Seeds for Success

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This morning I woke up, was surprised to see how much snow had fallen (compared to 45 degrees and green grass yesterday!), and then realized that February is only 2 days away. What?!

We have a lot of things on the docket for February: 2 birthdays, a big debt payoff goal, and starting garden seeds. By the end of the month my husband should be cleared by his doctors for us to restart home renovation projects (even painting isn’t allowed right now), so that’s probably on the table too – we’ve got a few months of downtime to make up for!

Today I want to talk about the urgent one in my mind – starting garden seeds.

Compared to nearly any chart you’ll find about when to start your seeds indoors, I know I’m way early, planning to start some of them February 1st. Most plants say start indoors 8 weeks before the last frost, which for us is typically mid-May, so that means I don’t need to start my seeds until sometime in mid-March.

Related: Seedless Quiche
Related: Getting Ready For Spring, One Seed At A Time

I’ve got two problems with that thinking.

First problem:  I’m a chronic procrastinator.

It’s not that I put things off on purpose, it’s that I get distracted by the million things I have going on/want to do/need to do, and I can be a busy bee all day long and not be able to cross one thing off of my to-do list. But at least I tried, right? (Pat me on the back, say “yes,” and we can move on.)

So for me, waiting until mid-March isn’t the best idea. I’ve tried that for years now and do you know what happens? I don’t get to starting my seeds on time. Every. Single. Year. We’ll come back to that.

Second problem:  Given my outdoor growing conditions, available time to dedicate to maintaining my vegetable garden, and seed starting setup in the first place, I truly feel like I want more of a head-start on getting my little seedlings sturdy enough to put outdoors.

Now, my second problem is likely not a problem we share. I know I’m always inclined to try to be a perfectionist with my garden, and that’s because of my grandfather. Suffice it to say there is nothing this man can’t grow, and yielding results much better than expected/advertised with any plant. I’ll have to bug my mom for the picture, but he regularly grows tomato plants taller than his garage roof. That’s 10-12 feet tall or more. The stems (or as we always call them, trunks) of these plants are always a good couple inches in diameter, at least! I kid you not when I say his strain of “big boy” tomatoes, the ones he’s carefully cultivated for decades, regularly produces 3-4lb (or more) tomatoes. THREE POUND TOMATOES. Tomatoes the size of my one-year old daughter’s head are the norm, not the exception. Picture that for a while.

So why is my grandfather’s impressively green thumb a problem for me?

I know it’s totally illogical to expect I could get results nearly as good as his in my young age and very short time as a gardener, but one can dream. Knowing that I won’t get results as good as his, in part due to time constraints and in part due to setup shortcomings, I need a head start.

Let’s get serious for a minute.

My grandfather starts his seeds in his basement, under grow lights – one for each shelf of seeds (I wish I had a place and the time to have a setup like his with so many plants and such a big garden – goals!). Once they reach a satisfactory size, he transfers them to a little cold-frame greenhouse in the back of his garden that he build with old windows (yes, he was upcycling before it was trendy!) with another grow light that’s on 24/7. He uses the grow light because he keeps a layer of thick black plastic over the glass of the greenhouse to keep the heat in until the weather warms. The plants get moved out to the greenhouse before the last frost so that bit is important. Once the temperature conditions become favorable, he starts rolling up that black plastic a tiny bit at a time to “harden off” the plants and let them acclimate to the sun’s rays.

My grandfather is ALWAYS ready to plant his seedlings by the time the earliest planting day comes, without fail. Always.

By the time his plants are in the ground, I’m usually wondering if it’s too late to start seeds and if I should just but plants from the local nursery, instead.

So let’s assume I get my seeds started “on time” this year, which is 2 days from now (hold me to it). Why so early? Well first, I’ve got my seeds going into some small picture frame greenhouses I made last year. They’re in the sunniest windows in the house, and they definitely work to keep the plants warm enough! I don’t have an outdoor greenhouse, so it’s pretty important that my plants are sturdy enough to plant outside by the time we get to the hardening off stage – once they’re out in the sun and ready to plant, they really take off in growth so they need to be planted on time or they’ll suffocate their roots in their little pots.

