Answering 18 of Your Seed Starting Questions!
Answering 18 of Your Seed Starting Questions!
Seed starting is the most important part of your plant’s life. If you don’t start your seeds off well, their entire life in your garden will be impacted in a negative way. I collected 18 of the most common seed starting questions from you all on Instagram and YouTube and have answered them all in today’s video!
SPONSOR: Espoma Organic
Espoma is a 90+ year old company that’s been organic from the start. I love working with them for their incredible soil mixes and fertilizers. In this video, you’ll see me recommend their Seed Starting Mix, which is what I used for all of the seedlings you see in the video.
IN THIS VIDEO
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…any advice on inexpensive, neglect-friendly seed starting?… I do a lot of gardening for my mom, who lives in a different city than me. So, obvs, I’m not tending seedlings very much, I need to be able to set them up, then ignore them (other than a watering schedule identical to the adult plants) for up to a month at a time, sometimes more. And my budget for gardening tends to be in the $10/month range.
A couple of specifics that may be relevant:
1. We live in Arizona. So, high heat, low humidity most of the year.
2. Two main growing locations: the atrium (usually a bit warmer in the winter and a bit cooler in the summer than outside, much higher humidity, but basically no direct sunlight, though for an indoor location it’s fairly bright, and watered I think once a week or so), or in pots outside (fairly large pots full of a mix of potting soil and compost, partial to full sun, watered every few days depending on the season). In both cases, she checks the soil with a (cheap) water meter, and doesn’t water if it reads as "wet", but does water otherwise. I also have some planting areas that are in the (fairly unimproved, ie hard, alkaline, and not very organic-rich) ground, that get automatically watered, but aren’t checked very often.
When I have tried to start seeds in the past (mostly in pellets, in some kind of covered tray so they wouldn’t just dry out, and in the atrium), they tended to, well, mold. My mom would be perfectly willing to, eg, fill a reservoir when she goes in to water, but not to do something like mist the plants every few days or whatever.
Any suggestions?
I recently received the Rebel Garden 8-pack of hot peppers. I would like to know how long the seeds can be kept in their packages while I decide in which month of the year I am going to sow them? greetings and thanks. From Venezuela. 👍
What video is he referencing about how many seeds to plant per hole? Thank you!
My question is, how do garden centers have seedlings that are massive.. and when I seed myself they are minuscule and seem to take 10x as long to grow. I use compost, potting mix and peat moss along with a fertilizer. They get enough water and sunlight.. am I missing something? Is there a secret ingredient?
Can I use pro mix to transplant an avocado seedling out of water into a flower pot?
Hi how are you. Can you tell me where I can buy those good seed starting trays please.
Kevin,,, I had thougt seeds not sown need to be started in smallish containers. root development predicates the need to ‘pot up’ one of more times.. you had a 6.5′ inch pot in hand for germinating.. is there a vid avail to detail that work around.. thanks
Rewatching your seed series, and still love it! I do have a couple questions.
1- Did you ever publish your spreadsheet? If so, where can I find it?
2- You seem to be a fan of Baker Creek, and I’ve enjoyed what I’ve gotten from them in the past. However, I have heard that there may be some ethical issues with how they use their voice and who they support. Do you have any insight on that? Are they still a good choice?
Can you please make a video explaining how to plant vegetables and herbs on a small apartment balcony for beginners. Balcony faces northwest
Where to find the grapefruit mix u mention
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I try to start my chrysanthemums every month now and when they get to about an inch high they fall over and die.
1:40 I was just wondering today if I could grow chart in bags. Seems like I got a bonus question aswerd in this video.
If you’re in the SouthEast… best seed company is Southern Exposure Seed Exchange!
Do you have the garden spreadsheet done yet???
I learned the hard way with damping off fungus😂, lost about $100 in seeds because I kept them all in the same tray, man that fungus spreads instantly all 15 seedlings died Rip
I kill off seedlings that are stunted because I don’t want them to reproduce. I only let my favorite plants reproduce
Hey Kevin.
Great videos, keep up the good work.
Question: What are your thoughts on full spectrum vs blue/red (only) spectrum lights? The obvious difference is that blue/red lights produce plants are shorter but denser with much bigger leaves, while the full spectrum will produce more nature looking slightly more leggy plants with smaller leaves. My point of reference is primarily chilli plants.
