Seed starting 101 | Basics to get growing | The Impatient Gardener
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- Опубликовано: 12 сен 2024
- NOAA has removed the specific frost date information from its website (at least as of this writing, and likely due to fairly severe budget cuts). Fortunately there are lots of other places to get that information. Here's a link to one site ( www.almanac.co... ) but there are oodles of other sites that offer frost date calculators. Just search for "last frost date."
Seed-starting basics! See time stamps to skip to specific information:
3:01 Figuring out your last frost date
6:36 Make a seed starting chart
7:02 How to read a seed packet
9:29 Direct sow or start inside
10:45 Supplies
15:05 Planting seeds in cells
17:24 How to make soil blocks
24:27 Bottom heat
26:17 Germination! Now what?
26:45 Grow lights
29:22 Fertilizing
29:54 Hardening off
31:00 How to find more information
Thanks to Jung Seed Co. for partnering with me on this video. www.jungseed.com
SEED-STARTING SUPPLIES
Organic seed-starting mix: www.jungseed.c...
Coco coir: www.jungseed.c...
Seed tray without holes: www.jungseed.c...
Web flat: www.jungseed.c...
Cell insert: www.jungseed.c...
Humidity dome: www.jungseed.c...
Germination heat mats: www.jungseed.c...
Easy grow lights: www.jungseed.c...
Soil blocker: amzn.to/2vGhw5T
SEEDS IN THIS VIDEO
Everleaf Emerald Towers Basil: www.jungseed.c...
Organic Sunshine Squash: www.jungseed.c...
SOIL BLOCK RECIPES
My recipe:
2 parts reconstituted coir fiber
2 parts sifted organic seed starting mix
1.5 parts vermiculite
.25 part (or less) bone meal
.25 part green sand
Eliot Coleman recipe (makes 1/2 bushel)
7.5 qt. peat moss
1/8 c. Lime
5 qt. perlite
1/4 c. blood meal
1/4 c. colloidal phosphate
1/4 c. green sand
2.5 qt. compost
5 qt. garden soil
READ MORE ARTICLES ON THE IMPATIENT GARDENER
How to grow in soil blocks: www.theimpatie...
Seed basics: www.theimpatie...
My name is Erin and I love sharing inspiration and information with real-life gardeners. I live and garden in southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5.
#seedstaring #garden #TheImpatientGardener
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The Impatient Gardener
125 E. Main St.
Port Washington, WI 53074
I am planning on a pretty ambitious flower garden this year and just bought $150 worth of seeds. I watched 10 vids about starting plants from seeds and your video was by far the most informative and fun to watch. I want to thank you for packing so much useful information. Most of the other vids took about 20 minutes to give 5 minutes of useful info. I have watched many of your videos and they are all information dense and entertaining. You also convinced me to use soil blocks for the first time. You are authentic and awesome so please keep doing what you do!!! (I just subscribed)
Thank you Jamie! I'm glad it was helpful to you.
I love that you support family owned businesses as much as I love that you used the word anthropomorphize!
How did you know how nervous I've been to start my seeds. This was so useful!!!
I am starting a limited selection this year cause I learned I always have more than I will ever need and so many poor plants end up homeless! 😹 But it's always so fun to see those little babies come up 😊
My seed-starting eyes are way bigger than my space or ability to manage them all.
same here lol but I will still do it
Kelly Ferren Yep. And I will ask myself why i did so much. There’s no help for it.
I got these grey blue poppy seeds from veseys they are new this year so ya cant wait ..
I had so many homeless plants last year. I stuck them in a tiny garden off to the side and said good luck 😂😂 Did get an okay ending. Would have been better had implanted them weeks earlier but I kept holding out hope that they’d find a home.
Thanks for the video. It’s a small world. My sister lived next-door to the.Jung family in Randolph for 20 years
Thank you so much for sharing this video. So much information. I love how the kitty made a final appearance! 🐈😄
Thankyou for all of the great seed information. This video was so helpful. I feel more confident now . Love all your video. Thanks
Thanks Erin.....I always learn SO much from your videos! Another Great video👏👏👏
Thank you, Charli!
Thanks Erin....refer to this video many times now! 👍 Great stuff! ~Betsy Schaffitzel
I'm contemplating starting seeds for the first time, but it's so daunting! Thanks for all the info and I'm going to try it!! 🌿
I needed this video so bad! I bought seeds this year and want to try! Thank you and have a great day.............Mary
Love this! Also love your background companion 👍
This video has made me realize I can start my seeds. When you said you have yours under grow lights in the basement, that was what opened up my eyes. I have a full basement, but I do not have a greenhouse, so this would be the way to start the seeds. I could easily set up grow lights. Thank you for setting this up in steps and demonstrating what to do.
