I agree 16 hrs. But it can depend on what your growing. For instance my onions only get 11 hrs. Always do some research on the light needs of what your growing.
Every circumstance is different. In my experience with my peppers and tomatoes, I start the light once the seeds pop. I grow on top of heat pads without a thermostat. I generally turn my lights on around 3:30 in the afternoon and turn them off the next morning about 9ish. The seedlings then sit in the shop with only daylight for 6 hours or so then start the process all over again. It works for me. Timers in my opinion are overrated but they do work. I use a Palma brand grow heater/fan in January and February to keep the air moving.
@@NextLevelGardening Hi Brian, are those VivoSun heating mats and temp controller you are using in this video? How many mats can daisy chain onto one controller? Thanks so much!
Biggest starting mistake, is not labeling the plants , saying "I'll remember, what they are and when you started them. Dates are important for different plants to start/change. Thanks for your knowledge
I usually don’t label them (I start 70-100 plants/Feb-March ) so I have a chart over my trays and label them on that. The only problem is if I move the individual little pots and forget to make a note on corresponding chart!
@@ellenokelley3727 I have labeled the trays, I have put stakes in them, written it on paper, but there never fails to be one row I messed up. I could swear I got them all, until I look again. Lol Almost every season we have a mystery box!
One of the best seed starting videos I've watched. Lots of good info at a good pace, not dripping it out for a longer watch time. I especially liked your info on light bulbs! Best ever.
Last year was my first year seeding my own veggies. I didn't have time to do the back and forth to harden them off, so I pinned up a shade cloth in the corner of my balcony and left there while I was at work. Sort of the same as an overcast day. Didn't check the type of shade cloth - got it from the dollar store. I had no idea what I was doing, but it worked :)
Yes, a 50% shade cloth works wonders for baby plants., for about 1-2 weeks. If home, after a few days you can remove the shadecloth during the morning, then put back on before midday. This has improved my seedlings enormously.
Clear sterilite or Rubbermaid containers upside down are great small greenhouses. Use the lid as the base and click the clear plastic bottom to the top. Been doing it for years. During the day when it’s nice I open them up and shut them at night
I pick up old aquariums people throw out during spring and fall clean-up to make tiny cold frames! The glass does a good job letting the sunlight through, and you can put pieces of cardboard on the top [ in reducing sizes ] to adjust the amount of 'full sun' the seedlings get! So complete coverage still lets light come in the sides, and as the plants get used to the full sun, start using smaller 'top shades' to harden everyone off.
I think a big mistake is knowing which plants need to be planted when. Some plants take longer to be ready to be put in the garden while others take a much shorter time. You can’t just plant all of your seeds at the same time.
@@MichaelRei99when that happens to me i just get onion bulbs instead of seeds. Like that I know for sure I have enough time for them mature. For reference I live in 5b so not a long growing season
place your seeds in a paper bag or cardboard box with a ripe banana for a couple of weeks. i have experimented with this for over 20yrs and it makes your plants far more robust. not sure if i have posted this here before but it works and it is easy to try 🙂
@@pawsitivevibes101 the idea came to me in a dream when i was using a ripe banana to ripen very hard avocados. i had a dream like a time lapse movie of a fruit falling from a tree, rotting, then a new tree growing from the rot. the same gas that ripens fruit (ethylene) is produced when fruit is rotting so all fruit have evolved to do this for a reason. so i started to experiment nearly 30yrs ago and got really great results so i became more scientific about it and continued to experiment with different plants. most fruits are effected the most but i have not found any plant that does not show clear improvement. i do know a few things about scientific method as i have spent most of my life in research but i still took a long time to experiment to make sure other things were not effecting my results. the results are consistently independent of weather patterns, seed sources, soil type, location, etc. i have treated direct sow, flat earth, raised bed, potted plants, greenhouse, heated greenhouse, all seasons, etc. i have only started telling people about it this year because i have done all i can to disprove it and hope others can independently check this out. cheers 🙂
@@FreedomUSA111 i put my seeds in open trays like lids and place them in the cardboard box with the banana. the idea is to allow the gas generated by banana to cover and engulf the seeds for a couple of weeks before germination. close the box and keep it away from fans and moving air, again to avoid blowing the gas away. you are treating the seeds with gas. then after the couple of weeks are done, plant the seeds right away. i am also experimenting with a banana in my seed starting incubator. i made it before the tents that are now available for the job. since we are talking bananas, i also save peels, dry them, grind them to a powder and sprinkle it all over my beds. they are a great source of potassium. i do, however, only use organic bananas 🙂
All my mistakes that I have made over several years of starting inside have been corrected from your helpful experience. I'll admit that I have watched other channels trying to get the layman's version for seed starting. Unfortunately, they don't cover the simple or the Do's and Don'ts as well as you do. Everything that I have wanted to try you have shared, and the results were incredible and amazing. Case in point, the tomato and cucumber trellises. My cucumbers grew to an average of 13 feet long and the tomatoes 10 feet. The other, sweet potatoes.. though I didn't leave them in the ground long enough. I was thrilled that they grew at all. This year, my cucumber bed is getting relocated and bigger. Both trellises are getting taller. Also, building a dedicated sweet potato bed area.
thank you so much for letting us know that you've found success with this channel. I, too, have searched in vain, watching other garden channel content, trying to understand how to grow seeds, and no one EVER explains everything the way Brian does! I'm so glad I found him. Thank you for confirming it.
Something I learned again just today, check your sowed seeds daily. Yesterday their was not one shishito pepper up in the tray I planted them in, this morning dozens of plants were up, bam I removed the cover and got them under the lights. Even a day or two you can get leggy plants without proper lighting.
I also use the light very close to the plants as you said. One thing I use is aluminum foil on the sides of light. That way the seedlings doesn't stretch toward the light and getting leggy. It grows to a fuller plant all around.
Fan was the best advice you gave today..... ok i'm not a beginner. I have sold tomato seedlings to people who remarked they performed better than those purchased at the garden center that were grown under perfect conditions. I try to give seedlings perfect growing conditions AND toughen them up with the fan ( run only while lights are on) best of all worlds.
Brian I’ve tried many things thru the years for fungus gnats & my best solution has been to boil water & sterilize my soil like you suggested, but then if I see any I use the sticky traps for the adults & add Gnatrol to my water when watering seedlings & plants(which is expensive but the most effective) I have found it sold in packets which is more affordable. But that has erradicated any problem I’ve had!!
@@MrAlistar99same question from me. Am guessing there might be a root development advantage to fill up at later stage. Runner beans, tomatoes, potatoes all seem happy to be buried below original germination soil line & develop roots from subsequently buried stems. Am guessing & would like to know why.
@@mefaceache4063 exactly. Tomatoes will grow roots out of any stem that is put into the soil. So if you start them shallow and gradually remove the bottom leaves and replace with more soil, it will be an incredibly hardy plant with tons of roots
When starting seeds, We use pig-mats from automotive retail stores as a capillary membrane. Also, the pizza box plastic table things that stop box crush incidents to raise the seedlings up out of the water. Easy and cheap
Using a backing of aluminum foil to keep the light were you want it (on the plants) and not lighting the room around them. This makes a big difference.
I make a section of my utility shelving a 'grow chamber'. The grow light clips above, and for light reflectors on the 4 sides I take cardboard and tape tin foil to it then tape the cardboart to the top edge of the shelf. The plastic seedling cups have cuts in the bottom, and sit in cookie sheets with water in them. The cookie sheets lie on a heat mat. Occasionally open one section of cardboard and blow the fan on them to toughen them up.
I used a mylar blanket (bought a pack of 20 from Amazon) that I hung up around the seedlings. It worked great, and kept the light and warmth where it was needed!
Newer windows have a uv coating that doesn't let strong light in. Grow lights r a must in most cases. Another thing is to put seeds requiring the same warmth, same germination days and light requirements in same trays. I don't put peppers and tomatoes in same tray.
My first time seed starting and I made this mistake🤦🏻♀️ Lettuce germinated in two days and had to take the whole tray dome off and move everything under my grow light in my (much colder) basement. Not the best for the peppers still waiting to pop up. Just going to start a new set all on their own, and hopefully end up with twice the plants eventually!
i do hydroponics and indoors and use cheap daylight LED lights and a fan and nutrients and amazing to have food indoors during winter and outdoors for summer
Great timing as I was sitting here with my calendar & seed packets writing all my start/plant dates 💚 will be starting seeds for the first time (I’m 71 😆)! Usually just buy 6 packs, but they’re so hard to find & $5 for a 3-4” pot is just ridiculous! Plus there’s so much more variety to choose from if you start seeds 👍
In my area six-packs are non-existent, and direct-sowing at our community plot is always dicey because we can't just step in the backyard twice a day to water the soil (which dries out in our climate). I've started tons of things outdoors but it's always much later in the season, so I am starting seeds indoor for the first time this year.