Thanks
Best regards,
Robin
If you are in the desert U.S. southwest, especially the low desert(below 3500feet), please check out Native Seeds/SEARCH. These are native and heirloom varieties with a hundred or more years of providing food in that area. Hardiness 10a. October direct sew roots, bulbs, tubers and greens. Starting fruit bearing seeds indoors is rather futile, as there are minimal frost days in January. Direct seed in pots or the ground in late February to get fruit for May and June. You can also direct seed in the August monsoon for Three Sisters-corn, beans, squash.
Timestamps for Questions:
0:21 – How to know when to start seeds?
1:18 – How do you plan your seed starting?
1:52 – What seed companies do you recommend?
2:06 – What are good beginner seeds to grow?
2:59 – Do you plant in trays or larger pots?
3:55 – Do you start all seeds indoors?
4:48 – How long do you keep your seeds indoors?
5:28 – Do you need a seedling heat mat?
6:13 – What are the best grow lights for seed starting?
8:02 – Do you use timers?
8:45 – What is your favorite seed starting system?
9:57 – Do you use the same soil for starting all seeds?
10:10 – What seed starting mix do you use?
10:38 – Do you use peat pellets or soil blocks?
11:45 – How many seeds do you plant per hole?
12:15 – How to prevent leggy seedlings?
13:03 – What causes stunted growth in seedlings?
13:57 – What causes mold or fungus in soil when starting seeds?
Great video and always relevant. Love your channel. Thank you for the generous sharing of your knowledge.
So glad I found your channel! Just bought my first house and it had a raised bed garden in the backyard. Your channel will help me immensely!
Hi we use Peat Free Compost. Monty Don check him out. MD uses Peat Free. It works and we help the planet in the process. X
Me: "Oh, I’ll just start a small tray of ONE type of seeds"
Also me: "I can cram 20 more trays under this one light bulb… Watch me! 😛
Started my tomatoes plants a little early. They’re probably half a month away from being able to plant in the garden but the weather will be too cold to plant anything for the next 2 months.
💜💜
What trays did you use in this video?
Bare bottom budget! HAHA!!! Nice.
2:32 Lettuce is easy until you live in an area with a lot of snails and slugs. I started out with it. Poor little plants never stood a chance but I am sure the snails and slugs had a nice dinner XD Oh well.
Wicked awesome tips. Great production. #Keepupthegreatwork
EXCELLENT video .. thank you!! So this was January the year of 2020 vision to say the least! ha! Did you ever roll out your google sheets planner, and if so where could we find it ? :). Thank you so much .. Cheers!
💖
What do you do if you have only a heat mat and mo lights, just the sun?
My seedlings burned when I put them in the sun, so how long should the be in the sun?
This helped me so much! As a relatively new gardener I’ve made almost all the mistakes listed here so I needed all these answers. So inspired to get it right! Thank you!!!
👍
What do you recommend for the GSE to water ratio to spray on the mold/fungus growing on seedlings? I messed up with over watering and now it’s running rampant. Probably will have to restart but if I can save any I’d like to.
I always get so weirded out when I watch a video and then realize that it was uploaded in the early pre-COVID months of 2020
Man, love your videos, but I really NEED to know what kind of tree that is behind you that looks like a fern! LOOOOVE! <3
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So I just started my seeds indoors using cups. I used the wrong soil. I have them in outdoor garden soil. Do you think I will get effective germination?
How do you treat pests? Like aphids or those small flies? They loved my seedlings and ruined a lot of them 🙁
I tried sprinkling ground cinnamon as a preventive for seedling if I see some sort of fungus growing on my seedlings in growing…
It is now January 2022. Almost EVERYTHING has changed in the pandemic!!! Thanks for the great video that still holds true today….not much changes in gardening does it?
pro tip don’t type in your zip code
Hi! I’m searching the comments section here and can’t find if you had finished the spreadsheet for planning your garden? Would love to see how you plan yours! 🙂 Thanks for the continually awesome videos!
It’s printed on the seed packs. Why is this so confusing for people.
When I have four true leaves and plant them outside. The pest chew them. Is it better to up plant and place when they are bigger?
I live in Miami zone 10, do we have any planting specific times?
I’ve really been enjoying your videos. I’ve got zero gardening experience, but with all of your content here I’m confident that I’ll be able to create something nice for this coming season. What are your thoughts on a greenhouse vs raised beds in the open? I’m on a half acre in Ohio.
can we use coconut coir for wicking the water? what other can we use?