Starting Seeds
Question from Monty:
In general, what method do you recommend for starting seedlings from seeds? Using a starter tray on top of the water heater; small starter pots in a dark corner of the closet, placing the seeds in wet paper towel then in a plastic bag? Any of the above, all of the above, none of the above? Thanks!
Answer from Pat:
Except for seeds that are difficult to sprout, I always plant seeds at the time when the temperature in my garden is the correct temperature for germinating those seeds. Most seeds are not difficult to sprout if you follow the package directions, plant things at the correct time of year, and keep the seed bed moist until the seeds have germinated. One of the joys of living in Southern California is that we can sprout seeds right in the ground where we want the plants to grow and with most plants this is preferable.
New gardeners just don’t realize how easy it is to plant squash or cantaloupe or beans, for example, and they pop right up from seeds within two or three days. Even parsley and carrots sprout in a couple of weeks if you keep the seeds moist and don’t cover too heavily and use potting soil to cover instead of soil. I show a quick way because many folks like the short cut.
As I tell my classes if it’s cold weather and you are trying to sprout a wrinkled seed with the “shriveled gene” (a super-sweet hybrid of corn or pea) that is different. These seeds are harder to sprout so this is when I would put the seeds on moist paper towel, fold over, and pre-sprout them on top of the DVD player to provide bottom heat of 80 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 or 3 days. Otherwise I never bother to pre-sprout seeds. Why should I go through all that work when they sprout so easily in the garden?
It is back east that people go through all this indoor growing, not here where we live in virtually frost-free zones. Just stick seeds in the ground to the right depth at correct time of year and keep them damp and they grow.
Thank you Pat! What thoughts do you have on setting up to grow seeds to seedlings indoors? Friends have asked me to start some seedlings for them. I’ve started germinating indoors, then using a grow light to grow seedlings before passing them along to their “new home”. I’ve used jiffy-strips with seed start soil & grodan mini-starter blocks with mixed results. I’ve considered those starter trays that have space for a thumbnail of soil and one seed.
For this purpose there is nothing finer than an indoor framework with grow lights and heating pads under the seedings. These can be purchased and many cold-climate gardeners use them for indoor gardening. I would use pots filled with sterilized potting soil and not use jiffy pots or jiffy strips that dry out, constrict roots, and do not transplant well into Western soils.
Hi Pat:
I am starting seeds in a small green house. My most recent tomato seedlings get very leggy, thin, tall, only a couple leaves. I’m going to transplant into other pots, but why are they doing that? Are they looking for more light? Or have I left them under the grow light too long and show move them outside earlier?
Thank you for any insights you can share!
S
You do not mention where you live. However, if you are my cousin Spencer, I know you live in Southern California. It is now November, too late in the year in Southern California to be planting tomato seeds unless you plan to grow the plants inside your greenhouse, which could be possible.
To answer you precise question, when seedlings are spindly this could mean that they are growing in inadequate light during the daytime. Maybe your greenhouse has a shadow on it or dirty glass? However, you mention a grow light. Is it at the right height and the correct bulb brightness? Most important is that tomatoes need 6 to 8 hours of sunlight daily. Without that they will be spindly, a common problem with tomatoes. Crowding is another problem. When roots or plants are crowded they cannot get enough light and have not got enough space for roots. Another problem might be that they are not receiving adequate nutrients. However you state they only have two leaves. I am wondering which kind of leaves you mean? Once seedlings are past the cotyledon stage and have made two true leaves, it is time to begin feeding them with fish emulsion diluted half strength, (ie. half the amount of fertilizer or twice the amount of water the package recommends.) This is so tender roots don’t get burned. But there is nothing in most soil seedlings are grown in to feed them. Better to begin feeding sooner than have them starve to death. Follow your instincts on this! After the first month, feed them at least once a week or maybe even twice with fish emulsion diluted according to package directions. This will help grow strong, stocky plants.
In Southern California, we usually do not grow tomatoes outdoors in winter because the temperatures outdoors do not comport with the needs of tomatoes, which are a warm-season crop. However, it is possible to grow tomatoes inside a greenhouse or inside a plastic range house because they are not sensitive to day-length as are some plants and thus they can bear fruit year-round if conditions are right. The important thing with tomatoes when you are growing them inside a greenhouse in winter is to be aware that the blossoms will fall off unless they have been germinated by wind or by manually vibrating the blossoms to take the place of wind in order to pollinate them. Additionally, when growing tomatoes indoors or out, if daytime temperatures rise above 85 or 90 degrees Fahrenheit (depending on humidity) or at night fall below 55 degrees or rise above 75, in humid condiitons, the blossoms with fall off.
Another thing I want to say on germinating seeds in Southern California: If you plant cool-season vegetables in fall and warm-season plants in spring and summer, planting each vegetable at the right time of year according to species, it is never necessary to sprout vegetable seeds in a greenhouse. Books recommending such practices are for cold-winter climates. Also, unless for some reason you want to grow your own transplants, it is totally unnecessary to grow seedlings in containers prior to planting out in the garden. In most cases, it is far preferable to plant seeds directly in the ground where you want them to grow. All this is and what to do for each plant is explained in detail in my organic month-by-month book for each vegetable and flower we most commonly grow.
Also, please note: Except for growing certain tropical varieties of orchid, such as Cattleya and Miltonia, greenhouses are totally unnecessary in Southern California. Cymbidium orchids, for example, grow marvelously well outdoors in gardens and will stubbornly refuse to bloom inside a greenhouse since the temperatures do not vary enough to stimulate the creation of spikes, which need 20 degrees difference between night and day temperatures during the hottest time of the year, which most of the gardens in coastal climate zones naturally provide.
In some cases bottom heat is helpful for pre-sprouting seeds prior to planting. Examples are modern hybrid varieties of corn and peas which have the “shrunken gene”, a gene which makes these vegetables super sweet and which causes their seeds to shrivel. The shrivel in these seeds can make them difficult to germinate. Thus we soak them overnight in warm water, then place them onto a damp paper towel and bend the other side over the seeds, slip this into a zip-lock bag and place the whole thing on top of a DVD player to provide 80 degrees Fahrenheit bottom heat. This produces rapid germination, within a day or two. Look at the seeds daily and once they have put out a little root, plant them outdoors in a prepared row.
All this, and other germinating tricks for specific seeds (such as freezing certain seeds overnight prior to planting) are given in my books. I am sad to report that my organic book has suddenly gone out of print with no word of explanation to me. Luckily you can still purchase it at Amazon.com. My agent is now negotiating with Chronicle Books to see if they want me to write a shorter, more concise version. However, readers tell me they prefer the book the way it is since it provides so much helpful and practical information. People who meet me for the first time often tell me they learned everything they know about gardening from my book. It is difficult for me to understand why a publisher would let this book die that has been so popular with so many gardeners and so helpful for over 25 years in various editions and was still clicking out royalties for me. I think part of the explanation is that it’s available electronically, but really gardeners don’t want an electronic book. They want something they can hold in their hands and take out in the garden.