You can provide miniature 'greenhouses' for tender plants by cutting the bottom off transparent plastic drink bottles and removing the cap to provide a bit of ventilation. Those covers also greatly reduce evaporation from the soil within, and they keep slugs at bay.@@elisabetk2595
For some unknown reason last year, all of my pepper starts failed. Too late to start over, I ended up having to BUY plants from our farmer's market. The only ones available were $6 EACH, so I made do with only 4 pepper plants and they ended up being that least productive I've ever dealt with. I historically start seeds and grow at least 12 each of Jalapenos, Serranos, and Cayennes. I make hot sauce and spicy tomato products from my harvest. Not last year.
If you have a local seed library (ours is in our public library), you shouldn't have to pay for seeds. Pots can be reused year after year, and most of mine come from local recycle bins. I clean them thoroughly with hot soapy water and use a mild bleach rinse. I start everything I can indoors. Biggest problem I've had is with space -- seems my eyes are bigger than my head! "Just one...more...can...fit...under the...lights...."
Finally, after all these years of saying “one day I’ll have a garden”, this will be the year (as I finally have my own home). I’ve officially started my celery seeds and I’m using the Solo double-cup method that you recommended in a recent Tomato video. The seeds have been started for about 16 hours and the soil still seems plenty moist, so I haven’t had the opportunity to bottom-water just yet. When I went to Lowe’s, I found the awesome LED T8-style bulbs that have a great lumen rating and 6500k but I couldn’t find the actual hanging fixture for my life! I can’t even find one online, which kind of blows my mind. Maybe I’m missing something… I thought I could just search for “shop light fixture”. Either way, I went with a 4ft “grow light” from Lowes and am feeling good/decently confident! Still interested in a light fixture for the T8 bulbs, though. Anyway, thanks for everything! PS- I do work at night! Never thought of it like that, but I suppose it does give me an advantage when it comes to hardening the plants off! Also, when it comes to watering, I often see it said to do the “finger test” but I really don’t want to do that, considering that I don’t want to push any seeds down too far into the soil! Perhaps I’ll just look to see if the top looks dry, or at least water every couple of days regardless.
Same here. I guess no one is making them anymore because fluorescent lights have gone by the wayside. They make bulbs that can be used in the old fixtures, but otherwise the all-inclusive LED is the new thing. I went with the 2ft “boostgro” light from Lowe’s (5,000K and 1,900 lumens). May end up needing more than one but I’m starting small…
I don't have a heat mat, so I alternate between putting the seedling propagator on top of the radiator and a hot, wet washcloth as DIY heat mat. So far, my tomato and pepper seeds have germinated using this slapdash method.
I wish I listened more when I took a horticulture class in 10th grade in 1977. Everything you said is pin point right on. I live in central California in Zone 9A or B. My zone always switches. Keep up the great content. I grow a plethora of vegetables year round and am always learning.
This time of year, the big "W" box store stocks up on the LED shop lights with the right lumens and kelvin, which cost $19-20 each. Each year I add another one to my seed starting station.
Thanks for the tips! Always so helpful. A few questions: Do you leave the fan on 24/7? Do you still do any watering with the water reservoir? Do you bring the reservoir out or water at all when hardening? One tip: if you put your seeds in a window, rotate the trays as the seeds start leaning toward the sun.
I put my electric fan on a timer. Also, I bought a USB rechargeable fan I may try this year. It will only use the electricity during the short time to recharge it, and it's much smaller with a clip. I have to put my electric fan further away because of how strong it is.
@@joanies6778This is my first year starting seeds and I happened to have a fan like that sitting around-just set it up today and it’s working well; just wondering how long the charge will last!
Every February I roam the garden section of my local Walmart, staring longingly at the early stock of seeds and supplies. I live in Michigan, hahaha! We're usually not even safe from frost till Memorial Day in my area.
@@trishcraig723 YES! I discovered him a few days ago and went to MIgardener yesterday (before Walmart) and stocked up on THEIR goods seeds. I have been watching his videos. I am back here after 43 years in Northern California where i was always more a garden HELPER. However, while I’m here caring for my mama, it seems like a good idea to grow some good organic food…IF she’ll LET ME start some seeds indoors!😂
@@trishcraig723 Forgive me if this shows up twice! My earlier reply didn’t post! But once more…Before Walmart yesterday, i had gone to MIgardener store in St. Clair and i stocked up on organic seeds! After many decades in Ca, i am in Mi caring for my mama and the real trick will be to get her to LET ME start my seeds indoors!😂
I live in CA. I do not need to use heat mats. I buy mini greenhouse containers(seed trays with a top). If I put these on the window seal or right next to LED grow lights, it gets up to 80 degrees with the house temp being 65 degrees.
I have made all of the mistakes at some point but last year I made mistake in hardening the seedlings off by trying to using my greenhouse and the top is made of a light grey color that blocks out some of the sun. This did not allow enough exposure and I lost some of my plants. Great information for everyone to follow.
I use my seed planting urges early in the year to ensure my chilli peppers are sown by the middle of January. They get a 'sunny' (southfacing) windowsill, together with a small growlight at the same time, and a heated propagator with a transparent cover. By the time they are sturdy enough to be weaned off the additional heat, and live at room temperature on the windowsill (with bubblewrap as a nighttime insulator on the window side) I'm getting ready to start other seeds on the heat. They'll be ready for that in a couple of weeks, but I've already started some hardy things - sweet peas and some herbs - with just room temperatures indoors, and they're already outside in translucent plastic boxes, as they need more light than they can ever get indoors.
I always think its funny how you have to keep the grow light a few inches above the seedling, but when you plant a seed outside, the sun is way way way WAY up there and nothing gets leggy! 😆 Thanks for sharing the knowledge! ❤
Just a little tip. I start seeds very early to transplant into my greenhouse in covered beds, but something I have found that helps speed up germination is to use an aquarium heater in a bucket of water that I use to water my seeds. I heat the water to about 80°F. Works great.
tHANKS - AFTER 30 YEARS OF GARDENING INCLUDING GREENHOUSE I'VE LEARNED MOST OF IT THE HARD WAY BUT YOU DO A GOOD JOB OF HELPING ME FINE TUNE IT SOME MORE.🍅
So many good tips! I really like the three cloudy days in a row tip for hardening off the plants. I'm sure everyone will agree with me that your videos are excellent. You don't have to be a novice to learn something new. Thank you for all your efforts and easy to understand growing information.😊
I’ve been starting seeds for about 4-5 yrs now. I’ve made every mistake mentioned in your video except I always knew to harden off. I start 70-120 seeds/year. I have huge ornamental garden and it’s too expensive to purchase plants and you do get much more variety starting your own seeds. Your thoughts on these 5 mistakes, the reasons why these are mistakes, and how to prevent them are spot on. For me still, the number one mistake I occasionally make is starting them too early. The plants tend to get leggy/spindly and don’t do as well outside. Thanks for all the great information!
My lazy method for hardening off is putting them somewhere that they get morning light but are in partial to full shade for the afternoon. Because we have a good month or more of warm days but cold nights I do the plant hokey pokey for a lot of days before they go in the ground. But letting them stay outside in the sun and wind for the day does make for very strong plants when they get in the ground.
Yes, I think I’ll use my front porch this year because it only gets morning light. Right now I have some lettuces in clear plastic totes on my front walkway. It is Feb but supposed to be high 40s today. I bring them in at night.
I retired in 2021 from central Arkansas (zone 8) to northwest Arkansas (zone 7) and am still trying working on hitting the right time to start my tomatoes. Waited too long last year, so they were small, started too early this year and already have blossoms forming in early March with a plant date in early April. I will certainly try the "lazy" method of hardening the plants and may add a fan to provide a breeze. One thing you may need to be careful with using the "lazy" hardening method (or any method that puts your plants outdoors) is that sometimes birds or squirrels get curious and will "mess" with your seedlings. I had an entire batch ruined by birds / squirrels who were either curious and pulled on the plants or needing water and attracted to the moisture in the pots.
I've found that premoistening the seed starting mix is a big help when starting from seeds. The starting mixes seem to resist water at first. If not premoistened, when you go to water, the mixture will float around and possibly dislodge the seed depth. The seed mix floats like a marshmallow until it eventually absorbs water.
This is encouraging that I’m doing every step right! I grew some veg and hens indoors this winter with great success and am going to be planting my first garden from seed this spring! I discovered last fall that fans are a game changer with indoor gardening!
