We are well into March, which means it is officially seed starting season in my zone 5 garden. While we have already had a few days in the 70’s F, (NOT normal), the snow is once again falling, along with the temperatures. This is my first season starting seeds in my glasshouse; follow along to see how it’s going!
When to start seeds indoors
As I wrote in my post “Seed Organization Tips That Will Improve How You Garden”, my seeds are organized by date and ready to go. I also created a list of which seeds need light to germinate, and any seeds needing a nap in the refrigerator have been in for a couple of weeks now.
This week, I am starting seeds in the March 23 section. When a seed, such as snapdragons, will be sown again, those seed packets are returned to the organizer two weeks away from now. Other seed packets that I am finished with for the season are returned to the labeled photo storage bins for next year. I also have a card at the very back of my seed box that is labeled “direct sow”, for seeds such as snap peas, beans, and sunflowers. While I am starting some snap peas in pots, I also direct sow more pea seeds, with the aim of a longer harvest.
Seed starting set up
There are many seed starting containers one can use, depending on the seed. I use a variety of soil blocks, plug trays, cell trays, plastic pots and plastic salad and mushroom containers. First, the size of the seed itself is taken into account, then whether the seeds can be multi-sown or need their own cell.
My favorite seed starting soil is Dairy Doo Seed Starter 101. This is a Michigan based company and I am not sure how widely available it is. It works well for soil blocks as well as containers. In the photos above, I sowed celery in the soil blocks, and snapdragons in the plastic mushroom containers. In a couple of weeks, when the snapdragon seedlings are a couple of inches tall, I will prick each one out and pot up in its own roomy space. This technique also works tremendously well for tomatoes.
Multi-sowing seeds is a real space and time saver in the beginning, especially when heat mat space is limited. For seeds that do not work well for this technique, such as geraniums, I planted the seeds in plug trays that I saved from a landscaping project, and then potted up to 4″ pots, also saved from said landscaping project.
This is only my second year growing my own geraniums, inspiration coming from Laura at Garden Answer. I rarely use geraniums in my annual pots, mostly because they are everywhere, but after learning how easy and enjoyable they are to grow from seed, I will have a LOT of geraniums in pots this year!
I started quite a bit of yarrow too. Three different varieties, each work really well as cut flowers. One of my favorite flowers of all time is the pansy. As I often do when seed starting, I sowed nearly every pansy and viola seed I had. I started the seeds in small cells, then potted them up. There are three more trays not in the picture below…
I quickly learned that when the March sun shines through the glasshouse roof, shade plants like pansies and violas have a hard time. I moved them to the bottom shelf, out of the intense sun and heat in the glasshouse. Last season, my goal was to grow pansies long enough for cut flowers. I found some success, and look forward to trying again this year in the new garden.
Part of the pansy growing plan are sweet peas. Pansies grow taller when they need to stretch for the light, so I underplanted sweet pea vines with the pansies, on the north side of the sweet pea trellis. Planted densely, and deadheaded almost daily, the pansies grew tall and bushy with loads of blossoms!
In order to have a lovely sweet pea border to underplant with pansies this year, I also started sweet pea seeds. Many…sweet pea seeds. I roughly calculated the perimeter fence length of the new garden and how many sweet pea plants I can pack in. Overestimating for sure, I sowed 15 – 20 seeds per tall pot. There is a lot of chatter about sweet peas NOT liking their roots disturbed and that they can not be started indoors. I came across Ardelia Farms online, and they have extensive instructions for starting sweet peas. I tried their method last season, and it worked very well! So, I am giving their method another go this season.
Sweet pea seeds are some of the easiest seeds to save. The photo, above left, is my sweet pea seed collection, some new, most of which are saved seed. Following Ardelia Farms’ instructions, the sweet pea seedlings will go from these pots, (photo above right), separated and planted out along the potager fence. Hopefully planting will occur mid to late April; all they need is workable soil and night time temperatures above 25F to be planted out.
What containers are best for seed starting?
I save my horticultural plastic containers. For years. I have trays and containers that I have used for over five years now. I see a lot of garden content creators emphasizing the pitfalls of plastic horticultural containers that spring plants are sold in and how flimsy and crushable they are. They aggressively twist plant trays, making them crack and spill water. They crush cell packs easily under their boots, all the while complaining that these thin containers are no good.
Well, if you treat these containers this way, they will break, crack, and be of no use to you. But to complain about the fragility of horticultural plastic is like wearing your summer sandals out in the snow storm and complaining your feet are frozen. Sandals are not designed to keep your feet warm in the snow, just as horticultural plastic is not designed to be rough housed and stomped on.
Usually, but not always, the content creator, after tossing the gnarled plastic mess in their hands aside, sings the praises of heavy duty plastic containers that withstand the crushing pressure of their boots. AND, these containers can be purchased on their websites or sponsored links are provided. Again, not every content creator, but many that I consume.
Use whatever container you like for your seed starting endeavors. As far as I see it, you have already purchased horticultural containers with your plants and plugs; why not use them as long as you can? Take care not to twist the trays, keep cell trays away from wayward boots, and they will last many seasons. When they wear out, recycle them.
Get your seeds going!
It’s March, and if you are in a colder area like me, get busy starting seeds! Warmer areas have been at it for a while already. Use whatever container and method you like and have room for. Give the seeds some water, heat and light, and the garden season begins!
Just one tip; seed starting soil is light and fluffy and when wet, sticks to your hands. This can be a problem when drinking a cappuccino when seed starting…
