10 Ways to Start Vegetable Seeds

In order to get the best head start on gardening this year, I am going to be starting seeds indoors.  Many of the vegetable plants do well started inside where you can baby the young plants and then transplanted into the garden when the ground is warm enough.

I am trying to decide which seed starting kit to purchase.   One of the ones that I like best is the Park’s Double 120-cell Bio Dome.  This is a re-usable moisture & light controlled biosphere that will give me stronger seedlings in less time than conventional seed pots. This is very similar to the environment that we used to start seedlings in the greenhouse that I worked at years ago.

DirectGardening.com is a website that combines the best of several different seed and nursery companies.  You can browse through their catalog and pick the ones that suit you best.  It’s a great way to save time and money because you can compare prices from several companies.  They have a seed starting kit called a Peat Pellet Greenhouse that is similar to the Bio Dome.  It is not as expensive as the bio dome but may require more manual regulation of water and light.

DirectGardening.com also offers several options of peat pots starting at just pennies each.  These need constant care and checking to make sure that the seeds and seedlings stay moist without being water logged.  You can put these in a tray or pan and bottom water which will help maintain the moisture level.

Another option from DirectGardening.com is their Jiffy pellets.  These are small peat pellets that you add a seed and water to and they expand as they absorb water.  The Jiffy pellets are a little more expensive than peat pots but you don’t have to add peat moss or soil to them.

Park also offers their version of peat pots complete with Poly Trays with Jiffy Strips These come with a plastic tray for drainage and the jiffy strips that include both the pot and the planting medium.  These are comparably priced to the peat pellets and peat pots but come complete with the reusable plastic tray.

You can also recycle different types of containers to make seed starters.

I have used paper cups with varying levels of success.  My biggest challenge is water and drainage.  Paper cups have to have holes poked in them or they will drown the seedlings when you water them.  They also tend to dry out quickly which will kill tender seedlings.

I have used egg cartons, again with varying levels of success.  Egg cartons do not have a lot of room for soil or roots and that tends to mean frequent watering.  The plants may outgrow the carton before they are ready to be planted.

Some soda bottles can be cut and made into a small biosphere.  You need to find the bottles with the separate bottom on them.  You remove the bottom and then cut the top off the bottle.  Put soil or seed starting medium in the bottom of the soda bottle and then plant & moisten.  Take the top of the bottle and replace it into the bottle forming a clear top that lets in light and holds in moisture.

Yogurt containers make great seed starters too.  They are the perfect size and they hold up to some handling.  Don’t forget to put drainage holes in the bottom.  The drawbacks with them is that they need to be removed before planting as they are not biodegradable.  You will also need to watch the moisture and light.

You can also recycle newspapers into seed starters.  There are directions for making these here.  Basically, you take a strip of newspaper and mold it into a cup.  You glue it together with flour and water and allow to dry.  These are free, easy and biodegradable but they do take some work and you will have to buy starter medium to fill them.

I have found that the secret to starting seeds successfully is threefold.  The first and probably most important component is moisture.  Seeds need to stay moist in order to germinate.  Too much or too little water will kill the immature seedlings.  The second component is light.  The baby plants need a certain amount of light to grow strong.  If you are starting them inside you can either use a grow light or a sunny window.  The last secret to success is the soil that you use to start them.  This needs to be capable of retaining moisture without becoming a swamp.  I have tried using garden soil only to find that it either drowns or bakes my babies.  It’s worth the price to get good starter medium.

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