Those Gardener's Supply wicking seed trays are wonderful in hot environments where you would otherwise have to water seedling every day without fail. They give you a longer grace period and have definitely saved my seedling butt from frying the little guys.
I tried something for hardening off. I used shade cloth something like 70% put them out for 2 days fully covered then full sun for short periods for the next 5 to 6 days. Came out amazing. Gonna do the same this year
Thanks, Brian. Heading to my local nursery later to get some details on local conditions. I'm in a high desert and our weather can be a little wonky at times. Our temps can vary 40-50 degrees in a single day. (mid 60s and sunny then freeze overnight.) Other people are doing it so I can too!
The game changer for me was babying the seedlings inside until they become plants. If my tomatoes and peppers are 12-16" tall I just stick them straight in the ground with no hardening off. Also, I think every gardener should have several drosera capensis specimens to take care of fungus gnats, as well as whatever you bring into your kitchen via your store-bought fruit. They're small enough to tuck into several places and as long as you don't water them with tap water, they last forever and continually split off into new plants.
I use seedtime basic paid to get layout too. It has a calendar that when you add a plant it lets you know when it is time to do different tasks for each plant you added and want to grow. I'm 73 years young and live in Zone 10, Phoenix, AZ
The biggest problem I had was not keeping the growing lights on long enough. I have them on for 9 hours daily and the plants seem to thrive. I also use timers so I don't need to remember to turn them on and off. As soon as they start sprouting the heat mats need to be turned off. I also had spider mites which killed most of my Serrano peppers. I found a hydrogen peroxide spray recipe that solved that problem. I leave my plants out on the west side of the house night and day which seems to work well. Thanks for another great video. May the Lord continue blessing you and yours.
De javu! I could swear I watched this one last week.😂 Biggest mistake? Taking time to harden off. I got tired of the process. Here's what I did. It will sound like it shocks the plant, but stick with me. After the sun is in late afternoon, 6pm or so, I take them out of the cells and shake off about half the soil. Enough so most of the roots are exposed. Dig a hole and sprinkle a coating amount of Microrhizome around the walls of the hole and on the roots. Set the roots in, add water, backfill some soil and move the roots around to get good root/soil contact. Then add the rest of the soil. I don't exactly know why it works. But, if you don't add the Microrhizome, you'll wake up to plants lying in the dirt. Otherwise, they stand up straight and tall and ready to grow. Even in the hot sun of Colorado. Try it on one plant and see if it works. I've been doing it the better part of a decade.
Use (luke)warm water for watering. especially if there are already roots that can suck up the water (so it will be soaked up faster). That is also a tip if you overwinter plants in an unheated shed, or glass house or tunnel.
This is perfect timing for me - I have all the seed and seed starting stuff ready to go but haven’t started anything. I am so unsure of the right timing. Brian - you are the best!!
the aquarium light vover also served for giving heat to the seed trays from below - most of all, while we still used fluorescent tubes (the cats slept above in their basket) instead of leds over an now open aquarium.
So glad he clarified at 4:25 that 4500K is the color of the light and "not the temperature it puts off". I thought my lamp was as hot as the Sun's chromosphere.
I heard people use one tray for different type of seeds that may require different germination conditions, heat vs no heat as an example. Also, labelling them can save a lot of headaches at a later.
This video gave me a whole new plan on growing everything from cherry and "round" tomatoes (which I pick real green for dill pickles) to basil, peppers and egg plant seeds. I already knew about watering from the bottom up. The surprise was the 2 inch idea above the plants, on boards/bricks as the plants mature. I will be searching for the L & K light bulbs. I'm in northern Ontario where we're still ice fishing on 18 inches of solid ice in mid March and occasionally into April. Summers are short (comparatively speaking to what I've read from other posts in here) with killing frosts in mid September. I'm not a religious person but I know there's a major temperature change occurring 40 days after Easter and frost is rare but not unheard of past that. A few years back, we got 5" of snow on Father's Day which certainly hardened up everything and I had the best garden that summer in years, before and since. Like one comment, hardwood ashes makes everything grow better, from gardens to lawns and snails & slugs hate them. I fill a 45 gallon(Cdn. or 55 gallon US) barrel every winter.
I just learned that I am a lazy hardener-off. I have been taking starts out to a dappled light area of a morning & bringing them in as the sun starts to set. I do check them to be sure they are looking okay throughout the day. Part of my logic is that we have nice days long before the risk of frost is past. I can use my lights for more starts once I have some using the sun for light.
I have a carport that has openings on the east and west, and connected to the house on the south. I found that works because they get morning and afternoon sun and shade during the longest part of the day plus the air moves through the car port. I loved the idea 3 in a row overcast day. Living in the Pacific NW that will be easy :)
This is a good video! I've been doing everything right except I get impatient and plant them too early. This year I'm not going to do that. I don't put in a big garden anymore so I harden them by putting a juice can with the ends cut out around them. I push that in the ground a little ways and that also protects them from cutworms. I have also used milk jugs but I like cans better.
I’m investing in a heat mat next year. I live in north Tx and spring is treacherous! It can be below freezing for a few days then up into the 70’s and back to 30’s. I used grow lights and a heater in my greenhouse and still had about 50% death rate lol. I’ll keep trying!
I need to confirm this: I can grow seedlings WITHOUT potting them up, harden them off (love your idea of a 3 day forecast of overcast skies!) and plant them out??? Is that what you typically do? That saves so much time!!! I didn't think I could do that! I'm learning SO MUCH from you!!!!! Thank you!
Thank you!! I love the fan idea!! I do need to be thoughtful about starting my seeds, and although I did start seeds indoors, I focused on how long it takes for them to germinate. I've never had the best of luck starting indoors, but with the grow lights, things that should have taken 2 wks to germinate started to germinate in 5-6 days. Yup, I will be potting indoors, fortunately no curious fur members living among us.
Great video. I’m anxious to start my seeds but my last frost date is mid May! I do have a small greenhouse so I’m going to be starting mostly my tomatoes soon. As far as the 3 day of overcast weather, I’m not sure it would work very well here in the mountains where I live. The weatherman is only right about 50% of the time 😂, in fact there are weeks and weeks during the summer than the chance of rain is 50-55% every single day!
Oh Brian, you have clearly seen the multiple comments from me lamenting "I am rubbish at seed starting". I usually buy punnets of seedlings (I believe you call them 'transplants' in the US), and have no issues starting with the 'toddlers'. I was probably ticking most of the mistake boxes for seedlings. But it is clear I do need to get heat mats and grow lights. Space is very limited. My tip for hardening off, in addition to or if the 'lazy way' does not present itself, is to use 50% shade cloth over the 'toddlers' as they start out in the big world. I have a bunch of raised garden beds, can plant out my seedlings (depending on crop) and clip the shade cloth over the top. For larger plantlets, I use an empty raised garden bed with same thing. This year I have decided I will get some wood, make a frame that fits the beds for 'easy on, easy off' - similar to what people do for making a clear plastic grow tunnel for larger on-ground raised beds (ie a frame, and attach the material to it, usually staples). Even though all these challenges keep presenting themselves, I still LOVE gardening!
That was the smoothest transition to watch another video I've ever seen 😂👌 i definitely will watch it because I get those dang gnats every year and didn't even know what they were called until today😅
Somehow I limp through starting plants in my kitchen under a skylight and in the windowsills. We don't heat our house generally, maybe a fire in the fireplace a couple nights a week. I generally start them in early March for putting out the first week of May and take them outdoors on a table during the day. ..this year we have a very cheap little " green house" and the early seeds like broccoli onions and cabbage started perfectly in there with very little fuss.
Last winter, I'm from London, I managed to grow 3x full plants of tomato indoors, with harvest included of 2.5kg of tomatoes just using grow lights (powerful enough). It took a lot of dedication to get there, but I was shocked after I realised what I achieved! I used a custom mix, coco coir, organic compost, sand, perlite and vermiculite. The fertiliser is from seaweed specifc for tomato, organic and certified from Soil Association and allowed in organic agriculture.
Yep. All good advice. I used to grow weed under 1000 watt high intensity discharge lamps that I built my own ballasts for. We usually ran 6 of them, and regulating the room temperature was always a concern. Leds eliminate that problem but don't have the punch that HID lights have. The sun blasts over 300 watts per square yard on the ground. We germinated and propagated clones under fluorescents.
I believe the tube lights emitting the correct spectrum for growing are sold as 'cool white' or the number indication is 33L or 33R? At least here and the vegetating plants do well underneath that. Having a fan to prevent stalk-weakness is definitely what people forget the most. As for the heat you could use a simple little gas burner and save some money. The CO2 will benefit vegetative growth as a bonus.
