10 Beginner SEED STARTING Mistakes You MUST AVOID
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- Опубликовано: 31 июл 2024
- It's Seed Starting Season! How do I know? Because it's always a good time to plant seeds! Let's make sure your seedlings grow the strongest the possibly can by avoiding these 10 common mistakes.
We'll cover everything from lighting to seeding technique to timing. Join us as we grow some wonderful seedlings!
My favorite seed companies:
Johnny's: www.johnnyseeds.com
Migardener: migardener.com/
Pine Tree Garden Seeds: www.superseeds.com/
Tomato Grower's Supply Company: tomatogrowers.com/
DollarSeed: www.dollarseed.com/
#gardening #homesteading #growyourownfood 
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I truly do not understand why your channel doesn’t have tens of thousands of views/subscribers. This is my favorite gardening channel. I could really relate to your reaction to thinning little seedlings….so sad! I appreciate your combination of scientific info and real life experience. You obviously know your topic. Keep up the superb work!!
Thanks Deanna - comments like this just make our day. Truly.
I don't care how many years I garden; killing those little seedlings is always going to be miserable!
I hope you enjoy the rest of the season's videos as well =)
Keep it up! May the algorithm gods pick up this channel and recommend it to more gardeners!
Haha love the sentiment! Thanks for rooting for us =)
Algorithm got me, I subscribed.
Go algorithm!
Great video! Thanks for the information. Do you ever use worm castings to fertilize your plants?
@@AjArpopP52 I do and we love our worm bin! Easiest form of composting out there IMO =)
I try not to think of them as a fertilizer replacement because they're so mild (low in NPK) but love them for helping bring life back to our barren dirt over time!
I’m an old lady so I can safely say this… you are such a cutie and give excellent garden advice. Keep up the wonderful work!
Thank you Frances! More videos to come once I get all these darn tomatoes in the ground =)
If you are buying transplants, you might want to consider smaller ones over larger ones. To better assure they will transplant shock less due to their tap roots (if any) or general roots' structure. MOST plants should grow faster due to warming conditions to an extent so don't worry too much about that either.
I’ve just discovered your videos, very informative and most important very sincere. I’ve discovered gardening only a year ago and i’m just learning everything and your videos are great for us beginers :) thanks
So glad they're helping! I hope you stick with gardening and thank you very much for the kind words.
I'm British, and I find the amount of times you say "yall" very amusing. Subscribed! 😊
It's just such a very useful word in this context!
Thank you for joining up and checking out the video =)
Thanks for the recommendations to find legit resources online. Very helpful for garden nerds like myself 😊
Garden nerds unite! Hope you're having a good season =)
So much great information here! Thank you for all of your tips, encouragement, and science-driven advice.
Well thank you for saying so and checking out the video! Hope your weekend is going well =)
That last tip is huge for me and my peppers. My climate has a very early last frost date but my nighttime lows are way to low for weeks after to put my peppers out.
100% same here. Of course, this year, we even got a couple late cold fronts (not freezing, but colder than the peppers like it...)
Anyhow, thank you for watching Matt =)
Thank you for not having annoying background music while you are so calmly giving your presentation. So many youtubers do this and people like me cant focus on what they are saying so I skip their channel. I will definitely come back to yours. Happy hands in the dirt from the east coast of Florida 9B
Oh well thank you! I actually have had a lot of comments - especially on older videos - that I use *too much* music in the background so I've tried to make it less intrusive. Glad to know we've gotten a bit better about that =)
This is a great video. RUclips just showed me your video yesterday. I will be subscribing today.
So glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for joing the channel too 😄
Spot on good advice! I started my tomato plants way to early this year. they became so leggy and thin it was terrible. Now that they are finally outside, they are slow going and hard to stake up, but are beefing up much better, won't do that again lol.
Timing is hard! We got all our peas out too early or too late this year because of some weird weather.
I'm glad your toms are fattening up!
Your final thoughts were so sweet! I was starting to feel overwhelmed but thank you for reminding me to just go out and do it!
