Growing Plants from Seeds (2)

If you are like us, you will mainly be growing annuals, vegetables and herbs from seeds—these will need a head start of between five and eight weeks before the date you plan on setting them out. Check before adhering too closely to this planting schedule, since there are exceptions to every rule, and perennials will vary quite a bit. As a rule of thumb, plan on starting vegetables about five to seven weeks early, and annuals between six and eight weeks early.

If you live in an area where there is quite a bit of snowfall, particularly late in the season, you may enjoy seeing the young plants come up in their neat rows (or randomly, if you have planted very small seeds, as the case may be) long before spring really arrives.

Flats do need quite a bit of room, so make sure to choose an area that gets lots of light but is not a high-traffic area. Keep an eye out for pets as well, since flats left on the ground may look like a nice place to dig (or worse—a new litter box). If you are lucky enough to have a greenhouse or solarium, these are ideal spots to set up your flats. Also, while you don’t want to use shelves that will diminish the amount of light that reaches each young plant, you might consider setting up one or two shelves a few feet apart, to make the most use of the space you have access to.

When you fill your containers with potting medium, make sure you do not fill them right to the top, or else water (and even the medium itself) may overflow.

If you decide to reuse flats from a previous season, make sure they are well washed (if they are made of plastic); watch for dirt or other contaminants that have stayed on or been deposited in the flats over the winter—chemicals, fungus, and insects may cause problems if your containers are not thoroughly cleaned before use. Making sure the flats are washed and free of contaminants is particularly important since young plants are quite susceptible to disease, particularly to “damping off”—something that can affect anywhere from a few plants to an entire flat full of seedlings. The fungus that causes damping off weakens the plants and causes them to topple over. When you water, do so regularly, but in moderation—this should also help cut down on the tendency for the fungus to flourish and wreak havoc in your indoor nursery.