The root growth is a delicate balance that I’ve learned about from my grandfather, too.

Common plant knowledge is that roots are about the same size as the full growth of the plant. A 100 foot tall tree can have roots around 100ft long. Most plants mirror their above-ground growth underground. Tree roots mimic the look of the tree crown, for example.

Tomatoes are an interesting exception. They have shallow roots in comparison to most plants, and the entire stem (in most varieties) can be converted to a root under the right conditions.

That means you can (and should) plant a tomato seedling all the way up to the bottom-most leaves on transplant, and the buried stem will put out root hairs without complaint.

Similarly, a tomato plant not properly supported may tip over, and whatever stem portion is touching dirt will become roots if left undisturbed. It also means that since they’re not plants with necessarily dedicated root sections, they have slightly weaker roots than many veggies, in terms of holding the plant in place.

Here’s the formula that I aim to follow for results as close to my grandfather’s as possible.

I’ve followed this plan (correctly, except for poorly timed) most years and seen the right results, but when you’re 2 months behind on starting seeds there’s only so much you can make up for.

First, start seeds earlier.

(Note: I typically only start tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers indoors, because I know I never have the time for a garden full of a wide variety of veggies. This year I’m hoping to add things like celery, corn, broccoli, etc.)

The more time they have to struggle into life when you barely remember to water them regularly, let alone use a plant food, the better. Start seeds in very small containers, like egg shells or the small peat pods that you can buy at any garden center.

Second, transplant most seedlings TWICE (assuming you’ve got a long wait until planting season like me), because you’ve extended their out-of-ground growth phase.

Do keep in mind that depending on where you live and when your outdoor planting season starts, the second transplant may be shortly before the hardening off stage, or it may be the one that puts the plants straight into the ground. The hardening off stage is widely varied throughout the country, so time it accordingly!

On first transplant, move the seedling from the egg shell to a small pot (roughly 4 inch).

This gives the roots, previously crowded up into a nice little ball inside the egg shell, a chance to spread a little. But the slightly crowded ball is important to achieve first, since it starts a sturdy base for the plants.

The second transplant varies from plant to plant. Something like a cucumber can be transplanted again into a larger pot, if the space is needed, to not stunt the plant while you wait for good planting weather. A tomato plant should stay in the 4 inch pot until the roots are again slightly crowded and forming a little swirled ball, at which point it can be transplanted into a larger pot for more root space.

The most important thing to remember about transplanting a tomato plant is to bury it up to the bottom-most leaves, to turn that portion of stem into extra roots.

The more root growth you can induce under the soil the more your plant will thrive in the garden. And yes, when you plant in the garden you’d also bury the plant up to the bottom leaves. This can apply in variation to every plant – bury the roots well so the plant won’t be too top-heavy or easily caught by the wind.

I know that was a lot, so here’s a quick summary:

• Start your seeds in really small pots.
• Upgrade pot size only as needed, but making sure there’s hearty root growth before deciding to transplant.
• Use plant food to boost that root growth.
• Do NOT forget to take about a week or more to harden off outside. Direct sunlight through a window is not the same as direct sunlight outside! (I tried to do this in just a few days my first year gardening and burned every plant to a crisp in 2 days.)

Alright. So we got technical, and now we get to the fun. In a couple days I’ll (hopefully!) post my on-time seed starting success, and then we can talk all about my little homemade greenhouses. They aren’t perfect but I’m pretty proud of them, both for the look and functionality, and for the fact that they only cost me about $25 to make 2 of them!

What do you plan to grow in your garden this year? Are you a seasoned gardener or just getting started? What is your favorite tip or trick for vegetable gardens? I’d love to hear about your gardening adventures!