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Gardening 101: Starting vegetable seeds indoors

New seeds for 2009 are starting to show up in Austin area nurseries and garden stores. If you want to try your hand at growing tomatoes (or other warm weather crops) from seed, now’s the time to choose your varieties and set up a small growing station in your home so you can grow healthy transplants for spring planting in the garden.

For best results in your vegetable garden, follow a recommended sowing and transplanting schedule. The Texas Agrilife Extension has sowing and planting charts that tell you when it’s best to sow seeds and plant transplants in our area. For example, for tomatoes, you should plan to sow your seeds indoors in late January, six to eight weeks before it’s time to transplant outdoors in early to mid March.

There are several approaches you can take to start your own seeds, and some of them cost more than others. I’m going to assume you don’t want to spend a lot of money, and you want a method that’s fairly easy.

Try this simple approach first. If you really get into it, you can always go out and buy more seed starting and growing equipment later.

— Choose about a dozen small containers, similar in size. Yogurt or cottage cheese containers work well. Even better are leftover paper cups from your favorite coffee house ( I don’t know about you, but I always have several latte cups rolling around the floor of my truck). Nice thing about the paper cups — after you set out your transplants you can compost the cups. Slice the cup in half with a really sharp knife so it’s not so tall. Poke a little drainage hole in the bottom of each container.

— Buy a package of organic seed starting mix at your local nursery or garden store. Most mixes include some combination of peat moss, perlite, vermiculite, sand and compost. (Don’t use potting soil — it’s too heavy) Fill each container with the starting mix, and set your containers close together on a tray or in the lids of a couple of shoe boxes.

— Set up your growing area: You’ll need a small table or 2-shelf kitchen cart, a fluorescent shop light that you can hang over your seedlings, and a seed growing mat. (A mat is not absolutely necessary, but it works great for seeds that need warm soil to germinate; you can also get enough warmth to germinate your seeds by setting them on top of your fridge)

—Read the instructions on the seed packet. (I know, I know, reading instructions is no fun, but you’ll save yourself grief later if you do, because different plants have different germination requirements)

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—Plant your seeds. Press three or four seeds into each pot and cover lightly with moistened seed-starting mix. (When in doubt, shallower planting of seeds is better than deeper.)

—Give your baby seedlings light and water. Once your seeds germinate, remove them from the heat download drama movies source and place them under the shop light (about two inches from the light). Turn off the heat lamp before you go to bed at night, and turn it back on first thing in the morning. Make sure to water your little plants often enough that they stay moist, but not soggy. Check them often and don’t ever let them completely dry out. Every now and then mix a tiny bit of liquid seaweed into your watering can. Don’t use icy cold water; room temp water is best. (Even better is rainwater).

— When your seedlings are about an inch tall, thin them to one plant per pot. The easiest way to do this is to use tiny scissors to snip the tops off at the soil line.

— Keep your seedlings cool. Most seedlings grow better if they’re kept in a cool part of your home. A daytime temp of 60-70 degrees is ideal; at night 50-60 degrees is good download action movie. Plants grown in warmer environments grow a little faster but often become spindly. Your goal is to grow stocky little seedlings that are strong and healthy enough to withstand the shock of being transplanted into your garden in early spring.

— Harden your seedlings. When it’s about time to transplant your seedlings outdoors, set aside about five or six days to harden them first. Seedlings that have been living the good life in your home under your constant care need to be gradually introduced to direct sun, wind, temperature fluctuations, etc. First, set your seedlings outside in a location where they get bright, but indirect light for an hour or two in the morning, and then bring them back inside. Do that for a day or two. Then, leave them outside for about five or six hours in that same spot with indirect sunlight. On the next day, give them one hour of direct morning sunlight, then move them to the indirect light area for the rest of the day. Finally, leave them outside in an area where they get a couple hours of direct morning sun and afternoon shade for …

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