Growing From Seeds

Spring cometh which means spring break, baseball, sun, no rain , and the start of the summer growing season!!

Usually around this time of year, I start digging out the winter vegetables and start planning the summer crops. I also start looking around for coupons and deals from Home Depot, Lowe and Aces to see if I can get some cheap seedlings anywhere, cause usually I go with seedlings instead of planting straight from seeds .

It can get a bit expensive, seedlings can run like $2 a plant and a six pack can be $5 , so for a large garden the cost can add up, but I generally have no other options so that is what I do. This year , I made a more concerted effort at growing from seeds. In the past I’ve had almost zero luck growing from seeds. I always try but I maybe get two weak seedlings each year.

This year , I tried harder and actually did a bit of research before planting the seeds. And I had a lot more success!!!

Those are zucchini, cucumber, spaghetti squash and butternut squash seedlings. What did I do different this time around you ask ?? Three main things.

1. Used Good Soil

In the past, I just used compost or ground soil for my pots. That type of soil usually is too hard, not enough nutrients or contain bugs that would eat the seedling once it hatched. I did this because I was cheap and lazy.

This year, I decided not to be cheap and bought a fresh bag or vegetable soil from Home Depot for my starts and mixed it with a bit of water and the results were much better.

2. Temperature Control

In the past, cause again of ignorance and laziness I just left all my seeds outside at night. Even in the mild Bay Area spring temps, the soil gets cold at night and the seeds are not brave enough to hatch.

So what I do now is I leave the seeds in a shaded spot during the day, and then at night I take them into my garage which is about 10 degrees warmer than the night time temperatures. This keeps the soil warmer overnight, and then in the morning I just take the seeds out again. It takes some discipline, but with a trusty phone alarm, i’m able to remember pretty easily.

One note.. In the beginning, do not put the unhatched seeds in the sun, put them in a haded area outside. The sun will dry out the soil to fast. It’s not until you see the seedlings start to come out, when you should move them into a more sunny spot, as that is when the plants will need to sun energy to photosynthesize.

3. Use A Gentle Watering Mechanism

Don’t use a water hose to water your seedlings. Even if you have one of the professional gardener hoses , the water stream is too rough and disruptive to the soil and the seed. Instead , invest in a gentle water sprayer.

I got that one from Ace for $5 (after using a 40% off coupon), so it’s not expensive at all. Then I spray the starts twice a day, once in the morning before putting them out, and once when I bring them in. Works great.

Once again, the results... All these seedlings for roughly about $5. So money is saved for other things. But more so, i gained confidence that I can do this again in the future. Hopefully this guide helps others as well.