Container Gardening {a series} : Starting Seeds Inside

The pride and joy of my container garden would have to be tomatoes.  Home grown tomatoes taste a bazillion times better than grocery store tomatoes.  However, tomatoes take time to grow, and if you want to grow them from seeds, like me, you have to start your seeds in winter.  Inside.

When determining what to grow, you have to be aware of how you will grow your seeds.  Sure, it would be easier to just buy starter plants at the local nursery, but the nursery may not have the type of tomato that you want.  For instance, I want open-pollinated seeds, meaning I can (try to) save seeds from my harvest to plant for the following year.  When do you start your seeds?  Where do you start your seeds?

1.  Research when to start your seeds and if they need to be started indoors or outdoors.  The best information I found was on the Almanac website.  You can plug in your zip code to the website and voila!  The site shows you the estimated last frost date and when/where to plant your seeds.  You can view my regional information here.

This year, I'm doing something new and paying attention to the Almanac "moon favorable dates."  I never paid attention to this before, but this year I thought - hey, why not.  So, if you want to plant by the moon cycle, that information is on the Almanac site as well.

2.  Make a chart of when to plant/transplant seeds/plants.

3.  Gather your indoor seed starting materials.  This might include: 

• Seeds
• Seed starting potting soil mix (different than regular potting soil, sterile)
• Plant markers (I use popsicle sticks and sharpie markers)
• Small seed starting containers (I use peat or cut up toilet paper rolls)
• Water
• Spoon
• Planting trays
• Heating mats
• Grow lights

I do not use grow lights or heating mats.  I start seeds on top of my refrigerator where it is warmer than the rest of my house.  Once I see the seedlings pop through the dirt, I move the trays to a sunny location in my house.

4.  Assemble your seeds, dirt, water, and markers.  It is best to mix the soil with water first before putting them in your seed starting containers.  Then fill the containers with the moist dirt.  Plant seeds according to seed package instructions (I put at least 2 seeds in each space), and label.  When you are done, it might look like this:

5.  Water and sun.  Your seeds don't require sunlight until after they pop through the soil as seedlings.  So move them to a sunny space once you see them coming up.  Your plants need water, but don't drown them.  I typically water mine every other day depending on how they are doing.

Do you start seeds inside?  What are you growing?