Spring is past the point of creeping in, it’s made a full invasion into your local garden centers. With warm weather approaching and planting season only a handful of weeks away, there are so many reasons to get into seed starting. From your ability to fully customize your garden layout, to not having to hunt for specific seedlings, you have the ability to design everything about this year’s flower and vegetable garden! Our Seed Starter Mix is the perfect soil blend to get your garden off to a great start, with boosted fertility and the right amount of drainage. You can even seed-start your favorite houseplants! There are some important factors to consider when setting up a seed-starting operation, and beginners might be nervous about taking that first step. We want you to be confident in your grow, so we have included some tips and tricks to get you started on the right foot!
Timing is one of the most important considerations when starting seeds indoors, so we built a small guide to help you know when to start, and when to plant! Evolution has designed plants to respond to changes in temperature, sunlight, and humidity, so that they can germinate, grow, and produce fruit and seeds with different cues from light and temperature changes. We can replicate these conditions indoors to encourage plants to go through their life cycle. There are some important conditions that need to be met in order to start happy plants indoors, and here is a brief guide of what you need to consider in order be successful.
Having the right amount of light for your plants is going to be the most difficult factor to work past. Though it is possible for plants to get enough light in the earliest parts of Spring for germination and growth, there are several barriers to consider. Placing plants in a south-facing window is often enough for your garden-variety seedlings, but they will require 8-10 hours of sunlight per day in order to produce healthy plants. With the days slowly getting longer, this is more possible than it would be if you started in the dead of winter, but it’s still likely that your plants may not get a lot of consistent sun throughout the day. The easiest way to supplement this is with the use of a Grow-Light. Though there are a high supply of Grow-Lights available at most garden centers and hydro stores, they do require a small investment. Keep in mind that the larger the number of plants you wish to grow, the more lights you’ll need.
Heat is important in a plant’s life cycle for a variety of reasons. The most important role it plays is in facilitating Photosynthesis and Respiration, which is how plants produce oxygen and create sugars. Both functions aid in germination and growth, and contribute to the plant’s overall health. Plants that grow indoors are not often subjected to the extreme cold, but it’s important to monitor the heat of the area where your plant is located. If you’re growing near a drafty window because it has the best sunlight, try bringing the plant more towards the center of the room at night, or placing it near a heat source. If you aren’t able to move it, you can also buy a heat mat to place under your plants, or place a small space heater (on a low setting) near them. Check the requirements for your plant type before leaving heat on for any extended period, over-heating is just as dangerous as not enough heat.
As is with growing outdoors, a high-quality soil media is important to growing happy crops. When growing indoors, you have more control over your soil quality. A well-draining mix with rich organic material is the right thing to look for in your seed-starter blend. Choosing a biologically diverse starting mix, such as our Purple Cow Seed Starter, is the best way to give your plants everything they would receive from natural soil, and so much more. Grow your plants in a pot that will allow for adequate drainage, but that make it easy to transplant your seedlings to the garden. A seedling tray, cardboard egg containers, or even newspaper cups, are all biodegradable container options that won’t drown your soil and will provide aeration. Growing in high drainage prevents harmful bacterial growth, and limits the chances of root rot.
Growing sprouts and seedlings need a lot of nutrition to grow into strong and healthy plants. Though our Seed Starter is all you need to grow happy seedlings, there are many ways to add fertility to your garden at planting. Using a plant-based Activated Compost or All-Purpose Fertilizer in your soil is an easy solution to give your plants some extra nutrition. You can also water your plants with a mix of our CX-1 and our Vegetable Supercharger to provide some extra biology and nutrition.
Even with all the care in the world, there are some plant varieties that are picky, and will be extremely difficult to cultivate indoors. You can challenge yourself by choosing to experiment with these plant varieties, or you can investigate breeds that are easier to grow indoors. There are thousands of plant varieties to grow in your garden this year. Research which types will be the best for you!
Starting your own seeds can be a hard process to get started, but is infinitely rewarding when you can cultivate any plant variety you can’t find in stores. Check out our Seed Starter at an independent garden center near you! Can’t find what Purple Cow you’re looking for in stores? Find our products on Amazon!