That's a beautiful kitchen. Sorry off topic but your back splash is gorgeous!
Good reminder of the basics. Thanks for showing soil blockers, I have been using plastic or paper pots.
I think paper pots are a really good option too, although I’ve never used them myself. I would, however, remove the paper before I planted. Same with any kind of biodegradable pot. Annuals and vegetables are in the ground for such a short time that sometimes the pot never breaks down and that whole time it’s restricting the roots.
Great video with lots of information, wish I had more gardening space, but I will use what I have, thanks for sharing , really enjoyed this video 👍❤️😊
Best teaching video on seed starting I ever heard ! Thankyou now it’s my turn to start mine.
Great tips and advice. Love the practical advice especially
Such valuable information! I saved this video in my Gardening list to review in the Spring before I begin 💜
Hey Erin~ I love your channel and the seed growing video! Any chance you could be the first to share a video on propagating plants like annuals and perennials from cuttings? It seems that nobody wants to touch that subject but I learned gardening from my Mom years ago. She taught me how to get more for your money that way when you have limited funds for gardening! And then giving some away to neighbors that you can trade with is so fun too! I like starting cuttings of coleus especially, because they grow so fast! Thanks ~ Stephanie from Southern NJ 🌱🦋🙌🏼☀️
I’m starting seeds for the first time this season so thank you for this information. It was very helpful. I’m going to get started on my spreadsheet today. By the way, great job throwing in the $25 word “anthropomorphic.” Impressive.
great video thank you ...I am soo impatient at this time becauz I want sooooo much to start my seeds and yes I will start some too early beacaz I just cant wait lol again great video this morning drinking my coffee
Thank you for this great seed starting information.
Oh my gosh !! What a great video!! Thank you so much for all the guidance and information. I want to start seeds so much but was hesitant because I failed in the past once, not knowing what the heck I was doing. After watching I am so excited to try again !!
Great content. Perfectly timed for my N. Alabama zone 7b. Thank you 🙏
I also have good experience with Jung Seed. Got an order of plants by mail from them last fall. They were shipped quickly and packed perfectly.
These seed starting video make me realize how fortunate I am to live in zone 9b! I throw and go mid February!
Throw and go! Love it! :)
Hi Erin! Jako,jako dobre informacije, i hvala ti na tome. Svako dobro ti želim! Nada from Croatia EU🤗
Super helpful video! Thanks for the info
I look at all the seed packets, and then mark the dates in a calendar from approx. last date. good video, good info.
Have you ever tried winter sowing? - Small greenhouses in milk jugs. Sure helps with long cold winters.
You answered a lot of questions thanks for the help i will be watching love your videos
Thanks Erin, can’t wait to get started. I’m going to try some perennials this year. There’s just something about starting your own plants💚🙃
Such good timing. So glad for the information. I tried starting Tomatoes one year. It was a disaster. They germinated well but got leggy and stretched even though I used a grow light. Now I know why. Going to try again.
Thank you
MKR Creations
The handy thing with tomatoes is that when you pot them on or plant them out, you can bury a good amount of stem (just remove leaves that would be under the soil level).
@@TheImpatientGardener good to know. Thank you.
Thank you for the Frost dates chart ! So helpful !!
Great video! Thanks for all the timely information, I've already printed out NOAA info for the Twin Cities metro area. On a side note, is your kitchen always that neat and tidy...please say no ;). Keep up the videos, always entertaining and informative!
Mary Bosworth I don’t like a lot of stuff on my counters but I confess to just pushing everything in the frame off to the side!
Ugh these videos make me want to plant seeds and bulbs, but I have to wait 23 more days, to plant them outdoors!! 😶
I do live in a frost free city, but February and early March are our coldest periods, and so far winter was unusually hard, so I need to be a bit more patient.
Looking forward to your updates, have a wonderful day!! 😊
Great video and thank you for sharing🤗🤗🤗🤗
Very good information i was looking sins is my first year I hope that it will go good I begin with small amount flowers and the vegetable i can by ready make for like 0,25 euro in the spring by mine local garden thank you sooo much for sharing 😀💕🌺👍
I got curious about "days to maturity" because I just watched Garden answer video where Laura said it meant days from when the seed starts sprouting from the ground. So I Googled. It looks like both of you are correct but just need to be a bit more specific. This explanation I found on several websites - " If the seed is usually planted straight in the garden, like carrot seed, then the time to maturity is the time between planting and harvesting the first carrot. If the seed is usually started indoors and then planted in the garden, like tomatoes, the time of maturity is the time from setting out seedlings to the harvest of the first tomato."