Newer gardener here and I am terrible about the hardening-off process. I'm hoping to have some type of small greenhouse next year to lessen this need. Thanks for the overcast tip!
Great video thanks. Have subscribed. I bought a second grow light so that I could plant earlier. The interval between the last frost and baking sun seems to have shortened and scorch the annuals and perennials. So far so good (I’m in the southern hemisphere). the fan and looking at the forecast when hardening off tips were really helpful
LOL, made every mistake you mention here. Sadly, our last frost is almost always at the end of May, even if we have a warm April... So, my best option is to buy plants that are well established and ready to produce quickly. Luckily I have a wonderful nursery in the vicinity, and they always have healthy veggie plants WITH a guarantee! A multi-generational family run business.
Be careful while hardening them up. I had some on my back deck which led to ground level where I had put them and a small garter snake sneaked in the tray. Harmless but gave me quite a scare when he appeared inside the house later.
I planted y seeds on Ash Wednesday and my last frost day is Good Friday. I planted them in a Jiffy Tray with a cover. I checked the soil temp inside the cover and it was getting pretty warm during the day, parked in the sun.
Traditional for me is to plant them outside with a clear plastic bottle with lots of breathing holes for wind etc... That keeps them protected from slugs and nighttime chill.
Starting just a few seeds at a time, in just a couple pod trays, I just have them under my bedroom medusa light, which has goosenecks to keep the lights as close as possible to the plants as they grow. Even peppers got enough light that way, and since it was a light I have on ~16 hours a day anyway, basically free
How often do you give your seedlings a liquid fertilizer? Do you just pour it in the tray and let the soil soak it up, and pour out the rest to reuse it a week later? Currently, my onion seedlings, that have 2 leaves each, have 1-inch long roots. I have them in 6-inch deep yogurt containers filled with potting soil, so I would not have to re-pot them before it's warm enough to transplant them in the ground. I mixed a bit of blood meal into the soil. I worry that the water from the bottom may not reach the roots.
I know people that don't hardened and things go perfectly fine..I also know people that harden their flowers before planting. it's all great info . following these tips help you from making mistakes. When gardening jts best not to cut corners too much to yield the best results. I think under estimate the actual cost to garden and everything a person needs to get the job done. I always underestimate the amt of support a plant needs to keep heavy fruits healthy and the amount of time is almost like a second job in the spring.. getting it all planted it exhausting but fun and exciting to grow and eat!
Ok you got a lot of good points. Only I would try setting my heat mat at 86 to 90°f. Lights if powerful enough don't need to be 2" from the plant . I run 300 watt LEDs on a light mover 16" to 24" above the seedlings and they do fine. The biggest mistake I made with my peppers was neglecting the P and K so I started putting a teaspoon of hardwood ash in my water and they took off in two days. Shiny bubbly leaves and fuzzy roots on the bottoms. All from wood ash and a little Azomite (volcanic ash).
Never used a heat mat and never had issues with seeds sprouting. It's almost always above 70F indoors here which is plenty warm for everything, even if some take a bit longer to sprout. Also don't use a grow light as we get decent morning and afternoon sunlight, so long as we move the seedlings from east to west-facing in the early afternoon, and once it's warm enough during the day put them outside for a few hours, for additional sunlight and hardening them off to outdoor temps, light and wind. And the 4-6 weeks before the last front date only works for some plants. Some can go into the ground when it's consistently over 35 and some not till it's nearly 60. This year we started the first seeds on March 1st in Zone 7, then progressively with warmer temp plants, and we're on track to have everything go into the ground at the earliest that it's safe to do so for each plant, so we should have an early crop.
First time for me sowing seeds in doors i did them today im in uk south east. I have 5 propagators that have lights in the lids plus other ones without lights. Its march 4th ive probably done them too early but i was eager to get started
thank you ! one mistake I made last year is that i put them in trays and leave them with water very high up , while it did not kill the plants it severely made there roots weaker and when ended up un the ground they developed slower than another lot batch where they were not full watered, there was water only a finger on the bottom of the tray. I actually saw this when I took them out of the individual tray the ones that has scarce water had like 6-7 inches long roots while the other ones like 1 inch maybe 2. I overwatered them.
Great information. Thank you Brian. I am looking forward to starting tomato and pepper seeds for the first time within a week. Newbie question: If I use coco coir/perlite/vermiculite mix as my seed starter mix, once the seeds are germinated, I will need to apply liquid fertilizer if I keep them in the seed tray, right? How long should I transplant the seedlings out of the trays? If I use potting mix with added perlite and vermiculite, I can hold off the fertilizer application for a little because the potting mix contains some nutrients? If I use solo cups or other vessels to start seeds, I would be better off to use potting mix with fertilizers, and the seedlings can be in the same vessels for a longer time, maybe till transplanting to their permanent locations directly? TIA.
If you can find a space that is just large enough to fit seedling trays and a grow light fixture, and keep the grow lights close to the top of the trays and raise them as the seedlings sprout and grow, you should have more than enough heat to get seedlings going. You might even need a fan to help keep the heat down. Plus it's a good idea to have an indirect breeze on most seedlings to help them build stronger main stems.
I always point my fan towards the tent wall so it's a less direct flow. Even on low, it can be pretty strong in the beginning. Pointing it at the wall will let it bounce around off all the walls and come from all directions.
Great tips Brian! ❤ But careful with those seed trays.. It's made of recycled plastic, leaching toxic chemicals into your foods. I'm very careful with the seed trays I use cause most of them are toxic plastics. There are a very few food grade plastic and food grade silicon trays out there that are much safer..
Just winter sowed carrots, radishes, beets and tomatoes in milkjugs and put them outdoors. Usually do this in milkjugs in the breezeway that gets a lot of sun. Trying it both ways this year. Did grow lights last year. I'm trying to get ot sp the taking plants in and out of the breezeway can be eliminated.
I started my pepper seeds in February because they are slow growing. I also have tomato plants coming up which is a little early, but I dont mind bumping them up to a larger container un order to get them producing sooner.
I know perfectly well that our "last frost" runs around May 21st. I have all my supplies ready, but there is no point starting seeds before about the 3rd week in April. I love Colorado, but nights stay cold well into May.
how many hours/day under my grow light?
16 hours
I agree 16 hrs. But it can depend on what your growing. For instance my onions only get 11 hrs. Always do some research on the light needs of what your growing.
Every circumstance is different. In my experience with my peppers and tomatoes, I start the light once the seeds pop. I grow on top of heat pads without a thermostat. I generally turn my lights on around 3:30 in the afternoon and turn them off the next morning about 9ish. The seedlings then sit in the shop with only daylight for 6 hours or so then start the process all over again. It works for me. Timers in my opinion are overrated but they do work. I use a Palma brand grow heater/fan in January and February to keep the air moving.
@@NextLevelGardening Hi Brian, are those VivoSun heating mats and temp controller you are using in this video? How many mats can daisy chain onto one controller? Thanks so much!
@sodsqad8089 I thought plants needed the equivalent of dark/night too??
Biggest starting mistake, is not labeling the plants , saying "I'll remember, what they are and when you started them. Dates are important for different plants to start/change. Thanks for your knowledge
😂 yes for sure..
Yes!
Ughhhh… I am very careful every year on labeling trays, but you’d better bet, at least once, I will forget what I put in a row!
I usually don’t label them (I start 70-100 plants/Feb-March ) so I have a chart over my trays and label them on that. The only problem is if I move the individual little pots and forget to make a note on corresponding chart!
@@ellenokelley3727 I have labeled the trays, I have put stakes in them, written it on paper, but there never fails to be one row I messed up. I could swear I got them all, until I look again. Lol Almost every season we have a mystery box!
One of the best seed starting videos I've watched. Lots of good info at a good pace, not dripping it out for a longer watch time. I especially liked your info on light bulbs! Best ever.
Wow, thanks!
Last year was my first year seeding my own veggies. I didn't have time to do the back and forth to harden them off, so I pinned up a shade cloth in the corner of my balcony and left there while I was at work. Sort of the same as an overcast day. Didn't check the type of shade cloth - got it from the dollar store. I had no idea what I was doing, but it worked :)
Yes, a 50% shade cloth works wonders for baby plants., for about 1-2 weeks. If home, after a few days you can remove the shadecloth during the morning, then put back on before midday. This has improved my seedlings enormously.
good idea
I grow inside. You are the first person I've seen to mention breeze and fans. I had to figure this out for myself. Thank you.
