The Beginning

I would call myself a beginner gardener even though I have been gardening for many years. Maybe I am still a gardening “learner .”I make mistakes, and I try to learn from them.

In my post on Zinnias, I shared that my mom had the green thumb in the family, and I tried to learn from her. She seemed to know which plants did well in this prairie climate (Zone 3) and knew things like how to fertilize the ground with eggshells and coffee grounds. When she sprinkled this mix into the ground, I wondered why she spread old food all over the garden. I thought it was some old country myth. I was wrong! She knew what she was doing, and she had great success.

Fast forward to it being “my turn” at gardening. While my repertoire of plants is broader, I continuously learn about gardening, from placement to fertilizing to growing a garden from seed.

Growing plants from seed has been my biggest learning project. Some years it’s been successful, and other years, I put them out too early, and they suffered from wind or sunburn! But, there’s a science to growing from seeds and here are my hints and tips for making you more successful.

Steps

Pick your flowers

Perhaps an obvious step, but the first step is picking the plants you wish to start from seed. I tend to favour “easier” seeds that are easy to grow in trays, like zinnias, cosmos, tomatoes, etc. Many guides and posts can help you start with the easier seeds.

Prepare and plant away

I use Jiffy seed starter trays with the base, soil pellets, and dome. All you have to do is water the pellets with warm water. Then pour warm water onto the pellets till they expand and are thoroughly moist and look like the photo below.

Pull back the netting a little and put 1-2 seeds into each soil pellet. Lightly dust earth over the seed. After covering all of the seeds, place the dome on top and ensure you have a seal. (This seal is critical because it will allow the humidity and warmth to help the seed germinate.)

Hint: Make sure you read the seed packet and check whether the seeds need to be soaked overnight. Soaking the seeds overnight softens the seed’s shell (and, in this case, particularly hard shells) to break open more easily.

Warm it up

Seeds need a warm place and a darker or less sunny spot to germinate. Depending on the seed, it can. Take anywhere from 2 to 7 days (sometimes more) for the first sign of life to sprout. Putting my seeds on a warm floor or near a warm vent ensures that all my seeds sprout.

Take it off

When you see the first signs of life, pop open the dome but don’t take it off yet. It’s almost ready to come off, but you want to give the slower seeds a chance to sprout. By popping it off, you also provide the seeds that have already grown a chance to breathe.

The Zinnia seeds in this photo sprouted on day 2 (see image below), and then I popped open the lid on Day 3 when the seedlings looked a little more established.

My cosmos and calendula, on Day 3, we’re getting there but not quite ready to pop off the lid. But by Day 4, the cover came off.

Move to a sunny location

If you are unsure if you want to invest in grow lights, put the trays near a sunny window. Once the dome is off, the sun is essential to its growth. I find that I rotate the tray so that the plant gets even sunshine, and you don’t get a plant “leaning” to one side (to catch the sun).

One note is that having it near a sunny southern window is essential as there is a lack of good sunshine, and the plant goes leggy. This is where the seedling grows a very tall long stalk to try to reach the sun. And a leggy plant is usually much harder to transplant to the soil/garden. So the goal is a strong stalk.

Let the plant grow and strengthen here for a while. You want the plant to produce a few leaves (not just its initial two leaves) and the stem to thicken slightly.

Mine got a little leggy!

Harden off

Next, it’s time to get the plant to adjust to the outdoors slowly. Again, this hardening off is essential. It’s the secret ingredient between the plant thriving or dying outdoors as soon as you plant it.

Hardening off is where I always mess up. I either move the plant to the natural sun too quickly or leave it too long outdoors in the first few days. The goal is a slow and gradual period of adaptation over two weeks. Then, each day you expose the plant to the sun until it’s outdoors 100%

Once there are a few leaves (not just the initial ones), you can transplant them to the garden bed once they harden off. Make sure you keep the seed packet. It will provide info on when to transplant and how to space the plants properly. I plant the pellets, netting and all into the ground (I may loosen the mesh a bit) and then on to usual care.

T.L.C.

Once the plants have hardened off, its time to put them into the ground.. Now, here is where I go to the experts to help me with how to plant in the ground. And who better to consult than Almanac.

The one tip I will give is to keep these new seedlings watered. And its a balance. You can’t over water but drying them out is almost a guarantee that the seedling won’t make it. So if you transplant it into the soil., try not to do it on a hot day and make sure you will be able to commit to daily waterings at least for a week.

Bliss Reflection

I’ve written in previous blogs about how gardening brings me joy. Growing plants from seeds brings some added joy because I get to be part of watching a new plant come to life in a small and humbling way. If you are a gardener, you get what I am saying.

Although I “simply” put a seed into soil and water it, I marvel at how the seed knows how to germinate and then turn into this beautiful plant in the sun. And then the added bliss comes when you are sitting outside, sipping wine, and you can say “I grew those” to your friends.

Planting from seed isn’t always easy. But, without getting too philosophical, it teaches you some humility because sometimes, a plant doesn’t take. You realize you don’t know it all, and you don’t control all. You remind yourself what you still have to learn.

But so far, there are many more positives to growing from seed. And I would encourage everyone to give it a try. It may take a few growing seasons before you get the hang of it, but having plants in your garden that you nurtured gives you some added bliss and smiles over the summer.

Bliss Hints and Tips

• In addition to the Almanac (a trusted gardeners friend), many of the seed companies offer some good hints and tips in terms of planting from seed. Also there are a few really good seed companies, like William Dam Seeds in Canada, that have years of experience and expertise, and offer a wide variety in terms of seeds.
• Many universities offer a wealth of local information for gardeners. For example, here is a great resource from the University of Minnesota.
• A neat tool is a soil temperature tracker. Here is one for the United States. Soil temperature is a good indicator as to when its ready to plant your seedlings. Consult your local university extension to know when its the right temp in your area.
• And there is an app for that too. Here are some helpful apps from Country Living.