IN THE GARDEN: Starting seeds

Along with last year’s increased interest in home veggie gardening, more people are now interested in starting their own seeds. Growing plants from seed can be fun for the kids, and saves money on plants. Like anything, there are tradeoffs to starting seeds versus buying starts. So consider the following if you’re wanting to start your own seeds for your veggie garden this year.
Starting seeds saves money. The cost per plant is way less when you buy a seed package – assuming you actually use the seeds in the package. Also certain varieties of veggies are not always available as started plants. In addition, starting seeds allows one to select the largest, healthiest plants for transplanting into the garden. But one of the biggest advantages of starting seeds is that one gets a jump start on our cool, short growing season.
In the foothills, some plants like tomatoes and peppers simply don’t have enough time to produce tomatoes and peppers, if seeds are sown directly into the ground – hence the need for started plants. For some plants like radishes and carrots it’s always best to directly sow seed into the veggie garden. Other plants like beans, peas, and corn can just as easily grown either by direct sowing seeds in the garden or by planting started plants.
But also consider that there is much more of a time investment in starting seeds indoors early to get a jump on the season. A seed package might say something like “start seeds indoors 4-6 weeks before the last frost.” Do you have the time and space commitment to water and provide lots of light for 4-6 weeks while the seedlings grow?
It’s easy to get seeds to germinate; it’s quite another task to grow a seedling for 4-6 weeks indoors. Not that it’s difficult, but many lack sufficient light to grow a healthy, robust seedling that really takes off when planted outdoors. Once the seed germinates, very bright light is absolutely essential for the developing seedling to remain healthy until transplanting time.
Initially there is the cost and investment of seed starting supplies.  Peat pellets, seed starting mix, rock wool cubes, a tray, pots, and a grow light may be some of the supplies you’ll need to get started.
Seeds basically need moisture and warmth to germinate. If your well-lit seed germinating area is cool, you may need a seedling heat mat which when placed under your tray of starts warms the soil to 10-15 F above ambient temperatures. Because seeds need warmth to germinate, it’s just the soil that needs warmth, not an entire room.
I mention all of this not to discourage you from seed starting, but then again I don’t want you to be discouraged. It’s especially a bummer for the kids to see seeds germinate and then die in a couple of weeks because they’re all stretchy and flopped over from lack of light.
Nonetheless starting seeds is fun. Remember not to start seeds too early. For instance, tomato seeds should be sown indoors in sometime in April for transplanting outdoors at the end of May. If you start your tomato seeds now, think how big that tomato plant is going to be once it’s warm enough to plant it outside!  Use the seed package instructions as your guide as to when to start seeds indoors.
Those are just the basics. For more information on starting seeds I’ll be giving a free class Basic Seed Starting, on Saturday, March 6 at 2 p.m. at Bakerview Nursery, 945 E. Bakerview Road. Also related that day will be Basic Vegetable Gardening in Whatcom County at 10 a.m. See you there!
Chuck is the owner of Fantastic Gardens and helps others solve their outdoor and indoor gardening dilemmas.  He can be contacted at orchidfruit@hotmail.com.

Published March 1, 2010