Growing your own seedlings allows you to save money, experiment with different plants, and kick start your next seasons garden while its still cold out! Going to your local nursery or home improvement store can be the easiest way to get seedlings to plant in your garden but the cost can add up quickly. Planting your own seeds gives your more control and allows for greater variety options.
Required Supplies
There are some basic supplies needed to grow your own seedlings.
- Seeds
- Seedling Starter Tray
- Growing medium (seed starting mix, coconut coir or peat pellets)
- Water
- Warmth
- Light
- Plant Markers
Seeds
Early January each year I go through my garden plan and pick out seeds for the season. I place an order for any new seeds needed either I”m trying something new or don’t have any left from the year before. If you want more information on how to pick out your seeds see my post All Things Seeds…What you need to know.
Seedling Starter Trays
Seedling starting trays can be as simple as a used cardboard egg carton. You don’t have to go out a spend large amounts of money. If you are planting a larger number of seedlings. There are some really great options out there today.
Peet Pellets
The Jiffy Peet Pellet Seed Starting greenhouse bundles are great. I have used this for many years. The are easy to use by simply adding water and the peet pellets expand allowing you to insert the seeds. The are both a seedling tray and your growing medium. They have a plastic dome cover that you can use for a green house effect. They come in multiple sizes. I like the 36 pellet tray and the 72 pellet trays. They are reasonably priced and you can even get replacement pellets if you wanted.
There are two things about these that I don’t like. If you plant larger plants in them the roots can expand past the pod into other pods causing you to have to break roots to separate the pods. The other is that the pods fabric don’t breakdown very quickly and at the end of the season I still have them in the garden.
Peat Pots
Another options is using Peat Pots. These are biodegradable pots made out of peat. You can plant the entire pot without having to disturbed the roots of the plants. I used these for my spring plants in 2022 and they did well. I did break the bottom of the pots when planting to allow the roots to expand out of the pot. You can find these in a variety of sizes.
Reausable Trays
For this year I found a new type of seed try from Burpee that are reusable and have a flexible pop-out cells to allow you to get the seedlings out easily. They are easy to work with and have letter and numbers that allow you to track which seedling in in what section. I used 2 of the 16 XL cell trays for my larger seedlings (tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins, cucumber) and 1 of the 36 cells tray for my herbs.
Growing Medium
Your growing medium is what you are using to plant your seeds in and there are three options. Seed Starting mix is a special soil mix that is made for seeds. It is normally a light soil with something for water retention and nutrition for your young seedlings. This year I am using the Jiffy Seed Starting mix. Another option is using Coconut Coir which is made out of recycled coconut husks. A really nice feature is that this comes in compressed bricks that you just add water to and it will expand. The other option is using the peat pellets. You can get these in the package trays or you can buy them in a package and just add water in another try.
Water
Seeds need to say moist go germinate and to grow. Having a simple water can enables you to be able to water your seedlings and not make a mess.
Warmth
Most seeds like a warm environment to germinate. Depending on your home this can easily be achieved by placing seedling trays in a window or on top of the refrigerator. If you home is cooler or you are planting a larger number of seedlings then you can fit on your windowsill having heating mats can help. This is the first year I am using a heating mat. The room i have my seedlings in can be rather cool especially in the mornings. The mat I am using is BN-LINK Seedling heat mat. It is 10″ by 20.75″ and I am using 2 which is just enough to go under all my seed trays.
Light
The final item you will need is light. If you are planting a few seedling a window sill can be enough light. If you are planting more that that a grow light is helpful. Grow lights can prevent you from getting leggy seedlings. Leggy seedlings are where the plants are stretching to reach the sunlight the need. Last year I used one grow light but it wasn’t enough and some of the seedlings not under the light got very leggy. I had trouble with planting some of these because I have very strong winds and the plants weren’t sturdy enough. This year I added a second grow light. The lights I have have adjustable arms that let me move them as the plants get larger. There are many options on the market including ones you can hang. Since my setup is only temporary I love being able to bring them out when needed then store till next season.
Plant Markers
There are many ways you can use to keep track of what you plant where in your trays. You can keep a chart of what you have planted. The Burpee Super Seed Trays come with a chart to let you write down what you planted in their corresponding labeled cell. I use simple plant tags. These don’t get planted in the garden but they are really helpful for me when I’m planting my seedlings. I can tell the larger plants apart but many of the baby seedlings all look the same when they are two leaves. I use simple waterproof plant tags. I’ve been using the same box for a few years and they are great. I normally write out all of the seeds on the tags before I start planting so I can just add the tag as I plant.
Planting
Now that you have all of your supplies you can begin the planting. Normally your seed packets will tell you the suggest time to plant your seeds before transplanting into your garden. This can be anywhere from 2 to 8 weeks depending on the plant. I normally start my peppers earlier than any others.
Step 1. Prepare Planting Medium
This step can be different depending on your planting medium.
- Peat pods: use water to allow them to expand to their full sizer.
- Coconut Coir: use water to make it expand and become light and fluffy then fill your trays. The coconut coir should be moist but not soaking wet.
- Seed Starting soil: Fill your trays. Then add water and mix the soil. You will probably need to repeat this a time or two to get your soil moist. If you don’t do this then soil will be very wet on top and dry on the bottom. Also water will not soak in easily and will form a puddle at the top and many times your seeds will float. This will also let the soil settle and you may have to add more.
Step 2: Plant Seeds
Different seeds have different depths they should be planted at. Some should just be under the soil and some should be buried up to an inch under the soil. Follow the depths outlined on your seed packets to how deep to plant them. I normally add 2 to 3 seeds into each cell or peat pod I am planting. If they are older seeds I might add one or two more because oder seeds may not germinate as well. I poke a hole at the required depth place seeds in then cover them.
Step 3: Tag Seeds
Tag your seeds as you plant them or write down what you planted in each cell/pod.
Step 4: Heat/Light/Water
Place your seed trays where they have their light and heat source. That could be your window or your heat mats with lights. Ensure your seedlings stay moist but not soaking. You should see seedlings start to sprout in as little as 7 days. Your seed packet will tell you expected days to germination. Now sit back and wait for the magic to happen.