Inese Duka Yep. Clear as mud, right? And really it has more to do with Growing Degree Days, because temperature greatly affects growth and fruit development. It is interesting but super complicated. Here’s more info on it if you want to go down the rabbit hole: www.canr.msu.edu/news/understanding_growing_degree_days
Very informative, thank you. I had no idea soil blockers existed.
Very helpful and informative, thanks for sharing.
Thank you Erin. Just what I needed.
Coles County Illinois here... thats good info, thank you
Great resource! Thank you for the information...very helpful!
Great informative video! Thank you🌱can’t wait to get started!!
so very, very well done.
Excellent seed starting video. Thanks for sharing .edu.
I'm trying winter sowing this year and have seeds started outside in plastic milk jugs. Couldn't help myself and started a few tomato seeds inside in 50 cm pellets under grow lights. This winter has been so mild I am really anxious to get going with planting.
unrelated, but I love that backsplash!
Thanks for sharing. I am you new friend. I have started my seeds too. I love my garden. Hope to see you soon.
This was great, lots of super important info, some of which I had to learn the hard way 😔
Thank you Erin!
Perfect timing..
The website was very hard to navigate. I didn’t have the same site you had for some reason. I eventually typed into the search bar (after reviewing your video a few times) freeze frost dates and then added my state to the search and I was finally able to download the pdf. Thanks for this seed starting 101 video.
I’m so sorry, I only put a portion of the url in the video. I did put a link to the specific part of the website (which, I agree, is a nightmare) in the description.
The Impatient Gardener thank you that’s very helpful!
I absolutely love your content and your cat
I am very similar in environment to you. I am never successful with onions. Can you maybe do a video on them. I love to cook. I have a place to store but totally suck at getting a great crop. I am very successful with all other crops. I want onions🥴💝
Thanks for this detailed video.
Great video, Erin, I learned a lot! Sooo tempting... I am trying to remind myself, I only have a 4x8 veggie bed...and a MAJOR rabbit problem... I like your kitchen, is it brand new or you cleared everything for the video? Love the backsplash! Your kitty is adorable, I just lost my 18y old last weekend.
Thank you for this video!! How do you decide between cell blocks and using plastic cell trays? Seems like cell trays are so much easier.
They are one less step, that’s for sure. I think seedlings do better in soil blocks though (I have zero evidence of this, strictly subjective), so I start things in them that I know I will be potting on into bigger pots to keep growing.
Thank you so much for the video and info! Like so many, I’m a newbie to seed starting. Looking forward to following these starts with you and mimicking you along the way. Do the seed blocks fall apart if the get too soggy? Would you say they might be more for someone with a bit of experience under their belt? I’m naturally a nervous nelly...😊 #SEEDperBowlSunday 😂
Mixing soil block mix is one extra step and you have to invest in the soil blocker, so if you’re just dipping your toe in the seed-starting water, cells might be easier (and cheaper). If they got really sodden they may fall apart but they really never should. There’s a lot of water holding ingredients in there so they can be moist without being soggy, if that makes sense.
Love it! Very informative!
Great video!! Thank you! Give kitty a lovey for me🐾❤
I am having trouble finding the page you show on NOAA site. Not sure if it is because I’m looking on my phone or what! Can you tell us how to drill down to the search you did?
Ack! I didn’t include the entire URL. I’ll have to correct that. Here you go and sorry about that! www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/climatenormals/climatenormals.pl?directive=prod_select2&prodtype=CLIM2001&subrnum%2520to%2520Freeze/Frost%2520Data%2520from%2520the%2520U.S.%2520Climate%2520Normals
P.S. your video bomber is such a cutie!! 😂😻
Thank you Erin! I really enjoy your videos. Once I grow my seedlings and have to pot them up, can I move them to a sunny window instead of keeping them under the grow lights? I ask this because I am just starting out and don’t have so many grow lights so I wouldn’t be able to grow alllll the seeds at once if they all need to be kept under grow lights till after frost.
Nh H Honestly, it really is best to keep them under lights. If you have a sunny window though, it’s worth a try. They will lean toward the window, so keep rotating the tray so they grow straight.
OH MY GOODNESS, the mesh/grid layer is fantastic! One question, I started some seeds earlier that the recommended 6-8 weeks, I have them in a small heated greenhouse. Do you have any suggestions for keeping them HAPPY and healthy. Next year I will plan better.