New viewer and Gardner. You are So informative. Thank you, thank you.
Excellent video, Love every one- thanks for sharing such helpful content!
So glad it was helpful! Also, your RUclips channel looks very cool and adventurous =)
I love your videos sooo much. So glad the algorithm led me to you!
Thank you! So glad you're enjoying them =)
Good work algorithm!
Cool dude and informative too. Show some love. Looking forward to this growing season
Thank you kindly! You and me both - these seedlings are getting huge!
I never thought about the compaction of the soil when top watering. It makes a lot of sense. I've only ever heard it helps to prevent over/ under watering. Will be doing this tomorrow. I must admit for my seeds, anything bigger than a pepper I often start them with tissue/or toilet paper. I'm terrible. Sometimes I just get too busy and forget to water them. Its a little extra work but it works for my forgetfulness.
Honestly, whatever works! These are just some things I've noticed myself and others having problems with, but it's all about results at the end of the day ;)
@@NextdoorHomestead the mad scientist in my loved to experiment but tried and true methods are the best
Very interesting and helpful video, thank you,
I especially loved the final thoughts, don’t try to follow all the advices if not ready but don’t be afraid to try.
Thank you Gen - that's so nice to hear. Appreciate you watching!
New subbie here. Love the informative videos you're making while I am working with my seeds and seedlings and even in the kitchen. Thank you for sharing your knowledge! ❤️🙏
Ok, I loved this comment! I listen to gardening videos in the kitchen too. Mostly while doing the dishes ;)
Thanks for joining up!
Any plants I have grown from seeds, like my sungold tomatoes for example, give me so much more satisfaction and I am serious on this one, it actually tastes better 😉
Totally agree. I gave away a lot of extra seedling this year and folks seemed to have good luck with em too ;)
Almost everything I planted germinated...and now I've got a huge garden. Glad to see I've been doing things right. Thank you. I had great success with underwatering. My son gave me a great love for gardening. He's got great energy like you 👏 👌 You're alot like him.Great channel!
Well thank you kindly! It's so nice when you get a really good tray full of germinated seedlings. Sets the whole season up right =)
I'm a new gardener (1st timer). I've researched SO. MUCH. However, I've made several mistakes already. 💔 I tried staking a young plant today and nearly cut it in half. 😭 Also, I had been using tap water, which has chlorine, so my pepper leaves are bright yellow. Also, with big garden plans, I bought a 6-ft table, a 4-ft grow light, and 4-ft heat mat. But now, I wish I had smaller lights and small heat mats to move them around independently. Right now, I have a small amount of babies left which still need a heat mat, and most of my plants do not need the mat right now, but I only have the massive mat I can't really fit/use. I could go on. Lessons learned. 😞
Oh buddy I feel you! The big mats are sooooo effective but can be frustrating when youve got seedlings at different stages all spread about.
For what's it's worth, I'm a big fan of going big in the garden even to start! You just learn so much that way 😁
This sounds exactly like me last year. I was SO eager to start so I didn't plan and just bought what my local store was selling. But mistakes are some of the best teachers! I hope you are able to get some crops this year :)
This is my 3rd year gardening with absolutely no prior knowledge, experience etc., and no-one (aside from the internet) to help/advise me. Every year at the end of the year, I am just absolutely blown away at how much I learned! It’s amazing! I too am a huge researcher! I research absolutely EVERYTHING! Every tiny detail about literally every seed, every detail of soils, fertilizer, water, light, etc etc etc and on and on. But what I’ve discovered is there is no better way to learn than to just try to do it! I’ve made SO MANY MISTAKES! Some r laughable! But somehow I value those lessons the most- because I learned them myself! All I’m saying here, is that like life, gardening is a journey, so try to enjoy the ride! You will feel great pride at the end of the season when u sit back and think about everything u did right, and everything you will do differently next time, because you learned, you grew! Lol! Have fun! And good luck! 😊❤
I'm a first time gardener as well. This video has given me a lot to think about and will definitely use lots of your advice. My biggest mistake so far has been over watering. Because I was so worried they would die if I didn't water them enough, that I didn't consider them drowning. I'm also a risk taker, so I dont care about the best months to plant, I just plant any seeds that feel right and hope for the best. It's been working out okay so far. I win some and lose some. 😅
@@zeejm3960 Nothing wrong with some liberal use of experimentation! I like to share these tips for folks who want to go full out but you can certainly get good results even running afoul of many of them =)
Just subscribed to you channel. Your information is helping me choose not only what to try growing, but where I can get away planting it as my yard is small and not entirely sunny. Thank you.
