Starting Seedlings Indoors

If you live in a cool area, you can use a greenhouse or cold frame, otherwise get the most from your growing season and start seeds indoors... window sill, top of the fridge or the coffee table.

Or think about an enclosed porch, a garage, a shed or basement. Growing seeds inside is pretty straightforward. Give them air, light, water, warmth—and they'll sprout. Easy peasy.


A good spot during daytime.

Then cover for warmth at night.

Gardening tips for indoor seed growing

• Make sure you have sufficient counter space to work on, or keep a protective covering handy to spread out if necessary, so you can do your seed planting without an almighty mess.
• Don't start planting seeds too soon. In 4-6 weeks they will be ready to go out into the garden. If you are still experiencing frosts, it will be off with their heads!
• Prepare your containers. Do you have enough trays, egg cartons, yoghurt containers or jiffy pots. Make sure they have drainage holes... and if left over from last season, check for rotten bottoms.
• Your indoor seedlings are going to need a lot of light once they germinate... more light than an adult plant, to make them grow fast and strong.

  So unless you have brilliant natural light, try and arrange lights over your seedlings. Preferably use fluorescent or one of the latest energy saving lights. They are more economical, they cover a larger space, they run cool (without burning the plants) and they use less electricity than incandescent lights. You may need to have these lights on for up to 15 hours a day.

• Put a fan in the room on low to keep the
  air circulating. This is surprisingly important. If the air is static the plants will not prosper.
• Seeds need a warm environment to germinate. They will be comfortable with temperatures between 15-21°C (60-70F) during the day and will generally tolerate 10-15°C (50-60°F) overnight.
• At night, covering them with plastic, fabric or newspaper can assist in keeping them warm until they sprout.
• Make sure your indoor seedlings are kept moist but not soggy. Once proper leaves appear (the first two are just seed leaves) feed them with a weak fish fertilizer mixed with water.
• As the seedlings mature and near time to enter the garden proper, they need to be 'hardened off'. This means moving them outdoors for progressively longer periods each day.

  Start toughening them up, by putting them in a protected part of the garden and bring them back in at night. As they get stronger, they will be well prepared to withstand the actual conditions full time in the garden once you turf them out for good.

Starting seedlings indoors gets you in the gardening zone much sooner in the year and
revs up the old spring fever!

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