I had to discover this myself as well with the help of Reddit 😂 I’ve been growing indoors since the end of summer
Clear sterilite or Rubbermaid containers upside down are great small greenhouses. Use the lid as the base and click the clear plastic bottom to the top. Been doing it for years. During the day when it’s nice I open them up and shut them at night
great idea sharon
Yep..and I get mine from charity shops
I pick up old aquariums people throw out during spring and fall clean-up to make tiny cold frames! The glass does a good job letting the sunlight through, and you can put pieces of cardboard on the top [ in reducing sizes ] to adjust the amount of 'full sun' the seedlings get! So complete coverage still lets light come in the sides, and as the plants get used to the full sun, start using smaller 'top shades' to harden everyone off.
I think a big mistake is knowing which plants need to be planted when. Some plants take longer to be ready to be put in the garden while others take a much shorter time. You can’t just plant all of your seeds at the same time.
I start my onion seeds on Jan 1 so I have pretty well established plants come April for planting
@@alexwood4478 my onion seeds were duds. I ordered new ones so I’m behind the 8 ball this year.
Bottom line read the seed packet and google if needed. ❤
@@MichaelRei99when that happens to me i just get onion bulbs instead of seeds. Like that I know for sure I have enough time for them mature. For reference I live in 5b so not a long growing season
Absolutely, I started my hot peppers this week, and the majority of my garden wont start for another couple of weeks
place your seeds in a paper bag or cardboard box with a ripe banana for a couple of weeks. i have experimented with this for over 20yrs and it makes your plants far more robust. not sure if i have posted this here before but it works and it is easy to try 🙂
How neat! I've never heard of this. I would be curious as to the science behind this.
@@pawsitivevibes101 the idea came to me in a dream when i was using a ripe banana to ripen very hard avocados. i had a dream like a time lapse movie of a fruit falling from a tree, rotting, then a new tree growing from the rot. the same gas that ripens fruit (ethylene) is produced when fruit is rotting so all fruit have evolved to do this for a reason. so i started to experiment nearly 30yrs ago and got really great results so i became more scientific about it and continued to experiment with different plants. most fruits are effected the most but i have not found any plant that does not show clear improvement. i do know a few things about scientific method as i have spent most of my life in research but i still took a long time to experiment to make sure other things were not effecting my results. the results are consistently independent of weather patterns, seed sources, soil type, location, etc. i have treated direct sow, flat earth, raised bed, potted plants, greenhouse, heated greenhouse, all seasons, etc. i have only started telling people about it this year because i have done all i can to disprove it and hope others can independently check this out. cheers 🙂
Could you explain more in-depth?
Put packets of seeds? Seeds in dirt that are germinating? Bare seeds? I’m new to this. Thank you
@@FreedomUSA111 i put my seeds in open trays like lids and place them in the cardboard box with the banana. the idea is to allow the gas generated by banana to cover and engulf the seeds for a couple of weeks before germination. close the box and keep it away from fans and moving air, again to avoid blowing the gas away. you are treating the seeds with gas. then after the couple of weeks are done, plant the seeds right away. i am also experimenting with a banana in my seed starting incubator. i made it before the tents that are now available for the job.
since we are talking bananas, i also save peels, dry them, grind them to a powder and sprinkle it all over my beds. they are a great source of potassium. i do, however, only use organic bananas 🙂
@@FreedomUSA111
MAGA all the way to the White House 2024!!
All my mistakes that I have made over several years of starting inside have been corrected from your helpful experience.
I'll admit that I have watched other channels trying to get the layman's version for seed starting. Unfortunately, they don't cover the simple or the Do's and Don'ts as well as you do.
Everything that I have wanted to try you have shared, and the results were incredible and amazing.
Case in point, the tomato and cucumber trellises. My cucumbers grew to an average of 13 feet long and the tomatoes 10 feet. The other, sweet potatoes.. though I didn't leave them in the ground long enough. I was thrilled that they grew at all.
This year, my cucumber bed is getting relocated and bigger. Both trellises are getting taller. Also, building a dedicated sweet potato bed area.
thank you so much for letting us know that you've found success with this channel. I, too, have searched in vain, watching other garden channel content, trying to understand how to grow seeds, and no one EVER explains everything the way Brian does! I'm so glad I found him. Thank you for confirming it.
Something I learned again just today, check your sowed seeds daily. Yesterday their was not one shishito pepper up in the tray I planted them in, this morning dozens of plants were up, bam I removed the cover and got them under the lights. Even a day or two you can get leggy plants without proper lighting.
Sounds like you are up shishitos creek!
@@jonkatzmd LOL, guess so, nice little semi hot peppers, terrific fried with some olive oil and garlic
I also use the light very close to the plants as you said. One thing I use is aluminum foil on the sides of light. That way the seedlings doesn't stretch toward the light and getting leggy. It grows to a fuller plant all around.
Fan was the best advice you gave today..... ok i'm not a beginner. I have sold tomato seedlings to people who remarked they performed better than those purchased at the garden center that were grown under perfect conditions. I try to give seedlings perfect growing conditions AND toughen them up with the fan ( run only while lights are on) best of all worlds.
Brian I’ve tried many things thru the years for fungus gnats & my best solution has been to boil water & sterilize my soil like you suggested, but then if I see any I use the sticky traps for the adults & add Gnatrol to my water when watering seedlings & plants(which is expensive but the most effective) I have found it sold in packets which is more affordable. But that has erradicated any problem I’ve had!!
Only filling tomato cups halfway at first was a game changer for me. Thanks!
Halfway? why??
@@MrAlistar99same question from me. Am guessing there might be a root development advantage to fill up at later stage. Runner beans, tomatoes, potatoes all seem happy to be buried below original germination soil line & develop roots from subsequently buried stems. Am guessing & would like to know why.
@@mefaceache4063 tomato plants can grow additional roots if more soil is added giving you a hardier plant.
@@mefaceache4063 exactly. Tomatoes will grow roots out of any stem that is put into the soil. So if you start them shallow and gradually remove the bottom leaves and replace with more soil, it will be an incredibly hardy plant with tons of roots
When starting seeds, We use pig-mats from automotive retail stores as a capillary membrane. Also, the pizza box plastic table things that stop box crush incidents to raise the seedlings up out of the water. Easy and cheap
Intriguing. Can you describe where the pizza box plastic table things are placed? Upside down? Right-side up? Thanks!
Using a backing of aluminum foil to keep the light were you want it (on the plants) and not lighting the room around them. This makes a big difference.
You can also use the 'aluminized bubblewrap' material meant to insulate water heaters. It is stiff enough to stand up with very little support.
@@YodaWhat The brand name is Reflectix and it’s great stuff!
I make a section of my utility shelving a 'grow chamber'. The grow light clips above, and for light reflectors on the 4 sides I take cardboard and tape tin foil to it then tape the cardboart to the top edge of the shelf. The plastic seedling cups have cuts in the bottom, and sit in cookie sheets with water in them. The cookie sheets lie on a heat mat. Occasionally open one section of cardboard and blow the fan on them to toughen them up.
I used a mylar blanket (bought a pack of 20 from Amazon) that I hung up around the seedlings. It worked great, and kept the light and warmth where it was needed!
Newer windows have a uv coating that doesn't let strong light in. Grow lights r a must in most cases. Another thing is to put seeds requiring the same warmth, same germination days and light requirements in same trays. I don't put peppers and tomatoes in same tray.
My first time seed starting and I made this mistake🤦🏻♀️ Lettuce germinated in two days and had to take the whole tray dome off and move everything under my grow light in my (much colder) basement. Not the best for the peppers still waiting to pop up. Just going to start a new set all on their own, and hopefully end up with twice the plants eventually!
i do hydroponics and indoors and use cheap daylight LED lights and a fan and nutrients and amazing to have food indoors during winter and outdoors for summer
Great timing as I was sitting here with my calendar & seed packets writing all my start/plant dates 💚 will be starting seeds for the first time (I’m 71 😆)! Usually just buy 6 packs, but they’re so hard to find & $5 for a 3-4” pot is just ridiculous! Plus there’s so much more variety to choose from if you start seeds 👍
In my area six-packs are non-existent, and direct-sowing at our community plot is always dicey because we can't just step in the backyard twice a day to water the soil (which dries out in our climate). I've started tons of things outdoors but it's always much later in the season, so I am starting seeds indoor for the first time this year.
