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How I start veggies

By Alex Barnett, Home Grown Food Colorado

Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplant, Basil
– Start seeds in covered yogurt cup, 10-15 seeds per cup, using bottom heat.
– After germination, remove cover and heat, put under lights.
– After 1st set of true leaves, repot into 2″ pots.

Kale, Cabbage
– Start seeds in covered yogurt cup, 10-15 seeds per cup, NO bottom heat.
– After germination, remove cover, put under lights.
– After 1st set of true leaves, repot into 2″ pots.

Summer squash, Winter Squash, Cucumbers
– Start 1 seed per 2″ pot, covered, with bottom heat.
– After germination, remove cover and heat, put under lights.
– Note that these plants are more fragile when transplanting. Take care not to disturb the roots when planting.

Lettuce
– Start small pinch of seed in 2″ pot, covered, NO bottom heat.
– After germination, remove cover, put under lights.

FAQ

• What is a start? It’s a small plant started from seed.
• What is a pot? It’s a container for holding a plant.
• How is a 2″ pot measured? It’s the size of the opening at the top of the container.
• Why and how do I cover seeds during germination? Cover yogurt cup or 2″ pot with sandwich bag to prevent drying out during germination.
• What is bottom heat? When the germination container is placed on a heat mat, this raises the temperature of the soil mix to speed up germination. A good temperature range for germinating warm weather plants is 80 – 90 degrees.
• What are true leaves? When seeds germinate, the first set of leaves are called cotyledons. These cotyledons are actually a part of the seed. The second set of leaves are called “true leaves” and are minature shapes of the leaves to come.
• What is repotting? As seedlings grow, their root mass fills the container. The goal is to always give the roots more room to grow. We thus repot into a larger sized pot.
• How do I use lights? Once seeds have germianted, they need light. Grow lights an inch above the top of leaves are ideal. This prevents long and spindly starts. Match the time under lights to the daylight outside. Do not leave the lights on all night.
• How do I water? I water with weak solution of Age Old Grow (12-6-6), diluted 1 tbsp to 1 gallon. Thus every time they are watered, they get fertilizer. Some potting mixes have fertilizer mixed in. Don’t over fertilize. Basil and oregano are particularly sensitive to too much fertilizer.
• What is hardening off? Plants grown indoors need time to acclimate to the outside world. At first, put them outside in a protected location for a short time (1 hour). Over a period of a week, each day gradually increase the length of time. Be careful of direct sunlight and low nighttime temperatures.
• How do I transplant a seedling? When the outside temperatures are benefical for a particular veggie, and the plant has been hardened off, it’s time to put it into the ground. This change is still a bit of shock, so we take care to make the transition as easy as possible. An overcast day is ideal, so that the distrubed roots of the transplant don’t have to work as hard delivering water to plant. Try to disturb the roots as little as possible. Press the earth firmly around the plant so the roots have good contact with the soil. Water well, but don’t drown the plant. Covering the plant with a transluscent row cover material helps moderate temperature changes and helps the plant become established.