That's just so awesome to hear - thank you for letting us know. Just makes it so much more fun to make videos when I know they're helpful.
And thanks for joining up! Lots more to come =)
So glad i stumbled on your channel, really enjoying your presentation style, your topics, and your reliance on scientific research
THANK YOU! That's a really kind thing to say - comments like this one make our day =)
You have a great channel here, my friend. Thanks for the knowledge.
10 seconds into your cooking video and I'm cracking up. Too real 0_o
And thank you very much! Glad you liked it =)
@@NextdoorHomestead peace and love!!!
Thanks so much for the tips! Even with years of gardening behind me I can still learn something new.
Totally agree with number ten. For the warm-loving veggies (the popular Solanaceae triad of peppers, eggplants and tomatoes) I don’t start my seeds till the second week of April (approx last frost date here in south coastal Vancouver Island). If I sow any earlier the seedlings get quite big and take up lots of room on my shelves before my usual plant out date of 20-ish May. We still get cool nights even in late May/early June. The cucurbits don’t get sown indoors till mid-May/first June.
Oh, by the way, I also do the 1.5 seeds per cell like you do 👍 for some of those high germination rate seeds. Glad to hear of someone else doing the same thing. I have occasional trouble culling seedlings (lol, which tip # was that?) and the less I have to cull the better.
The cucurbits always get me! I hate waiting so long after the tomatoes are already well established. Tests my patience every year =)
And yeah, I have serious heartache culling seedlings. It's the worst. Much better of just avoiding it altogether!
Another tip with bottom watering is to make sure whatever your tray is on is level or one side is getting watered and the other isnt!
Hahah so true!!!! I have to flip my trays because my ground isn't level enough. Great tip
Thank you for such a helpful video! New subscriber here! So exciting to learn how to grow my own food!! :)
That's because it's so exciting to grow food!!! We may be biased though... ;)
And you are most welcome.
so was helpful
So glad to hear it!
These are great tips! I have enjoyed your videos so much. I ordered from MIgardener for the first time and wow what a difference in germination rate!
Thanks Jenn! We love your comments - thanks for sticking with us 😁
I'm just a huge fan of migardener as a seed shop. Phenomenal value.
Wow! I think I made MOST of these mistakes when starting my flower seeds this spring. I wish I had found your channel before today.
I have one more mistake to add, though. I have realized that I rely on the information found on the back of seed packets way too much. I end up planting out my cool-loving plants way too late. It's quite frustrating.
I know what you mean about not wanting to kill a seedling to thin them out. I agonize over it every time. Overseeding? I ended up with over 200 yarrow seedlings! They were so tiny it was hard to not overseed. Thankfully, I have co-workers who also garden. But I still have a jungle on my porch, waiting to be transplanted into the ground. I really don't want to pot up 45 yarrows AGAIN (it would be their 3rd time). I don't remember how many I've already put into my garden beds. I definitely learned that lesson the hard way.
Oh goodness, I could have written this comment myself! Seed packet descriptions are... not good =(. I like what dollarseeds does by just not using them and encouraging folks to look up the information online.
