Video Transcript
If you are a newbie gardener who is just getting started or you’ve never started your own seeds, this video is for you.
Today we’re going to be talking about the basic principles of indoor seeds starting. Everything from the equipment that you’re going to need to an overview of the space and set up.
Why Would you Want to Start Seeds Indoors?
First, it’s a lot cheaper. A plant start from the stores can be for $5 each, and if you’re starting to grow more of your own food, that can get really expensive really quickly.
To put it in perspective, Chase and I grow most of our fruits and vegetables ourselves that cover 75% of the year for us and we would spend roughly $900-$1,200 just on starts alone if we bought from the store.
Starting seeds ourselves costs ~$250. So, yes, you save some money growing them yourself, but more than just money, you also get a fuller more beautiful experience in the gardening season because you get to see everything start from just a tiny little seed and go all the way to harvest.
When I start seeds ourselves, I get to see them grow from the very beginning up until the very end, and we get to start way earlier than you would be able to in Minnesota.
For example, in March I started our onions. It was snow storming after I started plants, and already I’m getting to see green life springing up inside, which gives me a little taste of spring before it even starts to look like spring outside.
What you Need to Get Started Seeds Indoors
Okay. That’s great. You’re convinced? Okay, well, here are the things you’re going to need to get started.
Find a Heated Space to Start Seeds
Number one, you’re going to need a place to do it, and it can’t just be outside in your garage if you live in a cold area like I do, because it’s not going to stay warm enough. You need some place that’s insulated and heated so that is can stay around 70 degrees.
For us, what we ended up doing is we have this outbuilding that is insulated so it stays around 40, which is not warm enough, so we taped up plastic from Home Depot in the painting section and taped it up to the ceiling and put it down on the floor.
Then we ended up putting two space heaters in here and we have been able to keep it consistently at the right temperature.
The rest of the shed is not heated at all, but because the insulation in here is so good, the wall of plastic is keeping the heat from the heaters in and it’s been working really well.
You can do it in your house if you want to, but keep in mind seed starting deals with a lot of dirt and a lot of moisture.
I know a lot of people do it in their basement, but I just didn’t want that much dirt and moisture in my house or potential mold growth. But I totally understand if you don’t have that option.
Buy Grow Lights for Starting Seeds
Number two, you’re going to need light. Obviously plants need light to grow. Now, if you have a wonderful south facing sunny window and don’t live in the northern states, you can do things there.
However, your plants, especially if you live in the north, probably won’t get enough daylight to really thrive. They’re going to be a little bit leggy and weak, but again, don’t let that stop you back from starting a few seeds.
If you’re like, I can not invest in lights this year, I would say try it for a few seasons and see what you get!
But if you’re really wanting to go for high production, healthy plants and you live in the north, then I recommend getting some grow lights.
You can just get fluorescent lights. Those will work. I have done that before and it works very well. We have one grow rack that is fluorescent.
However, a couple of years ago I did switch to LED Sun Blaster Grow Lights and I have been super happy with these.
They are a little bit more expensive than your fluorescents, but they’re going to last a long time. And they put out some good lights.
Use a Standard Shelf for your Seeds
Number three, you’re going to need some way to hang your lights and somewhere to put your seeds.
I have a multi-rack shelf. I just bought one of those shelves from Home Depot. And I’m hanging my grill lights on them. And then I can put my seed trays on them under that, and it has worked extremely well.
If you only have one light rack you could build a stand. There are so many ways to do it.
You just need to make sure that you’re able to hang your lights a few inches above your seeds, so that you can adjust the height of your light.
If your lights are too high above your plants, they will reach for the light and become very weak and not able to withstand the weather when you transplant them.
Seed Starting Trays
Okay. You got your room. You got your light. You got your rack. Now you need some place to put your seeds.
There are a lot of different options for this. Some people use soil blocks, but I end up using just basic plastic grow trays.
I love these trays from Bootstrap Farmer. They are super, super sturdy. That was the main thing I was looking for because I want something that I could reuse year after year after year and not have it get beat up.
And these trays are heavy duty, so I always have a base tray that has no holes in it that allows me to bottom water from the bottom and then you can buy different inserts.
I use both 72 cell trays and 4×4” pots. If light space is an issue, starting tomatoes and peppers in 72 cell trays at the beginning can be great but then you have to up pot to the 4×4” pots.
Since shelf space is not an issue for me, I’ve just been starting bigger things like tomatoes and peppers directly in the 4×4” pots and putting those on my trays, and then I don’t ever have to up pot.
Some seeds I just plant directly in the trays like my onions, because they don’t really need to be divided. I can split them up when I plant them, so that makes that super, super simple.
Add your Seed Starting Germination Mix Soil
All right. So you have your trays. Next you need your soil.
So you’re going to be putting some seeds starting mix in here. I recently recorded a video on what I used for seed starting mix. It is really important that you get the right germination mix for your seeds to germinate and grow well so make sure to check out that video here.
Once you have the soil ready and moist, all you have to do is fill the tray. Once you get your trays full, you want to keep your soil nice and damp.
Wet the soil before you put it in the trays, stick it in the trays and then you are ready for your seeds.
Now Add your Seeds!
And that’s the last thing you’re going to need. Your seeds.
If you haven’t bought seed yet, make sure you go and buy them. There are so many places online, so many beautiful varieties to choose from. So buy some seeds and then you are ready to plant.
And once you have them planted, you can stick your tray onto your rack.
Turn on your lights for about sixteen hours a day is ideal, and have them turn off automatically just by one of those super easy little cheap timers and you are off to the races.
So those are the basics of what you need to start seeds. I hope this video is very helpful as you are starting to research seed starting and getting started with starting your own plants.
If you would like to learn more about the process, soil mix, moisture level, check out our video on introduction to starting seeds
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