You can provide miniature 'greenhouses' for tender plants by cutting the bottom off transparent plastic drink bottles and removing the cap to provide a bit of ventilation. Those covers also greatly reduce evaporation from the soil within, and they keep slugs at bay.@@elisabetk2595
For some unknown reason last year, all of my pepper starts failed. Too late to start over, I ended up having to BUY plants from our farmer's market. The only ones available were $6 EACH, so I made do with only 4 pepper plants and they ended up being that least productive I've ever dealt with. I historically start seeds and grow at least 12 each of Jalapenos, Serranos, and Cayennes. I make hot sauce and spicy tomato products from my harvest. Not last year.
If you have a local seed library (ours is in our public library), you shouldn't have to pay for seeds. Pots can be reused year after year, and most of mine come from local recycle bins. I clean them thoroughly with hot soapy water and use a mild bleach rinse. I start everything I can indoors. Biggest problem I've had is with space -- seems my eyes are bigger than my head! "Just one...more...can...fit...under the...lights...."
Finally, after all these years of saying “one day I’ll have a garden”, this will be the year (as I finally have my own home).
I’ve officially started my celery seeds and I’m using the Solo double-cup method that you recommended in a recent Tomato video. The seeds have been started for about 16 hours and the soil still seems plenty moist, so I haven’t had the opportunity to bottom-water just yet.
When I went to Lowe’s, I found the awesome LED T8-style bulbs that have a great lumen rating and 6500k but I couldn’t find the actual hanging fixture for my life! I can’t even find one online, which kind of blows my mind. Maybe I’m missing something… I thought I could just search for “shop light fixture”.
Either way, I went with a 4ft “grow light” from Lowes and am feeling good/decently confident! Still interested in a light fixture for the T8 bulbs, though. Anyway, thanks for everything!
PS-
I do work at night! Never thought of it like that, but I suppose it does give me an advantage when it comes to hardening the plants off! Also, when it comes to watering, I often see it said to do the “finger test” but I really don’t want to do that, considering that I don’t want to push any seeds down too far into the soil! Perhaps I’ll just look to see if the top looks dry, or at least water every couple of days regardless.
I had the same issue - bulbs are plentiful, fixtures non-existent. I ended up buying the $20 LED one from WallyWorld which is all one piece.
You can use a toothpick to see if the soil is dry in the little seed starting trays. Just do it close to the edge.
Same here. I guess no one is making them anymore because fluorescent lights have gone by the wayside. They make bulbs that can be used in the old fixtures, but otherwise the all-inclusive LED is the new thing. I went with the 2ft “boostgro” light from Lowe’s (5,000K and 1,900 lumens). May end up needing more than one but I’m starting small…
I use the clip shop light fixtures. Got mine for cheap at Estate Sales. Congratulations on your new home and good luck with your first garden!!
I don't have a heat mat, so I alternate between putting the seedling propagator on top of the radiator and a hot, wet washcloth as DIY heat mat. So far, my tomato and pepper seeds have germinated using this slapdash method.
I wish I listened more when I took a horticulture class in 10th grade in 1977. Everything you said is pin point right on. I live in central California in Zone 9A or B. My zone always switches. Keep up the great content. I grow a plethora of vegetables year round and am always learning.
This time of year, the big "W" box store stocks up on the LED shop lights with the right lumens and kelvin, which cost $19-20 each. Each year I add another one to my seed starting station.
I’m looking to get sone heat mats too! I have lights now mats!
I live under a rock, I apologize. What is the big "W" box store? Do you have a link to the lights you find by chance?
Thank you for sharing ☺️
@@therapywithisabel- W store is Walmart.
Thanks for the tips! Always so helpful. A few questions:
Do you leave the fan on 24/7?
Do you still do any watering with the water reservoir?
Do you bring the reservoir out or water at all when hardening?
One tip: if you put your seeds in a window, rotate the trays as the seeds start leaning toward the sun.
I put my electric fan on a timer. Also, I bought a USB rechargeable fan I may try this year. It will only use the electricity during the short time to recharge it, and it's much smaller with a clip. I have to put my electric fan further away because of how strong it is.
@@joanies6778This is my first year starting seeds and I happened to have a fan like that sitting around-just set it up today and it’s working well; just wondering how long the charge will last!
Every February I roam the garden section of my local Walmart, staring longingly at the early stock of seeds and supplies. I live in Michigan, hahaha! We're usually not even safe from frost till Memorial Day in my area.
That was my afternoon today in Port Huron.
You should watch videos by MI Gardner. He's in Michigan and gardens year round.
@@trishcraig723 YES! I discovered him a few days ago and went to MIgardener yesterday (before Walmart) and stocked up on THEIR goods seeds. I have been watching his videos. I am back here after 43 years in Northern California where i was always more a garden HELPER. However, while I’m here caring for my mama, it seems like a good idea to grow some good organic food…IF she’ll LET ME start some seeds indoors!😂
Same here inn
@@trishcraig723 Forgive me if this shows up twice! My earlier reply didn’t post! But once more…Before Walmart yesterday, i had gone to MIgardener store in St. Clair and i stocked up on organic seeds! After many decades in Ca, i am in Mi caring for my mama and the real trick will be to get her to LET ME start my seeds indoors!😂
I live in CA. I do not need to use heat mats. I buy mini greenhouse containers(seed trays with a top). If I put these on the window seal or right next to LED grow lights, it gets up to 80 degrees with the house temp being 65 degrees.
Huh, nice.
I have made all of the mistakes at some point but last year I made mistake in hardening the seedlings off by trying to using my greenhouse and the top is made of a light grey color that blocks out some of the sun. This did not allow enough exposure and I lost some of my plants. Great information for everyone to follow.
I use my seed planting urges early in the year to ensure my chilli peppers are sown by the middle of January. They get a 'sunny' (southfacing) windowsill, together with a small growlight at the same time, and a heated propagator with a transparent cover. By the time they are sturdy enough to be weaned off the additional heat, and live at room temperature on the windowsill (with bubblewrap as a nighttime insulator on the window side) I'm getting ready to start other seeds on the heat. They'll be ready for that in a couple of weeks, but I've already started some hardy things - sweet peas and some herbs - with just room temperatures indoors, and they're already outside in translucent plastic boxes, as they need more light than they can ever get indoors.
I always think its funny how you have to keep the grow light a few inches above the seedling, but when you plant a seed outside, the sun is way way way WAY up there and nothing gets leggy! 😆
Thanks for sharing the knowledge! ❤
It like when you go out west, way pass where the sun sets.
Just a little tip. I start seeds very early to transplant into my greenhouse in covered beds, but something I have found that helps speed up germination is to use an aquarium heater in a bucket of water that I use to water my seeds. I heat the water to about 80°F. Works great.
tHANKS - AFTER 30 YEARS OF GARDENING INCLUDING GREENHOUSE I'VE LEARNED MOST OF IT THE HARD WAY BUT YOU DO A GOOD JOB OF HELPING ME FINE TUNE IT SOME MORE.🍅
So many good tips! I really like the three cloudy days in a row tip for hardening off the plants. I'm sure everyone will agree with me that your videos are excellent. You don't have to be a novice to learn something new. Thank you for all your efforts and easy to understand growing information.😊
Love the smart person way to “harden off”. Never heard that before. 🎉 love your channel Brian!
Thank you!
I’ve been starting seeds for about 4-5 yrs now. I’ve made every mistake mentioned in your video except I always knew to harden off. I start 70-120 seeds/year. I have huge ornamental garden and it’s too expensive to purchase plants and you do get much more variety starting your own seeds. Your thoughts on these 5 mistakes, the reasons why these are mistakes, and how to prevent them are spot on. For me still, the number one mistake I occasionally make is starting them too early. The plants tend to get leggy/spindly and don’t do as well outside. Thanks for all the great information!
My lazy method for hardening off is putting them somewhere that they get morning light but are in partial to full shade for the afternoon. Because we have a good month or more of warm days but cold nights I do the plant hokey pokey for a lot of days before they go in the ground. But letting them stay outside in the sun and wind for the day does make for very strong plants when they get in the ground.
Yes, I think I’ll use my front porch this year because it only gets morning light. Right now I have some lettuces in clear plastic totes on my front walkway. It is Feb but supposed to be high 40s today. I bring them in at night.
I retired in 2021 from central Arkansas (zone 8) to northwest Arkansas (zone 7) and am still trying working on hitting the right time to start my tomatoes. Waited too long last year, so they were small, started too early this year and already have blossoms forming in early March with a plant date in early April. I will certainly try the "lazy" method of hardening the plants and may add a fan to provide a breeze. One thing you may need to be careful with using the "lazy" hardening method (or any method that puts your plants outdoors) is that sometimes birds or squirrels get curious and will "mess" with your seedlings. I had an entire batch ruined by birds / squirrels who were either curious and pulled on the plants or needing water and attracted to the moisture in the pots.
