant gratification as the plants quickly grow. Planting them correctly is the key. I start nearly all of my seeds in a 'seed flat' that is shown above. You can also use, plug trays, egg cartons or short 6 packs. Seedlings with stems (some grow from the crown) will benefit from being repotted once before going to the garden. Studies have shown that tomatoes benefit most from being re-potted twice before going to the garden. Yes, this is an extra step, but really benefits the plants. The stems quickly elongate as they grow. When you re-pot, you sink the stem into the new container which is deeper. So starting with a short 6-pack, you would re-pot to a deeper 6 pack.

 Lighting is critical. Sunlight the best, but unless you have a 'sunroom,' there will not be enough of it, so supplemental lights are needed. After 'repotting,' I make sure those transplants get light, no direct sun for 1-3 days, until they are recovered. How carefully you handle them, and how tangled up the roots were with their neighbors determines this.  We plant every seed separately with a bamboo skewer. Save tons of time later: dumping lots of seed and worrying about it later...doesn't work well.

Above it a basil plant. It is going from a seed flat to a 6 pack. Sorry it's blurry. Can you see the stem that I have bent into a 'u' shape. This entire stem will get set into a 6 pack just as shown, and the only visible portion will be are the green leaves above my fingers. Then a thicker stronger stem will emerge. If you want to learn how to plant seeds, I can hook you up, just lmk!