Plant Gardens 101

Vegetable and flower gardeners love to get a jump on the spring planting season by starting their own plants from seed. There are several benefits that come from doing so, including a much wider variety of plants that are available only through seed, as well as a cost effectiveness that will not be found from purchasing started plants. One of the biggest reasons that gardeners fail with starting their own seeds is not that the seeds do not germinate, but that they are grown under poor light and do not thrive. These baby plants do well when grown under artificial grow lights.

Some plants take a long time to reach a plantable size outdoors from seed, while others need only a short time. You can find out how many weeks to start your seeds before your area’s last average frost date by looking at the information on the back of the seed packet.

You will want to use a light, loose seedling mix to start your seeds. You will also need several small containers for seed starting. You can reuse food containers if you poke holes in the bottoms of them, or you can use plastic four-inch pots. Moisten the seedling mix so when you grab a handful and squeeze some water drips out. Fill the pots with the starting mix, tap the container up and down on the table to remove any air pockets, and fill so that there is a little empty room left at the top. Use your finger to smooth the surface, and then it is ready to plant. Plant your seeds approximately as deep as twice the diameter of the particular seed. Some little, fine seeds should simply be pressed into the top of the soil and not covered, whereas other seeds require darkness to germinate, and should be covered well with soil. You can find out what your seeds require in gardening reference books. Use a fine sprayer to spray water on the top of the planted pots, then cover them with plastic loosely, and keep them out of direct sunlight.

The seed packet will also tell you how many days it takes for the seedlings to emerge. After you see they have germinated, remove the plastic and grow them on under bright light. HID lamps are excellent for this purpose, because they most closely resemble sunlight than any other type of light bulb. They offer the correct color spectrums that plants need. HID lights will need a lamp ballast to control the flow of electrical current in the bulb. Keep the light 2-4 inches over the plants, and as they grow raise the lights to keep them at the proper height.

Susan Slobac is an expert in indoor gardening topics such as hydroponic gardening, digital ballasts and full spectrum grow lights.

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