If you can't wait to sow seeds you can always sow cool season veg and flowers. They can usually go out 6-8 weeks before your last frost.
😊 our last frost is June.
I've found that premoistening the seed starting mix is a big help when starting from seeds. The starting mixes seem to resist water at first. If not premoistened, when you go to water, the mixture will float around and possibly dislodge the seed depth. The seed mix floats like a marshmallow until it eventually absorbs water.
This is encouraging that I’m doing every step right! I grew some veg and hens indoors this winter with great success and am going to be planting my first garden from seed this spring! I discovered last fall that fans are a game changer with indoor gardening!
Those Gardener's Supply wicking seed trays are wonderful in hot environments where you would otherwise have to water seedling every day without fail. They give you a longer grace period and have definitely saved my seedling butt from frying the little guys.
Do you use heat mats with them? If so, any problems? I’m debating getting some 🙏🏼
I tried something for hardening off. I used shade cloth something like 70% put them out for 2 days fully covered then full sun for short periods for the next 5 to 6 days. Came out amazing. Gonna do the same this year
Thanks, Brian. Heading to my local nursery later to get some details on local conditions. I'm in a high desert and our weather can be a little wonky at times. Our temps can vary 40-50 degrees in a single day. (mid 60s and sunny then freeze overnight.) Other people are doing it so I can too!
The game changer for me was babying the seedlings inside until they become plants. If my tomatoes and peppers are 12-16" tall I just stick them straight in the ground with no hardening off.
Also, I think every gardener should have several drosera capensis specimens to take care of fungus gnats, as well as whatever you bring into your kitchen via your store-bought fruit. They're small enough to tuck into several places and as long as you don't water them with tap water, they last forever and continually split off into new plants.
I use seedtime basic paid to get layout too. It has a calendar that when you add a plant it lets you know when it is time to do different tasks for each plant you added and want to grow. I'm 73 years young and live in Zone 10, Phoenix, AZ
Apreciez ca in fiecare an ai răbdare să explici tot de la 0 salutări din romania
I’m glad how you give us tips on how to do these instead of just saying we need to buy this this and this
No. 2 the temperature. This was a problem until I started to simply put them on the floor, onto our floor heating. :D
The biggest problem I had was not keeping the growing lights on long enough. I have them on for 9 hours daily and the plants seem to thrive. I also use timers so I don't need to remember to turn them on and off. As soon as they start sprouting the heat mats need to be turned off. I also had spider mites which killed most of my Serrano peppers. I found a hydrogen peroxide spray recipe that solved that problem. I leave my plants out on the west side of the house night and day which seems to work well. Thanks for another great video. May the Lord continue blessing you and yours.
De javu! I could swear I watched this one last week.😂
Biggest mistake? Taking time to harden off. I got tired of the process. Here's what I did. It will sound like it shocks the plant, but stick with me. After the sun is in late afternoon, 6pm or so, I take them out of the cells and shake off about half the soil. Enough so most of the roots are exposed. Dig a hole and sprinkle a coating amount of Microrhizome around the walls of the hole and on the roots. Set the roots in, add water, backfill some soil and move the roots around to get good root/soil contact. Then add the rest of the soil. I don't exactly know why it works. But, if you don't add the Microrhizome, you'll wake up to plants lying in the dirt. Otherwise, they stand up straight and tall and ready to grow. Even in the hot sun of Colorado. Try it on one plant and see if it works. I've been doing it the better part of a decade.
Use (luke)warm water for watering. especially if there are already roots that can suck up the water (so it will be soaked up faster). That is also a tip if you overwinter plants in an unheated shed, or glass house or tunnel.
This is perfect timing for me - I have all the seed and seed starting stuff ready to go but haven’t started anything. I am so unsure of the right timing. Brian - you are the best!!
the aquarium light vover also served for giving heat to the seed trays from below - most of all, while we still used fluorescent tubes (the cats slept above in their basket) instead of leds over an now open aquarium.
I’ve written down my seed start date this year and I will stick to it no matter how hard it is!!
So glad he clarified at 4:25 that 4500K is the color of the light and "not the temperature it puts off". I thought my lamp was as hot as the Sun's chromosphere.
I heard people use one tray for different type of seeds that may require different germination conditions, heat vs no heat as an example. Also, labelling them can save a lot of headaches at a later.
This video gave me a whole new plan on growing everything from cherry and "round" tomatoes (which I pick real green for dill pickles) to basil, peppers and egg plant seeds. I already knew about watering from the bottom up. The surprise was the 2 inch idea above the plants, on boards/bricks as the plants mature. I will be searching for the L & K light bulbs. I'm in northern Ontario where we're still ice fishing on 18 inches of solid ice in mid March and occasionally into April. Summers are short (comparatively speaking to what I've read from other posts in here) with killing frosts in mid September. I'm not a religious person but I know there's a major temperature change occurring 40 days after Easter and frost is rare but not unheard of past that. A few years back, we got 5" of snow on Father's Day which certainly hardened up everything and I had the best garden that summer in years, before and since. Like one comment, hardwood ashes makes everything grow better, from gardens to lawns and snails & slugs hate them. I fill a 45 gallon(Cdn. or 55 gallon US) barrel every winter.
Thanks for the tips! Growing my first ALL pepper garden this year (GOD bless me). Hello from Oklahoma!!!
I just learned that I am a lazy hardener-off. I have been taking starts out to a dappled light area of a morning & bringing them in as the sun starts to set. I do check them to be sure they are looking okay throughout the day.
Part of my logic is that we have nice days long before the risk of frost is past. I can use my lights for more starts once I have some using the sun for light.
I have a carport that has openings on the east and west, and connected to the house on the south. I found that works because they get morning and afternoon sun and shade during the longest part of the day plus the air moves through the car port. I loved the idea 3 in a row overcast day. Living in the Pacific NW that will be easy :)
This is a good video! I've been doing everything right except I get impatient and plant them too early. This year I'm not going to do that. I don't put in a big garden anymore so I harden them by putting a juice can with the ends cut out around them. I push that in the ground a little ways and that also protects them from cutworms. I have also used milk jugs but I like cans better.
Brian,
Fungus gnats--ugh! Drain flies, too! 😝 Been there, done that--thank goodness for BT!
I’m investing in a heat mat next year. I live in north Tx and spring is treacherous! It can be below freezing for a few days then up into the 70’s and back to 30’s. I used grow lights and a heater in my greenhouse and still had about 50% death rate lol. I’ll keep trying!
I need to confirm this: I can grow seedlings WITHOUT potting them up, harden them off (love your idea of a 3 day forecast of overcast skies!) and plant them out??? Is that what you typically do? That saves so much time!!! I didn't think I could do that! I'm learning SO MUCH from you!!!!! Thank you!
That's what I do... I don't have ti.e for all that other stuff
Thank you!! I love the fan idea!!
I do need to be thoughtful about starting my seeds, and although I did start seeds indoors, I focused on how long it takes for them to germinate. I've never had the best of luck starting indoors, but with the grow lights, things that should have taken 2 wks to germinate started to germinate in 5-6 days. Yup, I will be potting indoors, fortunately no curious fur members living among us.
Great video. I’m anxious to start my seeds but my last frost date is mid May! I do have a small greenhouse so I’m going to be starting mostly my tomatoes soon. As far as the 3 day of overcast weather, I’m not sure it would work very well here in the mountains where I live. The weatherman is only right about 50% of the time 😂, in fact there are weeks and weeks during the summer than the chance of rain is 50-55% every single day!
Oh Brian, you have clearly seen the multiple comments from me lamenting "I am rubbish at seed starting". I usually buy punnets of seedlings (I believe you call them 'transplants' in the US), and have no issues starting with the 'toddlers'. I was probably ticking most of the mistake boxes for seedlings. But it is clear I do need to get heat mats and grow lights. Space is very limited.
My tip for hardening off, in addition to or if the 'lazy way' does not present itself, is to use 50% shade cloth over the 'toddlers' as they start out in the big world. I have a bunch of raised garden beds, can plant out my seedlings (depending on crop) and clip the shade cloth over the top. For larger plantlets, I use an empty raised garden bed with same thing. This year I have decided I will get some wood, make a frame that fits the beds for 'easy on, easy off' - similar to what people do for making a clear plastic grow tunnel for larger on-ground raised beds (ie a frame, and attach the material to it, usually staples).
Even though all these challenges keep presenting themselves, I still LOVE gardening!
That was the smoothest transition to watch another video I've ever seen 😂👌 i definitely will watch it because I get those dang gnats every year and didn't even know what they were called until today😅
Somehow I limp through starting plants in my kitchen under a skylight and in the windowsills. We don't heat our house generally, maybe a fire in the fireplace a couple nights a week.