Just keep potting them up. When they run out of room in whatever they are planted in, plant them in something a little bigger. Use a dilute liquid fertilizer ever two weeks and, depending on the variety, it might be a great idea to pinch them back to create bushier growth.
@@TheImpatientGardener Thank you🌱
Great video! I’m really liking those blue trays..who sells them?
Also, did you find it hard to start using the soil blockers? I wanted to try them this year but heard getting the soil consistency right is the key...?
Honestly I’ve never had a problem with them. So long as you can get them to hold together in you hand like that without crumbling if you touch them they should be good. You don’t really touch them much until seedlings have A lot of roots so the roots help too. There are about a billion recipes for soil block mixture online so play around with it a bit to find what works for you. I don’t really love the recipes that call for garden soil because I worry about pathogens, also my garden soil is frozen when I’m starting seeds, but a lot of people swear by those recipes (including Eliot Coleman, who is an expert).
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for the video! I wanted to be sure that I understand that it is OK to use heat mats for germination. When do you remove the humidity dome and the heat mats? Same time after germination? Ty :)
I remove the dome when about 75% of the seeds have germinated and I’ll leave a tray on the heat for a couple more days (so long as there is also light there) to see if more will germinate. The key is to get them under lights as soon as they are up so if that means they have to leave the heat mat, that’s fine. Light is the priority at that point.
Love your cat!
Good to see that I am on the right track! My new light system is in an unfinished basement, is the lack of ambient heat going to be a problem in February? I do have heat mats. Thank you!
J Stallings Actually it will probably be helpful. A lot of seedlings like to grow cool. I start everything in my basement, which probably hovers in the high 50s.
Great vid 😊
How do you decide which plants to start in soil blocks and which ones to start in regular cells?
I'm the kinda person that watched this twice. 😂 Thanks Erin!
Don't tell anyone but, I start mine in my kitchen.
Hi Erin where can I get that green potting tray? Seems like every gardener has this. Amazon doesn’t sell it 😣 Thanks!
That dirt blocker is fascinating!! Although I'm wondering how the blocks hold up to watering? I would imagine that if someone was a bit heavy handed with the water they may fall apart? What has your experience been?
The key is watering from the bottom. I think watering from the top would have the potential for disaster. But really all seedling should be watered from the bottom whenever possible.
I have a bag of unidentified seeds of all types. I was told there are some "tree" seeds and plant seeds as well as vegetable seeds. Some of the seeds are in zip bags, some are in brown paperbags and some are in paper napkins...any suggestions on starting these seeds? My thoughts are to take of to just take maybe 3-5 seeds from each pack and start them indoors this year and as they grow, I could grow them under a grow light! What are your thoughts? I live in GA
I think this is a little complicated and over the top for beginners a lot of information and stuff to buy. I started growing seeds a few years a ago in a small scale and realized I wasted a lot of money on special trays and grow lights and heat pads. Got rid of all that and planted in cups and plastic or metal cooking pans out them near a window with a ziplock bags and such and it was easier and just as good or better results. It dies not have to be this hard especially if you are only do a few plants
Like I said in the video, if you have a method that works for you, by all means keep using it. There are many ways to have success with starting seeds.
Excellent!
This is so super helpful. I’m all new to this. I have questions. 😊 Would you use the vermiculite on top every time, for every crop be it veggie vs. flower?
How’s It Growing? Yes, I do. I feel like it really helps, although it’s not something that everyone does, so it might be worth experimenting with to see if you like it. The only time I skip it is if a seed needs light to germinate, I which case I either use a super thin dusting or skip it all together.
The Impatient Gardener thank you much! I have found this video to be exceedingly helpful!
Thanks so much!💞
I have a warm room I'm starting my seeds in. The room has a ceiling fan, will that work or do I need a standing fan? Thanks for all the info!
Ceiling fan should be fine I think.
@@TheImpatientGardener ok cool. I started some container lettuce and the seedlings are moving around from the breeze. I needed to grow something 😁🌱
Question about grow lights; I often see different light types that say Full Spectrum but some are blue and red, while others are yellow or daylight. What are the differences here and which one is more suitable for seed starting?
Full spectrum is best for starting seeds, sometimes red light is needed for growing full fruiting plants. But the foliage you want on your seedlings needs full spectrum.
@@shevwheels Thanks Sherry, I appreciate this tip. That's what I needed to know.
Got it, count back from last frost date - so July 2nd minus........
Yep. About that up there! No 95-day tomatoes for you.
Love Jungs for many of the same reasons!
