Starting Crops Indoors

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Starting plants indoors can offer several advantages over just placing a seed right into the ground. Starting a seed in the ground does not always bring forth a plant. Some of the biggest obstacles in starting seeds directly in the ground is that they dry out our get eaten by one of the many little bugs that love to eat the tender colloptiles of germinating seeds. Last year I watched a bird lift an entire row sprouting basil, just to discard them on the ground, must have thought they were worms.

This year I learned the hard way that the small seed starter pots "jiffy seed pots" can only hold a plant for about a month before the seed roots busted through walls of the starter pots. Next year I will use bigger seed starter pot containers. I wanted to start my plants 3 months before the last frost came. I guess I wanted to see woody type tissue on the base of my Bell peppers before I took them outside, an unrealistic goal as I realized this spring because at around six inches tall and still quite green, the plant push through the sides of the compost-able starter pots.

The Jiffy Pots "seed starter pots" that I am using are about 2 inch’s tall, I placed my snow pees outside at the beginning of April and so far, they have survived a couple of freezing nights and one light snowfall. Because of the established root structure in there organic planters they are not as likely to be jerked out of the ground by some nearsighted robin nor is it likely that they will dry out if I miss a day of watering.

I have volumes of things I want to share about my indoor plants,seed starter pots, and its probable the same way parents all know how their’ children are the best and cutest but I don’t have time and you readers are probable scanning to get to this:

The Important Points.

Important Basic Points of starting plants indoors.

1. Make sure your lights are set for less ours then the natural day light hours. If they are getting more light then they would outside they may try to fruit to early.

2. Timing should be based on the amount of the head start your trying to get, by the size of the seed starter pots or jiffy pot, or other organic container you use.

3. Watch for yellow leafs with green vascular patterns showing up. This mean your giving your plant to much water.

4. Pees, beans, and all climbing plants will try and strangle other juvenile plants so move them carefully by hand twice a day.

5. Run your lights by a window, during day time hours. They should start about the same time the sun comes up and they should go off about an hour before the sun goes down. (the extra hour of sun will help offset the soil shock the plants can get when you finally set your seed starter pots in the ground outside.

6. Start watering your garden aria a week or so before you try to put your seed starter pots in the ground. Some experts say you should water in your Jiffy pots, I found as long as the ground soil is very wet, not muddy, they will do fine if you make sure to fill in the dirt completely.

7. Poke a hole with a screwdriver or stick straight down if there is a tap root hanging from your seed starter pots, if you have fine sand available fill the tap root hole with the sand but only to the bottom of the Jiffy Pot. Still use garden soil to plant around the sides. Plants I have done this with grow twice as fast or faster then the ones I coiled up the tap roots of"

8. For things like carrots and other root, tubers, and ungrounded crops, digging out the compacted soil where you plant will help with crop development. Carrots for example; I trench my rows out about a foot deep, fill the trench back up six inches of coarse or fine sand, then fill all but 2 inched with potting soil, set in my Plants and fill the rest in with a mixture of sand and soil. This will make sure the carrots at least have a chance to grow to be a foot long.

And that is it for now. I will send picture in when I get to placing them out side.