The Basics
Links included below are some of my favorite products that you can find online. Some links are associate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Associate links won’t ever change the listed price, but they do pay out a very small commission if you make a purchase. If you make a qualifying purchase through an associate link- thank you for your support!
Soil
Seeds are resilient and will grow in almost anything. We’ve had tomatoes pop up in our gravel driveway, radishes grow in our clover lawn, and parsley in walkways. Seeds usually find a way to make the growing medium work for them.
We prefer to use a pre-made seed starting mix. We’ve used a lot of different brands over our gardening journey. Our go to seed starting mix is Espoma, but we’ve had great success with Miracle Grow over the years as well.
Potting soil can be a little dense for delicate seeds and often have fertilizer already added to them which can burn your seedlings.
Seeds
Hands down the most important item in your seed starting journey! If you have to pick one item not to skimp on, this is it!
We like to buy organic seeds and regionally adapted seeds if they’re available.
Organic seeds can be more expensive than conventionally grown seeds but it’s worth the slight price increase for us. Conventionally grown seeds could have been treated with synthetic pesticides and or fungicides.
Locally adapted seeds have been grown in a similar climate to yours and should do better in your area because of it. While this is a nice perk to have, it’s not always necessary for success. We’ve bought from non local seed companies before and still had great results!
Two other things you’ll want to check on the packet are the germination rate and the year the seeds are packed for.
Seeds with higher germination rates mean that you’re more likely to get your seeds to germinate. When we buy new seeds, we like to make sure that they’re packed for the current growing year or future growing year. Seed viability is important when you’re purchasing new packets!
Older seed packets and seeds with lower germination rates work too. We have some older packets of seeds that we’ve had intermediate success with but only because we over sow each cell to be sure at least one seed germinates.
Quality seed = quality plant= quality produce. Simple enough, right?
Light Source
Some seeds require light to germinate and others can germinate without light but will require natural or artificial light as soon as the seed germinates. If you see green, turn the lights on or move to a sunny area!
Seeds can be started on a sunny windowsill in the winter but may benefit from an additional light source since daylight is at a low. When starting in a windowsill, the plants may become leggy and reach for the light source. Rotating the container 180 degrees every few days will help straighten out the plant.
For this reason, we prefer to start with artificial light when we start indoors and turn it on as soon as we see germination. It doesn’t take long to get a leggy seedling, sometimes only a day! Leggy seedlings can be corrected on some plants when you go to pot up, but not on all.
Lights hooked up to a chain can be adjusted as your plants grow in size. Adjusting the height of your lights keeps them at an appropriate distance away from the plant and prevents legginess.
When starting seeds with artificial light, you’ll want to make sure the lights are set to vegetative growth settings or buy bulbs specifically for vegetative growth. For a beginner gardener, it may be easier to use a light with one setting. For a more advanced gardener who wants to manipulate the grow light, there are options that will let you adjust the lights to target vegetative growth or fruit formation.
You’ll probably be able to find grow lights at your local nursery. We’ve purchased and use these fluorescent lights on our seed starting rack and this spider farmer grow light in our grow tent.
Heat Source
Incredibly helpful for starting some of your warmer loving plants like tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers. You can get away without having a heat source on greens and brassicas. Seed packets will list the ideal temperature for seed germination on the back of the packet. If you see some seeds that need higher temperatures than what your house is set at, you may want to consider adding a heat source.
Heat mats will help with germination but they’ll also dry out your soil a lot quicker than seeds started without a heat mat. You’ll need to keep an eye on the soil and make sure to keep it moist so the seeds can germinate!
Seed Starting Container
These can be as fancy or low key as you’d like. Seeds can be started in traditional six or four pack cells. We’ve started seeds in yogurt containers (keep the clear lid as a humidity dome,) milk jugs, old tin cans, and anything else we could get our hands on! Just make sure your containers have some drainage holes and there’s a good amount of room for the roots to develop.
Your local Lowes or Home Depot may have an area set aside for excess pots that are headed for the recycling or trash. We’ve asked if we could have them and the answer has always been “yes!” Local nurseries tend to have the same arrangement and encourage gardeners to recycle their pots in store, too!
If you’re wanting traditional cells to start in and are on a budget, we’ve used these for a few years and they’ve held up really well! Traditional four cell or six cells fit in 1020 trays easily and helps when you go to water all of your seedlings at once.
Trays can be as simple or complex as you’d like. We’ve used old plastic storage bins as a tray before; a lot of everyday items can be repurposed into something for seed starting!
When you go to pot up your seedlings from smaller cells, you’ll want to have some larger containers to pot up into. We’ve used red solo cups, saved starbucks cups, and these four inch pots.
Humidity Dome
Again, as fancy or as simple as you want it to be! Humidity domes are exactly what they sound like. They lock in moisture coming off of the soil and aid in germination. These are on for a few days until the first seeds start to germinate. As soon as there’s germination, you’ll want to pull them off so you don’t risk mold or fungus growing on the seedlings and or dampening off.
We like to use domes that fit on top of our 1020 trays for simplicity’s sake. It makes it easier to have things that perfectly fit each other and are all the same size when it’s time to store them.
Water
Having a water source near your seedlings will save you a lot of grief. When the plants grow in size and you’re watering hundreds of them, it’s a lot easier to refill with a close water source.
In the beginning, we use a mister to keep the soil wet. As soon as seeds germinate, we water from below with a basic watering can in the 10 trays to prevent dampening off.
Fertilizer
Seed starting soil is basically nutritionally void. Once the first set of “true leaves” appears, you’ll want to fertilize your seedlings. Seedlings can get most of what they need from the seed itself to get going, but adding a fertilizer will help give your plants an extra nutritional boost!
A good rule of thumb for your fertilizing schedule is every week or two weeks.
Some of my favorite fertilizers for seedlings are:
Peaceful Valley Organic Liquid Kelp
Arber Plant Food – use code TINYGREENGROWERS10 for 10% off website
Getting fancy with it
To make things easier, we’ve added a timer switch to our lights. Our days are chaotic with toddlers so adding a timer that will turn the lights on and off was a game changer for us!
For bigger plants, we added a grow tent. The only downside to these grow tents are that they are HUGE and hard to miss! You’ll want to add a fan to yours if you decide to get one. We learned the hard way with some tomato plants started in them that didn’t love the humidity level and generally stagnant air. After the fan, they did much better!
Seed starting doesn’t need to be complicated to get started. Getting started where you’re at is the first step. You can always grow from there!
Happy seed sowing!
[…] What You’ll Need For Indoor Seed Starting […]
[…] For more information on product specifics/reviews check out this article: Indoor Seed Starting-What You’ll Need […]
[…] Indoor Seed Starting- What You’ll Need […]
[…] a light and fluffy soil to get started. We prefer to use a pre-made seed starting mix. Check out this page for more information on soil, and general things you may need to start anything from […]
[…] a light and fluffy soil to get started. We prefer to use a pre-made seed starting mix. Check out this page for more information on soil, and general things you may need to start anything from […]
[…] Indoor Seed Starting- What You’ll Need […]