I generally start them in early March for putting out the first week of May and take them outdoors on a table during the day.
..this year we have a very cheap little " green house" and the early seeds like broccoli onions and cabbage started perfectly in there with very little fuss.
Last winter, I'm from London, I managed to grow 3x full plants of tomato indoors, with harvest included of 2.5kg of tomatoes just using grow lights (powerful enough).
It took a lot of dedication to get there, but I was shocked after I realised what I achieved!
I used a custom mix, coco coir, organic compost, sand, perlite and vermiculite. The fertiliser is from seaweed specifc for tomato, organic and certified from Soil Association and allowed in organic agriculture.
Yep. All good advice. I used to grow weed under 1000 watt high intensity discharge lamps that I built my own ballasts for. We usually ran 6 of them, and regulating the room temperature was always a concern. Leds eliminate that problem but don't have the punch that HID lights have. The sun blasts over 300 watts per square yard on the ground. We germinated and propagated clones under fluorescents.
I used the link above and ordered a set of the self watering tray system! Can't wait for it to arrive.
I believe the tube lights emitting the correct spectrum for growing are sold as 'cool white' or the number indication is 33L or 33R? At least here and the vegetating plants do well underneath that. Having a fan to prevent stalk-weakness is definitely what people forget the most. As for the heat you could use a simple little gas burner and save some money. The CO2 will benefit vegetative growth as a bonus.
very interesting adding the wind as a strengthening factor !
Newer gardener here and I am terrible about the hardening-off process. I'm hoping to have some type of small greenhouse next year to lessen this need. Thanks for the overcast tip!
Great video thanks. Have subscribed. I bought a second grow light so that I could plant earlier. The interval between the last frost and baking sun seems to have shortened and scorch the annuals and perennials. So far so good (I’m in the southern hemisphere). the fan and looking at the forecast when hardening off tips were really helpful
LOL, made every mistake you mention here. Sadly, our last frost is almost always at the end of May, even if we have a warm April... So, my best option is to buy plants that are well established and ready to produce quickly. Luckily I have a wonderful nursery in the vicinity, and they always have healthy veggie plants WITH a guarantee! A multi-generational family run business.
Be careful while hardening them up. I had some on my back deck which led to ground level where I had put them and a small garter snake sneaked in the tray. Harmless but gave me quite a scare when he appeared inside the house later.
Thanks for your help on how you can easily start your seeds . Should you water the trays from the bottom and if you do how much water and how often
I planted y seeds on Ash Wednesday and my last frost day is Good Friday. I planted them in a Jiffy Tray with a cover. I checked the soil temp inside the cover and it was getting pretty warm during the day, parked in the sun.
Oh dear. I've made all 5 mistakes already! I think I'll be starting again...Thank you for this info, at least I have time to correct.
Traditional for me is to plant them outside with a clear plastic bottle with lots of breathing holes for wind etc... That keeps them protected from slugs and nighttime chill.
Starting just a few seeds at a time, in just a couple pod trays, I just have them under my bedroom medusa light, which has goosenecks to keep the lights as close as possible to the plants as they grow. Even peppers got enough light that way, and since it was a light I have on ~16 hours a day anyway, basically free
How often do you give your seedlings a liquid fertilizer? Do you just pour it in the tray and let the soil soak it up, and pour out the rest to reuse it a week later? Currently, my onion seedlings, that have 2 leaves each, have 1-inch long roots. I have them in 6-inch deep yogurt containers filled with potting soil, so I would not have to re-pot them before it's warm enough to transplant them in the ground. I mixed a bit of blood meal into the soil. I worry that the water from the bottom may not reach the roots.
I would like to know the answer to your questions.
I will try to remember to pass the answer to you once I get it.
And the seedlings get their second set of leaves you can start with half strength fertilizer. He uses Neptune harvest every two weeks.
Thanks.
I know people that don't hardened and things go perfectly fine..I also know people that harden their flowers before planting. it's all great info . following these tips help you from making mistakes. When gardening jts best not to cut corners too much to yield the best results. I think under estimate the actual cost to garden and everything a person needs to get the job done. I always underestimate the amt of support a plant needs to keep heavy fruits healthy and the amount of time is almost like a second job in the spring.. getting it all planted it exhausting but fun and exciting to grow and eat!
Good video and info. Direct and too the point without all the babbling and self elevating endorsements.
Ok you got a lot of good points. Only I would try setting my heat mat at 86 to 90°f. Lights if powerful enough don't need to be 2" from the plant . I run 300 watt LEDs on a light mover 16" to 24" above the seedlings and they do fine.
The biggest mistake I made with my peppers was neglecting the P and K so I started putting a teaspoon of hardwood ash in my water and they took off in two days. Shiny bubbly leaves and fuzzy roots on the bottoms. All from wood ash and a little Azomite (volcanic ash).
GREAT video! It has explained exactly what I needed to know about problems I had! Thanks!
Never used a heat mat and never had issues with seeds sprouting. It's almost always above 70F indoors here which is plenty warm for everything, even if some take a bit longer to sprout.
Also don't use a grow light as we get decent morning and afternoon sunlight, so long as we move the seedlings from east to west-facing in the early afternoon, and once it's warm enough during the day put them outside for a few hours, for additional sunlight and hardening them off to outdoor temps, light and wind.
And the 4-6 weeks before the last front date only works for some plants. Some can go into the ground when it's consistently over 35 and some not till it's nearly 60. This year we started the first seeds on March 1st in Zone 7, then progressively with warmer temp plants, and we're on track to have everything go into the ground at the earliest that it's safe to do so for each plant, so we should have an early crop.
First time for me sowing seeds in doors i did them today im in uk south east.
I have 5 propagators that have lights in the lids plus other ones without lights. Its march 4th ive probably done them too early but i was eager to get started
thank you ! one mistake I made last year is that i put them in trays and leave them with water very high up , while it did not kill the plants it severely made there roots weaker and when ended up un the ground they developed slower than another lot batch where they were not full watered, there was water only a finger on the bottom of the tray. I actually saw this when I took them out of the individual tray the ones that has scarce water had like 6-7 inches long roots while the other ones like 1 inch maybe 2. I overwatered them.
Great information. Thank you Brian. I am looking forward to starting tomato and pepper seeds for the first time within a week. Newbie question: If I use coco coir/perlite/vermiculite mix as my seed starter mix, once the seeds are germinated, I will need to apply liquid fertilizer if I keep them in the seed tray, right? How long should I transplant the seedlings out of the trays?
If I use potting mix with added perlite and vermiculite, I can hold off the fertilizer application for a little because the potting mix contains some nutrients?
If I use solo cups or other vessels to start seeds, I would be better off to use potting mix with fertilizers, and the seedlings can be in the same vessels for a longer time, maybe till transplanting to their permanent locations directly? TIA.
I don't have any place to start seedlings and it's a problem for me here in northern Alabama. I need to get my jugs outside 😊
If you can find a space that is just large enough to fit seedling trays and a grow light fixture, and keep the grow lights close to the top of the trays and raise them as the seedlings sprout and grow, you should have more than enough heat to get seedlings going. You might even need a fan to help keep the heat down. Plus it's a good idea to have an indirect breeze on most seedlings to help them build stronger main stems.
I always point my fan towards the tent wall so it's a less direct flow. Even on low, it can be pretty strong in the beginning. Pointing it at the wall will let it bounce around off all the walls and come from all directions.
Great tips Brian! ❤ But careful with those seed trays.. It's made of recycled plastic, leaching toxic chemicals into your foods. I'm very careful with the seed trays I use cause most of them are toxic plastics. There are a very few food grade plastic and food grade silicon trays out there that are much safer..
Just winter sowed carrots, radishes, beets and tomatoes in milkjugs and put them outdoors. Usually do this in milkjugs in the breezeway that gets a lot of sun. Trying it both ways this year. Did grow lights last year. I'm trying to get ot sp the taking plants in and out of the breezeway can be eliminated.
Definitely made #5
Had fungus, mold.. plants wilted, died, and it stunk.
Gave up the 1st time
2nd time, I learned to water from the bottom.
I started my pepper seeds in February because they are slow growing. I also have tomato plants coming up which is a little early, but I dont mind bumping them up to a larger container un order to get them producing sooner.
We have heated floors in the bathrooms and they make a great heat mat.
I put my seedling outside any temperature above 50 degrees, same with house plants that go outside for summer
Thank you for this information
I know perfectly well that our "last frost" runs around May 21st. I have all my supplies ready, but there is no point starting seeds before about the 3rd week in April. I love Colorado, but nights stay cold well into May.