Starting Seeds Indoors: What to Plant, When to Start, and How to Succeed
Adams Fairacre Farms by Mark Adams
So you’ve decided to plant a garden again this year. Only this time, you’ll get rid of those weeds before they grow seven feet tall. You’ll put up a fence to keep out the critters. You’ll remember that plants need food — fertilizer — to grow big and strong. And this time, you’ll even kick it up a notch by starting your flowers and vegetables from seed.
Starting seeds indoors can give Hudson Valley gardeners a head start on the season, especially for vegetables and flowers that need more time to mature before fall. It also gives you more variety than you’ll usually find in starter plants alone.
What You Can Plant Directly in the Garden
Some vegetables, and a few flowers, can be grown from seed planted directly into the garden when the soil warms up in spring. Beans, squash, pumpkins, sweet corn, zinnias, and sunflowers are all good candidates. Even earlier, cold-tolerant varieties including peas, radishes, carrots, and beets can often be planted in the Hudson Valley as the season begins, depending on soil conditions. But many others require a head start by sowing the seed indoors a few weeks ahead of spring planting time.
For example, pepper plants take a long time to mature. Pepper seed sown directly into the garden in late spring may not have enough time to produce fruit before the season winds down, if it germinates at all. Other popular varieties to start indoors include tomatoes, broccoli, basil, collards, kale, eggplant, marigolds, pansies, and snapdragons. Once you get the hang of it, you can try geraniums, petunias, and begonias. Even experienced growers know some seeds are more challenging than others. Begonia seed, for example, is famously tiny.
Why Start From Seed
Starting from seed means you can choose from thousands of varieties, not just whatever is available as starter transplants at the local garden center. That is one of the biggest advantages. If you’ve ever looked through a seed catalog, you know how many options there are once you move beyond the basics. Retail seed racks at garden centers have a solid selection, but they do sell quickly once the season gets going.
How to Start Seeds Indoors
Now for the fun part: If you’re ready to start seeds indoors, these are the basics that matter most.
- Choose a container with good drainage. A shallow tray, little flower pots, cardboard egg cartons, or even plastic cups with holes poked in the bottoms can all work.
- Use a sterilized seed-starting mix to fill the container. Garden soil can contain weed seeds and pathogens, and it is usually too heavy for indoor seed starting. A light, sterile mix gives seedlings a much better start.
- Water the mix thoroughly, until water flows out of the drain holes.
- Now sow the seeds into the mix, poking them just under the surface. Some varieties need light to germinate. Lettuce and certain flower seeds come to mind. These should be scattered on top of the mix and covered with a thin layer of vermiculite, which allows some light to filter through.
- Speaking of light, that is the number one requirement for successful indoor seed starting, and too little light is almost guaranteed to cause problems. Since the plants will eventually go into the garden, you do not need anything overly complicated, but you do need bright light for long stretches each day. If possible, give young plants up to 18 hours of light daily, or they will stretch and weaken. Even direct sunlight through a window may not be bright enough in late winter or early spring.
- Heat matters too. Around 75 degrees is ideal for germinating seeds. At lower temperatures, it takes longer. Below that, some seeds may not come up well at all. Once the seeds have sprouted, you can usually turn the heat down a bit.
- As the seedlings grow, water when the soil starts to dry out. Do not drown the little guys. Fertilizer is usually not needed right away. As the weather warms and planting season gets closer, set the young plants outside for a few hours a day to toughen them up. Otherwise, they may not stand up well to their first windy day in the garden.
- Keep a journal so you won’t make the same mistakes twice. That part may not sound exciting, but it does help. And if you decide to try those extra-fine begonia seeds, good luck.
If you’re getting ready for seed-starting season, Adams Fairacre Farms has the seeds, trays, soil, and garden supplies to help you get growing.
Visit Adams Fairacre Farms in Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, Middletown, Kingston, or Wappingers Falls for seed-starting supplies, soil, and helpful advice for New York growing conditions.
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