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IF YOU WANT A SMALL SEED STARTING TRIAL YEAR
If you want to try growing from seed but aren't ready to build a grow station indoors and spend a couple hundred dollars on materials, you can.
1. Choose two or three plants that only need to be started within 2-4 weeks prior to your last frost date. By then, it should consistently be 45+ degrees outside during the day.
2. Do not try to leave them by a window for light. They will get leggy. As soon as they sprout, take the trays outdoors during the day and bring them in at night to protect them from the frost. They are small and sensitive, so leave them in a place with morning sun (not hot afternoon). If you have a row cover or very small greenhouse this is very helpful.
3. Only plant one or two trays worth. You don't want to plant 10 trays worth and get tired of lugging them in every night, becoming tempted to leave them out overnight. You will get a cold snap on the one night you leave them out, and they will die.
You essentially are starting seeds outside once the daytime temps are between 45-65 degrees, and moving them in to avoid a frost. This is why it's important to not choose plants that require 5+ weeks of growth pre-frost. If you seed this far out, it won't be consistently warm enough during the day to leave them out, you'll end up bringing them in, and they'll get leggy by a window.
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CREATING A SEED STARTING STATION
Whether you're committing to a large garden every year, or just to being the friend who starts seeds for all your friends, seed starting is a joy and the best winter therapy. Let's go!
Using the shelving unit below (18" deep/48" wide), each shelf will hold four standard 1020 trays, letting you grow between 288-512 seedlings. This means that a 4 shelf unit will give you 1152-2048 seedlings. (Of course it will hold less once they're moved into larger pots.) You can use up all the space now, or start with 1 or 2 shelves this year and expand to the rest next year.
WHAT TO BUY
1. A good shelving unit. I use these heavy duty wire shelving units from Lowes or Home Depot. A shelf that is 18" deep allows you to run standard plant trays from front to back and make the most of the space. This unit has 5 shelves and I only grow on 3 right now, leaving 2 for gardening supplies. Expect to spend $80-$100.
2. Lights. Proper lighting for seed starting is an incredibly polarizing topic. I've listened to horticulturalists, master gardeners, read academic reports, scoured canna blogs, watched dozens of youtube comparison experiments, and spoken with employees at global lighting suppliers - and let me tell you. NO ONE agrees on what is truly necessary for a lil' plant. LED or florescent? Shop or grow? Are lumens the most important thing? Or are PAR and YPF?
The basics are:
(a) The sun produces ~10,000 lumens and that's what we're trying to recreate for seedlings.
(b) Remember the prism exercise from elementary school? Standard white lights are full-spectrum, but some growers use "grow lights" that offer just the red/blue/purple spectrums (this is identified by the color temperature, measured in Kelvins).
(c) The only actual problem with fluorescent lights is the heat they produce.
(d) Pay attention to the wattage and the lumens to ensure you're not spending $ on something under 42w or under 3000 lumens.
(e) When you see lights marketed "for efficiency," that cost savings is relevant to growers running hundreds of lights simultaneously, not your home grower.
(f) Most people put their lights too far above the seedlings, or buy too few. Always watch carefully to ensure you aren't burning the baby leaves.
So what to get? I use Byingo's 4' 64w pink lights, Byingo's 4' 42w white lights, and these standard 4' shop lights from Bbounder. I have yet to see a critical difference between them - but Byingo's ("nice grow lights") are doing great. Barinna is another excellent brand. You'll need 3 lights per shelf. Plan to spend somewhere between $100-$150 on lights and just accept it. :) They will last for years and years.
3. Heat mats. Heat mats are not 100% necessary but they do speed up germination by about 3x. They'll help your plants germinate and develop stronger root systems especially if you're growing in a colder area like your basement. This one from iPower is not my favorite but it definitely works. (My favorite is out of stock.) Look for one that's 48"x20" and it will fit the shelving unit perfectly. You'll need 1 per rack. You can also just get 1 or 2 and have those be "germination racks" and move plants off of them after a few weeks, and then start more in their place. Plan on $30-50 per mat, unless you buy the pimped out ones with timers and even temperature controls, which are awesome!
4. Domes. Domes are used during germination to keep humidity high. They are not 100% necessary, especially for plants with large seeds that are planted at 1/4"+ depth or more. Domes are important when I plant flowers, greens, or delicate plants that are surface-sown or planted at 1/8" depth. It is too hard to keep the very top of the soil moist 24/7 in dry environments, which is #winter. Make sure you remove the domes as soon as plants germinate. Plan on $5-7 per dome/tray.
5. Seed-starting mix. Read the earlier newsletter on dirt!
To summarize, if you're ready to commit and want to maximize this large shelving unit and grow on all 5 shelves and get heat mats, set aside ~$450. If you want to start small, get a smaller unit or just grow on two of these racks, and plan for about ~$250. This may seem like a significant investment now, but wait until you go try to buy 500 seedlings at the store. :)
PS. Search Facebook marketplace or ask your neighborhood group if anyone has these materials that they aren't using. Recycling or buying used is always preferred!
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GARDEN TOUR
Floret Farms just dropped Season One, Episode One of her cut flower farming story. It's on the Magnolia Network and you can watch it by getting a free 7 day trial on Discovery+. Here's the trailer and make sure you watch it on a real tv, not your phone. It is beautiful. |
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This Badger Flame Beet was developed by I. Goldman and is sold through Row7. Row7 is a collection of chefs, farmers, and plant breeders who work together to develop new plant varieties that are grown exclusively for flavor. If you've heard of Dan Barber, this is one of his many stunning projects.
I haven't grown the Badger Flame yet - but we eat a lot of beets. They are my favorite vegetable and I cannot wait for these. I bought 3 packets and will be succession planting all year.
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It's the last week of February. Take time to go for a walk this week, no matter how cold, and hunt for signs of spring. They're already revealing themselves. You might be surprised.
Lauren xo
The pitcher cries out for water to carry and a person for work that is real. - Marge Piercy
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