Hahaha and I love imagining your yarrow forest! I've been there (with other plants). Just desperately trying to find little bare spots to plant them because I couldn't bare to get rid of 'em. I'm actually sitting on a tray of squash that will never grow well at this point because I deluded myself into thinking I'd find a spot for them eventually =)
@Nextdoor Homestead Don't give up on the squash! Last year, I tried to grow them in pots, but found that they don't like the pots I put them in. I thought I had killed one, but I put it into a raised bed anyway. It ended up taking more than half of the 4×4 bed and produced quite a bit of zucchini. This year, I am trying to grow them up a pole. I have been told it can be done, so I am giving it a go.
Good luck with your squash!
Awesome
Thank you!
great help
So glad to hear it!
Wow. I am a long time gardener and I make every seed starting mistake you mention. Thanx for the heads-up -- especially thanx for the watering from below reminder.
I hope they prove helpful! I made plenty of mistakes myself this year and most of our seedlings are doing just fine anyways =)
Best of luck this Spring! Hope you're getting excited to garden =)
I see where I went wrong this year (the lighting was 💩) I lifted it to high and it was not even a proper growlight, this makes sense 😌
Sorry to hear that! It's really easy to get leggy seedlings though - best of luck with your next batch =)
Hi!! Thank you so much for the video 😊 I’m just getting started and came across your channel. Absolutely love the clarity you maintain throughout video!! Can you suggest videos on when to move the seedlings outside?
Thank *you* for saying so! Love it =)
So the basics of it to wait until your overnight temperatures match what the specific plant needs. So for tomatoes, 50F is what I typically recommend. Greens can generally go out much earlier and eggplants/peppers need to wait for even warmer temps.
Is there a crop you're thinking of in particular?
informative
I watched this video just before I started seeds indoors (for the first time in like 10+ years), and your advice and tips worked out REALLY well! I started 4 1020 trays, all filled with 6-cell nursery trays, alone with a dozen or so 3" pots for larger plants. Nearly 100% of the seeds I planted germinated lol. I thinned, fed, and monitored them like you said and I'm just finishing hardening them off to be transplanted outside now. Everything looks very healthy, and it was a lot easier than I expected, tbh. Thanks for making such great content!
Dustin, I absolutely love for comments like this. I sincerely thank you for reporting back that something we produced helped you in your garden. Just makes my day.
I hope those starts produce beautifully for you this year!
THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!!!!! This is my first time ever trying to start my own garden🫣I wish I had come across your videos earlier. I had destroyed so many seeds😢. Now, I am very reluctant to try again. lol!
But with your guidance maybe I have a chance. Thank you for explaining everything in such detail, it is very helpfull. Looking forward to watching your other videos!❤
Oh I hope you stick with it and get some good results soon! It's such a fun part of gardening for me - one of my favorite things to do honestly.
You're very welcome as well! Glad it helped =)
Just got to add one more comment. I have learned several things I was doing wrong. Thanks 👍
You're so welcome! I think seed starting is beyond rewarding - I hope your round of plants does beautifully =)
Thanks. Really 🤟❣
You're so welcome =) I hope it was helpful!
You rock ❤❤❤❤
YOU ROCK!!!
Great video, I’m definitely going to move my light closer today to help my babies. Do you use a gentle breeze from a fan at all? I’m going to try that this year, I saw that it helps them grow in a bit more robustly.
I do like to use a fan and have found it beneficial. That said, I didn't always use one and it generally wasn't a problem, especially if you're able to pot up and bury in any floppy stems ;)
Very helpful. Thank you. What are some of the seeds you find difficult to germinate?
Generally speaking I don't like fussing with anything that requires any sort of stratification. So I try to overseed most herbs and most annual flowers. Particularly types that prefer cold stratification like lavender.
Like and comment. Even just to say thanks. This comment is for the algorithm. Great thorough video. Thanks
Based.
👍
Hey! Ty for this good summary on seeding. I'd just like to ask - do I understand correctly that you use regular led lights for your seedlings? 🙃
Also, for beginning gardeners: rather than investing into seeds every year, increasing your costs and not always getting a viable variety for example, imho the best thing we can do with successful crop is to collect seeds/ let plants bolt to store for next season. Because once your grew them successfully in your climate zone, your home grown seed will be "best adapted" to your conditions, increasing your chances for an even more successful harvest next year. And it's free!
