Starting Seeds Indoors? This Hack Will Help Them Thrive
Starting seeds can be overwhelming, especially if you are a beginner gardener. There is a lot of time and effort (and a bit of money) that goes into every stage of planning when you’re first starting out that can make it feel, well, impossible.
I’ve been there….one year during quarantine, I purchased a handful of seeds, a seed starter kit, and got started. But, you know what happened? Absolutely nothing grew!
The experience was a bit disheartening to say the least. My vegetable garden was slipping away from me. And, thoughts of doubt crept into my head… maybe I don’t have a green thumb after all?
That is, until I finally decided to give it another go. And, along the way I discovered a few things that helped me succeed on my seed starting journey, which is what I’m sharing with you here! I believe with a little patience, education, and hands on work, anyone can become a gardener.
So, if you are looking to grow your own flower garden, start a mini herb garden for your kitchen, or create a vegetable garden to feed your family, let me tell you right now, you’ve got what it takes to make it happen!
In this blog post, I’m sharing the 4 things I learned to successfully sow and germinate seeds indoors. I’ll be covering:
- How to determine when you should start your seedlings indoors
- How many seeds you should start indoors to get your desired yield
- How a grow light can help you start your garden BEFORE final frost
- The inexpensive hack that brought my seedlings back to life
So, if you’re ready to start your very first garden, sow seeds indoors, and have beautiful seedlings to transplant after your last frost date, whether it be to containers, raised beds or right into the earth, I am going to share everything I’ve learned so far to help you on your gardening journey. Let’s get growing!
Feature Image by Sarah Chai
How to determine when to start seeds indoors
Determining when to start your seeds depends entirely on where you live. You can figure out your last frost date by entering your zip code here. Then, it’s entirely dependent on what you decide to plant.
Whether you decide to purchase seeds through a catalog, or find a few you like the next time you head to your local store/nursery, you will find that each seed packet is chock full of information. Seed packets house indoor growing tips that usually let you know an optimal time frame for sowing your seeds, planting depth, and typical days to germination.
And, that’s why your last frost date is so important. It’s a guide on when your plants will survive life outdoors. You will want your seedlings to be strong before you harden off and transplant them into your outdoor garden. Here’s an idea of how to determine when to start your seeds indoors:
Plant Name
Eggplant
# Weeks til Outdoor Planting
8-10
Last Frost Date
April 16
Sow Seeds
Feb 12
A simple time and date calculator will help to determine your seed sowing date. There are also a few supplies you will need to get this process underway (make sure to scroll down for that inexpensive hack to help your seedlings thrive).
Here’s your shopping list:
- Seed Packets ←- Herbs, vegetables, flowers, pick your poison
- Soil
- Seed starter kit, peat pots, or containers (I suggest bypassing the starter kit and using peat pots)
- Mister
- Watering Can (a measuring cup with spout will do for now)
- Labels (craft sticks are a great inexpensive option)
- Garden Journal/Record Book
I go even more in depth into the different plants for your garden in my blog post Discover the Difference Between Annuals, Biennials, and Perennials.
How many seeds you should start indoors to get your desired yield
It’s always a good idea to start small, especially when you are starting something new. So, after you decide on which herbs, vegetables, flowers (or combination thereof) that you would like to plant, it’s time to figure out how many plants you will need. Keep in mind, some plants may not germinate, and others may not make it through the transplanting process. So, it is a good rule of thumb to plant double the amount of seeds for the number of plants you would like to grow.
How a grow light can help you start your indoor garden
Did you know that seedlings need the most amount of light out of all plants? And, if you are in a north facing house like we are here at the farmhouse, your seeds might benefit from a grow light. Ours most certainly did.
That’s a glimpse of our first budget set up in the laundry room. In the future, this space will become a part of the girls room, once the renovations are complete. Oh, if you’re interested in checking out our farmhouse renovations, you can join in on the adventure here.
So, how can a grow light help your seedlings? Well, like I mentioned before, seedlings have the highest light requirement out of any stage of plant growth. And, you will need to keep your grow light on for 12- 14 hours a day as they grow indoors. Normally, a grow light is best kept 4-6 inches above your seedlings.
Keep in mind different seeds have different environmental needs, some need darkness to grow, while others need cooler temperatures. But, most seeds need a steady temperature of at least 70 degrees fahrenheit to successfully germinate, as well as the light requirement mentioned in the paragraph above.
Bonus Tip: This is an optional purchase, but a very useful resource – especially if you are in a climate with fluctuating spring temperatures – you might want to invest in a hygrometer. A hygrometer measures the humidity and temperature variations over a 24 hour period.
Want to know how to achieve a near perfect environment for your indoor seedlings? Check out this post on How to maintain seedling growth indoors.
The inexpensive hack that brought my seedlings back to life
As I mentioned before our farmhouse is north facing, and our transition from winter to spring is especially cloudy and rainy here in Tennessee. In other words, not optimal conditions for germinating seeds. But, with the help of a grow light, and these clear storage containers our seedlings have been thriving indoors.
efore putting our peat pots into these containers, the soil would dry out instantly, and we would have to water our seedlings multiple times a day. Now, we water them once each day because the soil holds the moisture. Our seedlings literally came back to life once we discovered this simple gardening hack.
Want to know what happens next? Check out this post on the germination stage of starting your garden from seeds.
Once I discovered these simple gardening steps and implemented them in our indoor grow station, I finally saw success with our seedlings. Determining when to sow the seeds became easier and more organized, and with the help of our grow light and clear storage containers our seedlings have thrived! This can happen for you too!
So, what type of garden will you start this year?
