Without sunlight, would you start seeds indoors? At first thought, you might say no. Starting seeds, in general, might even sound easy, but there are quite a few tips and tricks that you can arm yourself with so you will have a successful experience. One of these tips contributing to your successful experience is that growing your seeds can save on your wallet at the plant nursery.
I start my seeds indoors in a special room in my house. This room is what my realtor called the “bonus room.” It is located off the kitchen and near the washer and dryer. I have lived here for almost 20 years, and during that time, it has served many purposes, from office to storage room. Right now, the bonus room is now my walk-in pantry and junk closet. Hey, everyone needs at least one place in their house that catches odds and ends. However, once a year in the spring, it performs a function the house’s architect wouldn’t have imagined. The bonus room boasts an indoor greenhouse.
Each spring, when my kids ask what’s for dinner, I can quickly announce: “Junk room salad greens!” When my children look at me with a perplexed look, I reply, “Do you mean to tell me that no one else on the block has a greenhouse tucked away in their closet?” I contemplate, thinking, “Hmmm, my post needs to go viral so that everyone can experience the green thumb gardening sensation of salad greens they grew in their junk closet.” Don’t worry; I want you to experience junk room salad greens as well!
Read All About It!
My go-to source for learning about an indoor garden has been Indoor Kitchen Gardening by Elizabeth Millard. Chalked full of tips, you will become an expert in watering, soil, seed depth, and techniques. If you consider purchasing a book on gardening, this one will ensure you feel more knowledgeable about growing a garden indoors. I highly recommend this book. (This isn’t a sponsored post, I simply love her book).
Here is what you will need to assemble your indoor greenhouse:
- Shelving
- Lights
- Fan
- Seeds
- Dirt
Snoop Out Your Perfect Container
Just about anything can be used for sprouting seeds, from bottle caps, empty egg cartons, or eggshells themselves, but I have opted for rectangular trays with drainage slots you can find here. These trays are usually inexpensive, plus you get multiple uses from a single purchase. I have owned mine for about five years and counting now, so they have been worth the small investment. I like these trays because, if needed, I can water from the bottom. In that instance, I can fill the sink up with a few inches of water and let the whole tray suck up water from the slits underneath. If the seedlings suffer from overwatering or leaf problems, “bottom watering” is my go-to solution.
My husband doesn’t like the stackable trays as much in the winter months. This distaste traces back to the fact that they get stacked in front of his truck in the garage. More than once, the tower has collapsed right in front of his vehicle. On those days, effortlessly pulling into the garage is fraught with disaster.
Sow Your Seeds
Millard takes you on an in-depth journey of all soil types if you prefer to mix your own. I like to purchase Miracle Grow soil which makes the process much quicker. And quicker, I mean you don’t have to mix it at all! Since I am a working girl, this makes seed planting a much faster task.
Once I fill my trays with dirt, I push the soil down gently to remove air pockets. Then I give each well a long drink of water (it takes a lot more than you think to saturate the soil), then I gingerly tamp down again. Get the dirt too compact, and the seeds have a difficult time starting. If you don’t get the potting soil compact enough and when you go to transplant them, the little plant falls apart, and you ruin the root system you spent weeks tending. How do I know? I made that exact mistake the first year I embarked on this venture. See the video in this post for more on this topic.
Shelf Life
One of the unique pieces of advice that Millard divulges in her section on shelving was this: Don’t put plants on shelves that you love. It seems like a strange piece of advice, but her reasoning is sound. No matter how hard you try to keep the surface clean and dry, inevitably, dirt and water splash out, which can leave water stains on wood shelves.
When I cleaned out some old junk in my floral shop (you can see my work here and here), four empty metal shelves greeted me. They became the perfect setup for my seedlings. Millard suggests going for adjustable shelving (although I have never adjusted a shelf before, it is nice to have the option). My plants do have enough space in between to spread out a little and room to grow.
Light Up Your Life
There is one tip that became the most useful thing I learned about having an indoor greenhouse. It IS possible to grow start seeds indoors AND grow them without a natural light source. How, you might ask? Simple, fluorescent bulbs. Are you as skeptical as I was in the beginning? It works. Trust me on this. All you need are fluorescent bulbs, similar to what you see in a workshop, garage, or office building. When purchasing the bulbs, consider buying a cool bulb and a warm one so you can better mimic the natural spectrum of sunlight.
I Wet My Plants
Watering can get tricky with these babies, especially if you have a voluminous amount of trays, as I do. I check them every day to make sure everything is adequately moist. More than once, I let my lettuce get too dry. The result was a bitter-tasting disaster!
Word To The Wise
Just like people, plants need to sleep too. I try to mimic the sun’s work hours when planning the duration of exposure for the seedlings. I turn on my power strip when the sun comes up, and I turn it off when the sun goes down. That way, the seeds get nature’s light duration.
“When crops are outside, they get a little blown around by the wind, and this is crucial for more than taking pretty farm pictures of swaying corn and sunflowers. That airflow assists with temperature control, humidity, disease resistance, and oxygen intake. Plants grow stronger from being “stressed” by the wind, and they end up more robust as a result.”
Indoor Kitchen Gardening by Elizabeth Millard, page 42
Because of the benefits that Millard discusses regarding airflow, get an oscillating fan. I will sometimes change the fan’s direction and placement to blow from different directions throughout the day.
Once plants grow taller, you can transplant them to solo cups where they will have more room to “branch” out. I poke a hole in the bottom with a nail and hammer to allow for drainage.
Grab Your Pen and Harden Off
Label Your Seeds
To start your seeds indoors means you should begin by labeling what seeds you have planted! I don’t know how many times I have sown my seeds but didn’t label them. I promised myself I would remember, but then, gosh darn it, I didn’t. The feeling is similar to putting a ziplock bag in the freezer only to find six months later that even though the baggie is clear, for the life of you, being able to recognize the contents is impossible.
Let your Seedlings Acclimate to Outdoor Weather
When it is time to move your seedlings outdoors, be prepared to harden them off. Hardening is a process where the seedlings have access to outdoor conditions to get used to the weather. Each day, increase their outdoor time for about a week. If you would like a little more in-depth discussion on the topic plus more pointers, see this post in The Spruce.
Save A Dollar, Spend A Dollar
One of the ways I save money at the local plant nursery is to grow my own edibles in my seed trays as I have explained in this post. It is not uncommon for impatients and lettuce to share space in a backyard flower pot at my house.
To start seeds indoors can give any novice a boost to morale, so if you liked this post, succulents are a great place to “grow” next. Then you can try this post to gift your succulents away. They are surprisingly easy to grow, and they don’t require much attention. Unless, of course, you have a cardinal that terrorizes every petal and pecks them down to stubs! Which was the whole reason for my need to transplant them in the first place. *sigh*
Then after you have started your own succulents, you can gift them away with these tips.
Save this image to your Pinterest board so you can be a pro and start seeds indoors too!
This is a game changer! Iβm off to go get seeds first thing tomorrow!
Wow! Starting seeds indoors seems like a daunting task. But youβve made it seem easy with a simple outline. The tip of using a fan was a great idea. All of your pictures were helpful too- and pretty. Thanks for the post.