Seed Success
06 Apr 2015
It’s easy to grow from seed if you follow these tips.
By Carol O’Meara Do seed packets on store shelves have you thinking about planting? Concerns over big agriculture, food safety and the environment, along with an interest in heirloom plants, are driving a robust seed industry. “More people are gardening, and there’s a resurgence toward home and local,” says Curtis Jones, co-owner of Botanical Interests in Broomfield (www.botanicalinterests.com).
Snug & Cozy
To germinate, seeds need humidity and warmth. Tent the tray or pots with plastic to increase humidity during germination, or set seed trays on an electric heat mat. You can also line seed trays with moist gravel to increase the humidity. Keep the room at 65 to 72 degrees. Most seeds don’t need light to germinate. But lights are critical once sprouts barely poke through the seed-starting medium (a soilless mixture of peat, vermiculite or perlite with compost). Grow lights, or a combination of cool and warm fluorescent tubes that provide blue and red spectrums, respectively, work well (see “Right Light” below). You’ll need chains or ropes to raise the lights as the plants grow. Hang the lights directly over the seed trays, making sure they can be easily raised to stay 3 to 4 inches above vegetable seedlings at all times. Seedlings need 12 to 16 hours of light each day, and a timer best ensures that. Long, spindly, weak stems indicate the lights are too far away. Water seedlings by adding liquid to the seed trays instead of directly to the plants. This allows water to be wicked up into the tray cells or pots. If this isn’t possible, gently water seedlings at the surface with a hand-held sprayer or mister. Keep seedlings evenly watered but never soaked. Overwatering causes root rot and encourages damping-off fungus, resulting in pinched stems and death.
Time to Acclimate
After the last frost date and when soil temperatures warm to ideal for plants, it’s time to harden off the seedlings by gradually exposing them to outside temperatures, sun and wind. Start one week before planting by placing the plants outside during the warm part of the day in a sunny but sheltered location. Bring them back inside after one to two hours. The next day, increase the length of time to five hours. On day three, expose plants to direct morning sunlight and place them in shade in the afternoon. Increase sun exposure to plants over the remaining days until they can withstand the normal amount of sun exposure for that particular plant. During the last two days of hardening off, if nighttime temperatures are normal, let the plants stay outside overnight. Now your plants are ready for the garden. Carol O’Meara is a local gardening enthusiast and entomologist. Read her blog at gardeningafterfive.wordpress.com.Starting Seeds
You don’t need a lot of equipment to grow seeds: shelf space, plastic seed trays to hold the pots, sterile seed-starting medium, seeds, labels and lights.



Right Light
Although vegetable seeds can germinate in the dark, they require light upon sprouting. Most home gardeners use south-facing windows, lights, or a combination of the two to avoid leggy, pale seedlings, which indicate light deficiency.
