Planting Flower and Vegetable Seed Indoors © 2006

Planting Flower and Vegetable Seed Indoors
Visit Our Garden Store.
Gardening Books and Products

Back To Seed Index
Home
Sitemap Site Index
Contact
About Us
Planting flower and vegetable seed indoors can be a fun and money saving endeavor. What you will need to germinate seeds indoors will be suitable light, seed starting medium, containers and adequate moisture.

Light for seed planting can come from a number of sources. It can be a window, south facing would be best. Failing that, you can use a west or east window. Flourescent lights can also work. Garden centers stock specially made lights which provide light in the proper spectrum for plants and will work best.

Medium, or soil, for planting seed indoors should be finely ground, contain moisture holding ingredients like vermiculate and sphagnum peat moss. It should also be sterile, so soil borne pathogens like those which cause damping off do not destroy the newly germinated seedlings.
Containers for planting vegetable and flower seed indoors can be commercial pots, or small containers recycled from household use. Styrofoam or cardboard egg containers work well. Baby food jars and other small glass or plastic jars can also be used. Be careful that you don't overwater containers which have no drainage hole, as waterlogged soil will cause seeds to rot instead of germinate.

Moisture levels for flower and vegetable seeds planted indoors is very important. Too much, and the seeds will rot and not germinate. Too little and the seeds will dry out. It is best to water the soil, saturating it before sowing the seeds. Allow all the excess moisture to drain out. Plant the seeds using a seed planter, or a folded postcard will work, too. Pour the seed into the folded card, hold over the medium at a slight angle and tap the side gently. The seed, with a bit of practice, will be dispursed fairly evenly over the surface of the medium.

After the seeds are planted, cover lightly with medium and lightly mist with a fine spray of water. It is usually best to cover the newly planted seeds with a translucent cover of some sort to help keep humidity levels high. Watch the seeds carefully so you can remove the covering as soon as the seeds germinate. Generally, vegetable seeds germinate faster than flower seeds.

Planting flower and vegetable seed indoors will allow you to custom grow your garden. You can grow varieties which are not grown by the commercial greenhouses, as well as seeds you may have saved from your own or wild plants the season before.




Text



Top Of Page