Get an Early Start on Spring - Start Seeds Indoors

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Starting seeds indoors is simple, fun and inspirational. So much life is packed in those tiny little seeds. Water, a sunny window and some soil media will work wonders and save money. Although there are many easy ways to start seeds, we will focus on simple plastic biodomes available at home centers. The inexpensive biodome will let you plant seeds in a peat plug that can then be planted in a larger pot or directly into the soil in the spring growing season.

Soil Media Biodomes are a plastic tray that holds water and has shallow pockets that hold peat pellets. The dome (or ‘greenhouse’) is a clear plastic lid to retain moisture. The peat pellets are compressed peat mix wrapped in a thin net. When water is added to the peat pellets they quickly expand about 5 times their size. The pellet is encased in a nifty netting that holds the soil together. Biodomes are available in many sizes, holding anywhere from a dozen to 72 peat pellets. This year a narrow tray is available that will fit neatly into a window sill

Seed Selection Select annuals, perennials and or vegetables. Trees can be started too. Tomatoes, peppers, lettuces, broccilli all start well indoors. Black-eyed susans, Shasta daisy, petunia, allysym, foxglove, delphinium, cleome, zinnia, marigold, dianthus, cone flower and household herbs will flourish in the biodome. Spruce, sycamore, and maple will also do well.

Planting the seeds Fluff the peat pellet soil with a tooth pick. Tiny seeds like petunia or foxglove are just tapped into the top of the soil, not covered. Misting the top of the petunia plugs is helpful until germination. Other seeds are covered to a depth of two times their size. The seed package will detail the planting depth. Small seeds can be put in a small spoon and tapped into the peat plug with a tooth pick. Put two or three seeds in each plug. Label your seeds.

Water and Light Always water from the bottom of the plug, do not water the tops of the plugs and plants. The peat will soak up the water easily. Pellets should be damp but not sitting in water. Keep the biodome lid on until half of the seedlings emerge. Then remove the lid. Add water when pellets turn light brown. Seeds need light overhead. Use either a bright, southern exposure window or a fluorescent light 4 to 5 inches above the seeds for 14 to 16 hours per day. Less light will cause leggy, weak plants.

Fertilizing A few days after germination (seed breaking soil surface) use a water soluable fertilizer at half strength. Use a 15-30-15 formula. Water from the bottom.

Damping Off & Hardening Off Seedlings that fall over at ground level have ‘damped off’. They are stricken by a fungus and will die. Remove the plant and peat plug and dispose of it. If more than a few damp off, remove the afflicted, and spray the rest with fungicide. Damping off is caused by too much moisture, not enough light, or high temperature. Seedlings need day temperatures from 60 to 70 degrees and night temperatures at 50 to 60 degrees is fine. Remember, spring is cool.

Hardening off comes when you are ready to plant your seedlings, usually in late April or early May. Place your tray of seedling, which may be a few inches tall by then, outdoors in the shade for a few hours. After a couple days, give them an hour of dappled sun, and increase sun exposure over a few days. Indoor seedlings need time to produce more chlorophyll to handle sunlight. If you don’t harden them off the seedlings will die.

Thinning & Transplanting Select the strongest seedling in each plug. Snip the other seedlings with manicure scissors. Don’t pull them out as you will disturb the roots of the seedlings you wish to keep. Remaining seedlings can be pinched back, removing the second set of leaves to encourage branching. In April, or earlier if plants get over 4 to 5 inches tall, you can transplant seedlings to larger pots with potting soil. They can then be planted outside in late April and early May. Transplant the plug directly into the potting soil or garden soil. The beauty of the biodome is the ease of planting plugs. No big holes to dig! Many plants will survive until planting time in the biodome. However, if plants get leggy and spindly, they will benefit from the more nourishing potting soil of a transitional container.

Seedlings usually germinate in 4 to 10 days. From the day of planting they have been sending down roots. With soil, water, light and your care they will make lovely seedlings ready to plant in April and May. Their determined progress from their tiny beginnings are the miracle of spring. You as gardener are part of the living reassurance of which we are so privileged a part.