Great comment about looking for info from edu sights. There is a lot of goofy information out there.
Hi Erin, I hope you're doing well. I've asked Laura (Garden Answer) this question too but since you're the Impatient Gardener, as am I, I figure I'd ask you as well. I am planning my garden and unfortunately don't have the money to buy mature trees or even close to mature trees so I will be starting mostly from saplings. I am interested to find out how densely you can plant a garden bed i.e. can I plant a shade loving 1m x 1m shrub hard up against a tree etc. or two shrubs next to each other while factoring in their mature size, can I plant things so that they grow through one another i.e. a rose amongst a sea of agapanthus? People keep telling me to wait until my trees grow but I don't want to wait 3-10 years for saplings to grow before I can plant anything else.
Thanks for your help,
From,
Another impatient gardener.
Cinzia De Luca I feel your pain! Sometimes plants just grow so slowly. I also know that every time I’ve ever tried to outsmart plants, I’ve paid for it. So first off, a good way to stretch a budget is to buy bare root trees. They tend to cost much less and they are so much easier to plant. Last year I got a couple bare root trees through a local sale for about a third of what they would have cost me, and they were about 9-feet tall and 2-inch caliper. So look for that, but know that there is a very small window to plant them. I wouldn’t recommend planting anything right up against a tree because it will hinder the growth of the tree. You don’t want anything competing with those roots. But for other things, yes, you can plant things closely, just factoring in mature size. And if you really like things packed, you can plant a little closer than the tag suggests (I often do). Another great tip is to spend your budget on the bones (trees and shrubs) and then direct sow annuals this year for a full garden. Then gradually back off on the annuals as you’re able to develop things in the future. Good luck!
@@TheImpatientGardener you are an absolutely gem. Thank you so very much for taking the time to write a detailed response. It means the world to me. I'm going to start looking for some bare rooted trees, that's a great tip. Seed starting annuals will give me something to do in the off season too so thank you for that. You're an angel. 😇💜💜💜 🌻
I tried to go to the frost dates website but the link doesn’t work. I tried googling ‘ncdc frost dates’ but can’t find that page you showed with the percentages and dates.
How do i prevent my seedlings from damping off? They will start to grow and then most or all will start to wilt and die.
Cold, wet conditions tend to be exactly what the fungus that causes damping off likes. Here's what helps: 1. Bottom heat (as through a germination mat), 2. Don't let them get too wet. It's better to err on the side of too dry rather than too wet (this is what I think causes most problems). 3. Bright light.
Of course using seed starting mix is important, and I think that the vermiculite helps with that too.
@@TheImpatientGardener Thanks! I have some Himalayan blue poppy seeds (among other seeds). I bought some No Damp Off. Can i use that to top the soil? Vermiculite is harder to find here. I'm going to start some inside and sprinkle the rest outside in the spring. Great video!
When do you take the heat mats off.
When about 75-85% have germinated you remove the humidity dome and move them under lights.
Dang, the NOAA link is broken and for the LIFE of me I could not find how to determine my frost date on that site. :(
I don't know if I am the only one, but when I went to the ncaa.gov site I spent several minutes trying to find the web page you showed us. I could not find it because there are just so many options. Can you give directions, after you go to the site, to help me find it?
2 springs in a row last frost date has been absolutely meaningless as we all suffer through prolonged cold and freezes. :(
How long do you keep the lights on over the seed trays per day? I'm starting my seeds down in the basement.
16 hours a day or thereabouts.
Am having a hard time finding chart in noaa.
Try this link: www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/climatenormals/climatenormals.pl?directive=prod_select2&prodtype=CLIM2001&subrnum%2520to%2520Freeze/Frost%2520Data%2520from%2520the%2520U.S.%2520Climate%2520Normals
Is the worry of spider mites and aphids high when starting seeds inside? Wifey is worried about bugs taking over the house and well so am I haha This is the first year I’m trying this.
MrBNaylor Nope. So long as you use a sterile seed starting mix you won’t bring any bugs in unless they are already present in your house.
The Impatient Gardener awesome. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply, very much appreciated.
Where did you get your soil sieve?
I got a set of three sizes several years ago and I haven't been able to find them since. But this one at Lee Valley Tools looks nice: www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/garden/planting/sieves/49554-stainless-steel-riddle-with-3-screens
Omg lol funny u mention seed starting being made into something "complicated" ...this is so much more complicated than any other seed starting videos I've seen 🤯😅 and I've watched alot.. oh boy lol hmm...cant afford all the fancy gadgets..beginner..feeling overwhelmed by this😂😜