11 Ways to Make Seed-Starting Easier This Year
Seed starting can seem like a tricky or complicated process, but it doesn't have to be. With the right tools and tips, seed-starting will become a breeze. Gardening expert Madison Moulton shares 11 ways you can make seed-starting easier this year.
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Seed-starting is an essential skill all gardeners should know how to get right. There are a lot of factors to consider, from using the right soil to germination temperatures, and it can seem overwhelming to manage them all at the same time.
If you want to make the process easier this year, these are my top tips to simplify and set yourself up for success. What seems complicated becomes simple when you understand the plants you’re growing and have the right tools before you start.
Sow at the Right Time
One of the best ways to simplify the process is sowing at the right time. As much as we may want to, fighting against nature rarely leads to good results. If you always struggle with low germination rates, getting your timing right is the first place to start.
This mostly applies when you’re direct sowing outdoors, but the same principle should be used indoors, too. Check your frost dates, recommended planting times, and preferred conditions for your chosen plants. Some can’t handle the cold; others struggle in the heat once mature. The right timing is essential.
Your last frost date is an important guideline for when to begin the process in spring, and your first fall frost date is helpful for late summer and early fall sowings. Use this helpful calculator from the National Gardening Association to get approximate frost dates for your area.
Follow the Instructions
If you’re not sure when the right time to sow is, remember that your seed packets usually come with planting instructions that take the guesswork out of the process. They also come with other planting instructions, like proper spacing and depth.
Make sure to follow these instructions at planting time. They will tell you how deep to sow, how far apart to plant, when to thin, and when you can expect your plants to emerge. A quick scan of this info will give you the strongest start when sowing.
Label
The most common mistake I see isn’t detrimental to plant growth, but it does make your life a whole lot harder—forgetting to label. It’s easy to get caught up in the sowing excitement, setting up your trays and sowing species after species. But once you’re done, you actually need to know what was sown and where to care for them effectively.
Before you start sowing, grab your labels and write down the names of the plants you’re sowing and the date before you start. Then, you can simply pop them into the trays as you’re planting, ensuring no confusion at transplanting time.
Take Notes
Labeling is important, but if you want to make your growing process easier, you need more records. Keep track of what you planted when, making later transplanting and care a breeze. It’s even more helpful the next season, when you can use your notes on what worked and what didn’t in the garden the previous year to boost your chances of sowing success.
Grab any notebook, or a specially formatted garden journal, and take notes on every part of the sowing process, including soil and environmental conditions. This information will become an incredibly valuable resource as the years progress. It’s a lot of time investment up front (so it may not feel easier at first), but trust me, it’s worth the effort.
Make Your Own Growing Mix
The right soil mix creates the foundation for quick germination and growth. While making your own starting mix may not seem like the easier route at first, it definitely is once you get the hang of it.
For starters, buying starting mix whenever you need to sow can become pricey if you’re sowing often. Once you have the basic components of a growing mix (coconut coir, vermiculite, compost, and so on), you can throw your own mixes together whenever you need them. But most importantly, you can tailor your mix to the needs of your plants, or use the components in other potting mixes when transplanting later on.
Use Heating Mats
Sowing indoors in trays is a great way to get a head start on the growing season. But you need to provide the right conditions to make that happen. One important condition to consider is soil temperature, particularly for heat-loving plants like tomatoes or peppers.
That’s where heating mats come in. These are placed under your cell trays to gently warm the soil, mimicking the conditions needed for strong germination.
Water in Bottom Trays
Watering from above after sowing can easily displace seeds, especially those that are very small or delicate. Top watering can also create overly damp soil that encourages fungal growth and leads to germination problems. Instead, set up bottom trays so you can water from below.
Pour water into the bottom tray and allow it to wick up through the soil mix. This saturates the soil without causing waterlogging, leading to stronger roots. It’s easier to water this way, and it prevents many common issues.
Cover Your Trays
Humidity is another key factor in successful germination. Cover your trays with a clear germination dome or repurposed plastic wrap to trap moisture and maintain steady humidity levels. This creates an ideal environment for germination and means you have less to worry about in managing environmental conditions.
Just remember to remove the cover as soon as plants emerge. Excessive humidity at this point can lead to fungal diseases like damping off. A quick lift of the cover each day also allows air to circulate.
Use Grow Lights
Once green growth begins to appear, it’s vital to provide the right amount of sunlight to spur strong early growth. Without light, your baby plants will become leggy and flop over before they have the chance to really get going. Unfortunately, when you’re sowing early indoors, this light isn’t always available.
Grow lights allow you to grow anywhere without worrying about lighting conditions. As the light comes from above, your plants will also grow upright rather than leaning toward the nearest light source. Plus, many come with timers that make the process that much easier.
Set Reminders to Water
Watering consistently is always important, but it’s especially important when growing from seed. Leave the soil too dry, and your plants will struggle to germinate or will quickly wilt and die soon after emerging. If you’re a forgetful waterer, set reminders (physically or digitally) to check the soil daily to ensure you never forget to water.
A daily calendar reminder or a simple sticky note ensures your plants never go without water. Over time, you’ll get into the habit and may not need reminders. Until then, a little help will keep your plants happy and hydrated.
Have Fertilizer Ready
After the first true leaves appear, you can apply a boost of nutrients to fuel plant growth. You don’t need to overdo it, but a light feeding with a liquid fertilizer will make a difference later on.
Since these products are typically diluted in water, have a separate watering can with fertilizer ready when you need it. Use these at two-week intervals during your regular watering time. Preparing your fertilizer solution ahead of time means you’ll be less likely to forget it.
