Home seed gardening 101

The seed catalogues have been coming in since late fall with their beautiful pictures of growing season promises. We look at the costs of seeds and think to ourselves, "I could grow more if..." and you can. You will need extra equipment as most of us don't have a spot warm enough or light enough to grow at home. That is not what I am going to touch on in Seeding 101. I want to teach you about the WHEN of home sowing, not the HOW.

The first thing you need to do is inventory what seeds you may already have on hand so you aren't purchasing duplicates and spending money that your could have used on other gardening pursuits. In 2012, I started to track my seeds more effectively in an Excel spreadsheet.

I prefer the spreadsheet because I can sort this by any of the categories to make a usable tracking sheet while I am in my basement doing the actual work of seeding. I started winter sowing last year with very good results especially for hardy perennials. I can create a list by sowing week which creates a chronological list verses an alphabetical list. It helps me to track when I used saved seed and what year I collected it. There are also the very important notes that I transfer over from the seed packets. This helps me to remember which ones I need to soak ahead of sowing dates or to stratify early enough to achieve better germination. It also has tips for direct sowing outdoors and the temperature needed to germinate seeds indoors or out.

The one question I see all the time which is answered in so many ways is, "When should I start (fill in the blank)?" Someone with unlimited space will have a different answer than the person working with limited resources. The most important part of the equation is your last anticipated frost date. Someone can tell you that you can have your tomatoes in peppers blooming by mid-May in Wisconsin, but that doesn't mean you can plant them outdoors. Both of these are very cold sensitive crops. Even if a cold night doesn't kill them, the set back on blooming can be weeks of delay. The answer for when you should seed them is right on the seed packet. The companies you buy from spend the time and effort of providing this information for you so you can be successful. Follow their advice. The key to timing is not counting forward, but counting backwards. Look at this seed chart which any good grower will use when considering the timing of their crops to transplant time.

Take a look at 2023. On the left side of each month is a gray area which indicates which growing week we are looking at. The first week of the year is week 1. If you look down, you will notice that sometimes the week at the end of the month and the beginning of the month is the same number. When counting back from your frost date, count these numbers just once. Here's how this works:

I plant out my tomatoes and peppers in USDA zone 5b the first full week of June as the earliest date I will do this. In 2023, that is week 23. My seed packets tell me that this can be anywhere from 6 to 12 weeks depending on the variety I am planting. The latest I will plant is week 17 (April 23rd, for 6 weeks), the earliest is week 11 (March 12th, for 12 weeks). If I want my plants to be a bit larger and have the growing space of warmth and light available, I will choose the earlier date. If I have limited area and have to fit more plants in less space, I choose the later date. That is how you time your seeding dates.

I have included this very helpful publication from our University of Wisconsin Extension office which has a nice overview of sowing information for vegetable planting in our state. We do span several growing zones, 3-5, so adjustments have to be made based on which part of the state you live in. Check your own extension office for possible publications pertinent to your own growing area.

Happy planting!

Starting Seeds: Welcome Spring!

My spring has officially started today.  The calendar says February 11th, but the seeds that came on Thursday are getting their first starts.  Always first on my calendar is onions.  I have devoted a whole blog day to just onions (8-16-11) as they need to have some different care than other vegetable crops.  I have done onion sets and seeds and my preference for best performance is seeds.  That does mean starting early, some sources recommend 10-16 weeks before last frost date.  I choose mid to late February for my Milwaukee home.  I put my plants in the ground on Good Friday or as close to that as possible.  Yes, I know Good Friday can fluctuate dramatically on the calendar so early to mid April is my usual time.  The seedlings seems so tender and small but they are hardy plants.  If you put floating row cover over the bed it helps the process along as well as protecting the soil from heavy spring rains while they are still small.  If you didn't do it they would still survive.  An earlier start in the garden means a better chance of good bulb growth.  As long as the soil is not too wet and can be worked, it is not too early for onions.

Over the years I have acquired the tools that I use for all the my garden projects.  I take advantage of local sales and coupon deals that garden catalogs offer to get you to order from them.  One of the best investments I made was in a seedling heat mat which you can see in the center of the photo.  Germination is better and the seedlings get a great start. I buy seed starting mix as it is lighter in texture and will drain better so you do not risk having your seedlings rot from sitting in mix that it too heavy and wet.  I start my seeds in the basement under lights but have also used the south window in my kitchen to do the same.  Positioning my seedlings over another set of lights adds some under tray heating from the fixture below.  Germination is good in both places but supplemental lighting is needed in my locale to keep seedlings from becoming long and leggy once they are up.  I use flats under my starting cells with no holes to protect surfaces and help maintain steady moisture.  Never let the seedlings sit in water!  Drain your trays if you have water standing in the bottom.  I like to use a clear cover, especially in the basement as it helps to maintain humidity and keep the seedlings consistently warmer. If you use a cover like this in a sunny window, you may have to keep it slightly ajar to keep it from over-heating your seedlings during the day.  

I have two sizes of trays so I can break up smaller batches seedlings under different covers as well as different heights of domes to accommodate taller pots and taller seedlings that I want to keep warm for awhile.  The one on the left also has ventilation which can be dialed open and closed to regulate interior temperature and humidity.  They are a pretty inexpensive investment especially if you take care of them and use them year after year.  In addition to the onions, I also started two types of micro-greens (which I will try and remember to start a new pot each week for a continual indoor harvest) as well as basil and cilantro for an indoor crop.  the onions are in 3 inch pots which they will stay in until transplanted to the garden.  The herbs are in smaller cells as I will transplant them to the appropriate containers as they grow.  

Starting seeds in smaller containers and transplanting later means you need less space than trying to start them in the finished tray.  You can choose your best seedlings (always seed more than you need) for your finished plants.  If you choose to transplant, you will also use less potting mix as seeds don't usually germinate 100%.  Resist the temptation to reuse potting mix.  Even though it is not as cheap as potting soil, get the mix.  Potting mix should be sterile and reduce the likelihood that you will be bringing insects and diseases into your operation.  Potting soil is not sterile, is a heavier blend, and is not as forgiving of watering mistakes in an indoor operation.  Soil can be amended and sterilized and I will let you Google your heart out on that one.  I will warn you that putting soil in your oven to sterilize it will put an odor into your home which you will not forget.  Choose wisely.

A simple rule for choosing lighting is to have both warm and cool lights in your fixtures.  There are lots of studies which have studied various types of lighting.  The main goal is to try and capture as much of the full spectrum of lighting as you can which will mean better plant growth.  A trip to the home center lighting department will give you an idea of how many choices there are and how much it can cost.  Grow tubes are nice but not a necessity of you choose a wider spectrum using both warm and cool florescent bulbs.  There are even compact florescent bulbs and fixtures for smaller scale plant growth enhancement.  

I will have a couple more seeds coming which will require and early start.  Many of the seeds I have chosen will let me take a break until mid to late March.  I am now committed to a daily visit to check on germination and misting needs.  Spring has truly begun in my house.