Hope this helps a tiny bit.
No problem! Yep, regular LED shop lights! They work great for starting seedlings 😁
Asexual re-production is also possible especially those that you find that are difficult for you to get them to go to/collect the seeds. Or those that you are finding are hard for you to germinate as well. They are not gonna be new varieties BUT you will still just as likely to carries pests' and disease resistant, local climate conditions, etc.
I loved this video. It was informative AND entertaining. I’m in the market for a grow light, but the search for the right Kelvin and lumens for under $50 has gotten me pretty frustrated. Can you or my fellow gardeners help me? (post links please)
Can I ask which shop lights you use? I'm looking ahead to next year and hoping to increase my seed starting capacity without straining my budget too much
Oh man.. I just made one of these mistakes. Planted 3-4 in each cell. 🤭 I was thinking to transplant in bigger pots once they germinate.
You totally can! I recommend avoiding the competition when they're tiny but totally not a deal breaker.
But just logistically it's hard because bigger pots take up even more space 😁
Best of luck!
@@NextdoorHomestead thanks :))
You said you use cheap LEF shop lights. What lights do you buy? Do you have a preferred brand? Or types to avoid??
Heya! No particular brand loyalty - I've just bought cheap no name stuff on Amazon. I look for 4 foot LED lights with at least 4000 lumens and around 5k daylight rating. They're cheap because they're so common and work well enough. But be careful with the heat output - some run hotter than others =)
how about the wind or air temp in room....you blow any wind on them?? is 60 degrees ok to grow seedlings?? my basement only gets to 60
Great question. Air temp in the room is important but manageable by using your seedling heat mats as needed.
I've gone without a fan many times and it can certainly work but it can also cause even otherwise healthy seedlings to flop a bit. Not a huge deal if you pot them up and harden them off before transplant but a small fan definitely helps!
made a vedio on button mushroom growing
I would love to one day! But to be honest, I'm not expert enough to make a video on it yet =)
😀😃🙂
=)
Thanks for watching Sheri!
😂🤣😅THANK YOU😂🤣😅
(CAPS--EYESIGHT/OLD AGE)
You are so very welcome!!! Thank you for watching =)
🔥👍🔥👍🔥👍🌱🔥👍🌱🔥👍🔥
Fun fact that same app is also on IOS and it is also free. 🙂
Ah, shoot! I don't want to spread misinformation. Multiple viewers have informed me it's not free on iOS. Or rather that it's not usefully functional without purchasing addons.
@@NextdoorHomestead oh I’m just seeing this reply now. So I checked and you are right. The app itself is free however if you want to test LEDs they charge $6 each for “full spectrum” “blue led” and “red led” so if you want all 3 that’s $18! Just absolutely crazy.
@@peterdozal8825 Thanks for checking it out, appreciate that. What a bummer - it's so useful on Android at the base tier.
@@NextdoorHomestead yeah, there are a few types of lights for free on the iOS version but at this point most people are using LEDs so of course they locked the most important feature behind a pay wall. Bummer for sure.
Would it be terrible for you to mention your area so we might know how to adjust your advice?
Heya! Totally a fair request but we've decided not to share our specific location for now - I hope you can understand.
I did add a section on our climate to our about page though that I hope is helpful for interpreting our tips =)
Cheers!
Hello! I made the mistake of top watering mine .. also i did not add a fertilizer to my seedling soil. I used cococoir, pearlite and vermiculite. My seedlings have already sprouted and alot of them have their true leaves but their first leaves (not sure what those are called) have started to look sad crusty and yellow... Should i add a fertilizer? Ive started bottom watering now as well. I really dony want them to die!! 🥲
It's not unusual for the cotyledon (aka false leaves, embryonic leaves, first leaves) to get funky. How do the true leaves look?
If your mix didn't have any nutrients in it and they have true leaves, I would absolutely be feeding them ASAP =)