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So you have containers packed with moist soil mix and ready, now it is time to plant the seeds.
Watch this brief video on key tips to seed planting that will lead you to germinating success.
What’s next? Check out this tomato play by play for next steps and what to expect.
Let us know how your seeds are doing. Tomatoes are only the beginning…more advice on other veggies and spring flowers coming soon.
Happy Gardening.
melissa
Now that you have your seed starting containers all ready, next part is packing them with the right soil to give your seeds the best possible chance of germination.
Watch this brief video on what kind of soil and things to consider when starting seeds.
Do you have a favorite seed starting soil?
Happy Gardening.
melissa
It’s time. With the last chance of frost set for April 15, it is time to start those tomato seeds. Co-blogger Chris and I worked on ours this weekend and created a series of videos to help you through the seed starting process.
First one up: How to use recycled containers to start your seeds?
What containers are you going to use for your seed starting?
Stay tuned for more seed starting tips this week.
Happy Gardening
melissa
Blog partner Melissa says she has baby plant envy. My seedlings (in a photo taken this am) are much bigger than her’s.
After a Q&A over wine we determined that she’s using the same soil mix, Fafard Professional Growers Mix.
Lots of light–my adjustable grow lights were a long-ago investment from Park Seed. I have them on a timer.
A fan–it keeps the air moving and makes the plants sturdy.
But no fertilizer. I use a very weak solution of this plant starter fertilizer. Miracle Grow also works–just make sure to only a use a tiny bit. The water should barely have color (blue) . And I water with this ultra light food almost every time.
Melissa took some fertilizer home. We’ll see if her plant envy subsides.
By the way, this fertilizer is a plant starter formula because it’s high in phosphate, the element that promotes roots and flowers or fruit. Check out the middle number (10) –that’s the phosphate indicator.
When my Daddy lived in Lowland South Carolina two decades ago, the commerical tomato growers put Triple Super Phosphate on their crops as in 0-48-0. Strong stuff and another reason to grow your own tomatoes.
Now a baby plant horror story. Can you see the gnats on the sticky trap above? My sister’s seedling crop had a serious infestation that came out of her Miracle Grow Potting Mix. She called the company and got “we don’t gurantee our soil to be sterlized”. She’s using sticky traps from Garden’s Alive to control the problem. Still–this is another a reason to use a starter mix you really, really trust. I always buy my mix from a nursery or seed and feed, like Stone Brothers and Byrd, and Campbell Road.
Any other readers with a crop of baby plants? Let us know how they’re doing and what you’re growing. Maybe we can swap. As you can see, I have a lot of tomatoes. 
So I did what Chris told me in Seed starting 1 and 2. But it seems that I just go too much moisture in my plants.
Killer fuzz! Too much moisture!
I went to check on my mini-greenhouse of fun and OMG…there was fuzz on several of my little seedlings and they were super dead. I shed a lil tear, but then I remembered that death is apart of gardening. And if first you don’t succeed: try, try , try again. So the moldy crap only knocked out a few of my plants.
I should have known by the condensation on my plastic greenhouse panels…
So here are the steps I took to save from future killer-fuzz.
1)I opened the front flap of the greenhouse.
2)I moved the fan closer to the plants
3)I removed the plastic on the remaining flats
4)I drank a beer to drown my sorrows and live to garden another day.
So don’t be intimadated by the killer fuzz or any other reason your plants kick the bucket. Just shake it off and keep on diggin!
Happy gardening!
melissa
