Seed Starting

I usually seed start in my Aerogarden which has always been very successful and I never have a problem with the seeds germinating and being perfect for transplant. The last two years I haven't been able to start my own seeds since life was so busy. The problem with the Aerogarden is you really have to replace the bulbs every year and buy more nutrients and the bulbs are pretty pricey. I tried not replacing the bulbs for two years and the seedlings were significantly more leggy that second year.

3 or 4 years ago

This year I spent a significant amount of money expanding the garden so in the interest of saving a little and starting my own seeds means I won't have to buy as many plants (I still bought potatoes and asparagus and plan to get strawberries as well) I tried to go the more traditional route. I bought a 72 cell seed starter jiffy tray with peat pellets for about $8 at Walmart and dug into my stash of seeds I've had for the last  7 years. I keep them in the refrigerator or freezer. I seeded the tray and so far things are working out great. I had several of the oldest seeds still germinate in the first 4 days or so. Seeds are truly amazing.

The next problem I went out to solve was since I wasn't growing these indoor under lights and my south facing windows just didn't get enough strong sunlight, I wanted to figure out a way to get the benefit of germinating outside (the sun and some wind to keep the seedlings strong) and the benefit of starting indoors (warmth over night, controlled germination). Enough Googling around led me to the use of clear storage containers as mini greenhouses. Once most of the seeds popped up, I put the whole tray inside a storage container (about $6 at Walmart) and brought it outside when the sun came up to my sunniest spot and if the day was going to be warm then I left the lid off and when the sun set I'd bring the seedlings inside. If the night wasn't going to get below 50 degrees, I'd just put the lid on and leave them outside over night. So far it's been working out great, but it's definitely A LOT more work than my Aerogarden, but it's also been cheaper as I hoped.

The tomatoes and cucumber plants were starting to root outside of the peat pellet nets so I used some old 4 inch pots I kept from years past and a bag of potting mix ($4 at Walmart) to pot them up in there with a little diluted fertilizer and they're looking pretty happy now.

Several of the seeds have yet to come up, peppers, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, oregano. And I've read most of those take a longer time to germinate, but it may also be age of the seeds working against them too. It's been 14 days since I sowed the seeds. Time will tell. I love watching those little plants reach their potential in this world. Gardening never ceases to amaze me, even when I know what to expect and see the same little miracles happen over and over again.