Would someone please help a new gardener out?  I used to buy a few tomato and pepper seedlings and just plop them in the ground every summer.  Now that my garden has grown to much more than just a few pots on the porch, I need to start my own seedlings - can't afford to buy that many plants!  There is a lot of conflicting info out on the web - heat, lights, temperature, etc.  Anyone willing to break it down to the basics for me?

 I can tell you what I do but, I'm sure there are many ways with some being better.
I just have a area in my garage which isn't heated but stays pretty warm 65F to 70F as the furnace is in that area.  I just use the simple 4' long double bulb florescent shop lights hung on ropes above my seedlings. I use soil blocks for to start the plants in but, I've used everything from last years plastic pots, pots made from rolled up paper, egg cartons...... so you can use what ever you find.  I use a mix of compost and garden soil to start them in but any reasonable soil/mix will work.  I just put a light sprinkle of soil over the seeds and keep them moist or cover with some plastic to keep them moist till they germinate them let them grow.

Have a Great Day!!
Frank

Here is my soil blocks starts last year
http://freedomgardens.org/forum/topic/5/index/7720

Here is some shots of my soil blocks this year.
http://freedomgardens.org/forum/topic/5/index/13038

 Starting your own seedling is definitely the way to go and much easier than most would suspect. It's not only cheaper but your seedlings will be much healthier and stronger than those from the big box stores. 

Just a note on florescent lights, I have found that the blue/vegetative growth light bulbs aren't all that expensive if you look around. So it is a little confusing but look for warm or daylight in the name if they don't list the light color. Light colors are defined in K values you are looking for 6500K for making short full seedlings. I have found them at big box stores for as little as $2.50/bulb. It really does make a difference but you can still grow good seedling with the standard cool white 3700K which is better for causing flowering in plants.
Have a Great Day!!
Frank

I recommend against using soil/compost mixes for seed starting. The soil and compost are not needed (the seeds have the energy they need) and they only promote diseases. Since I switched to a commercial, sterile mix I have had zero disease problems. No damping off, no fungal diseases, just fat healthy plants.

The mix I use has a fine texture and light 'mineral load' of natural mineral nutrients. The base is either peat moss or coir with perlite, vermiculite, etc. The brand is SunGro Sunshine Professional Growing Mix #3. Other brands of similar mix are available at any garden store; read the labels.

It comes in large bags and $15 worth of mix will produce 1 to 2 thousand seedlings. I use a 98-cell tray and 1 quart of mix fills the tray. Dampen the mix before you fill the tray cells; dry mix won't absorb water very well and you need to get it started.
.
Fill the tray cells loosely and tamp gently with another tray to set the media below the tops of the cells. Add your seeds and cover with a light dusting of mix, then tamp again.

Next, take the trays and set them on a basin of eater and let it soak in from the bottom up. This will settle the media and assure that the seeds are in close contact with the media. You will want to repeat this every couple of days.

Watering from above should be avoided. The splash of water will only promote spread of fungal spores and wet the tops of the plants. The other thing about watering from above is that you often do not get the bottom of the media wet. Soaking from the bottom up helps pull the roots down.

There are adequate nutrients in the mix to feed the plants to transplanting size and no additional fertilizing is needed. If the plants are not to be directly planted, they are transplanted to 4" pots in the #4 growing mix (courser grind and heavier mineral load).

I have a really poor quality video on Youtube that shows this method. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYJuWLmZI9k)

Last year I grew about 5,000 plants this way and lost none to disease. Lost some to snails, mice, birds and 100 degree 60 mph winds, but none to disease.

I do grow outside, even in the winter, due to my location and climate. I do know from experience that window light is not adequate for seedlings. Supplemental light is required, otherwise the seedlings get too leggy and have stem-strength issues.

The other good thing about growing from seed not mentioned above is that you can have exactly what you want when you want it, not when the big box decides you want what they have.

Good luck, it is easy and fun to grow your own, and even first timers have great success using this method. We have brand-new gardeners eating produced they started this way in one of our meetings a few months back. If they can do it, so can you.

Thanks for all your help, guys. Two more questions - I live in Southeastern Wisconsin, so my basement is usually around 60 degrees, the upstairs of the old farmhouse is unheated so around 50, and the mainfloor is anywhere between 57-68 depending on the time of day/night. How do I best make sure the dirt/plants stay warm enough to germinate and grow?

Also, rather than doing starts and then transplanting, can I start them in larger pots and then transfer to the garden?

They make heat mats that plug in and keep the bottom of the pots warm. They are often very cheap and are quite simple. Others are more sophisticated and there more expensive.

Yes, you can transplant to larger pots to allow your plants to grow out more before setting them in the garden.

Oops! double post

The basement sounds like it would work as the lights give off some heat and will help with germination.  If you need just a little heat a 100w regular incandescent bulb puts out quite a bit of heat to help warm up things for germination.

Yes you can start them in larger pots but it takes up more room and requires more lights usually.
Frank

Thanks again guys!

I ordered a heat mat and have some plastic trays with lids. Hubby has offered to build a height-adjustable lamp for me. I think I'm nearly set to grow.

Now, what sort of dirt do I use? Can I just buy some potting soil from the store or is there a better option?

Potting soil will work fine, sounds like your on your way to seedling heaven!! :*)
Have a Great Day!!
Frank

Hi Katt,

Good luck with starting seeds! I'm sure that you'll find that it's not that difficult. I'm glad you ordered a heat mat...I use one to start some of my seedlings. One thing to watch out with the heat mat, though, is that the seedlings tend to dry out faster than they do without the heat. Shouldn't be a problem, as long as you watch them closely and water them when they become dry.

'Potting Soil' is a real wide range of materials. Please re-read my post above on soil-less mixes. When you are growing indoors, you have heat, humidity and light issues to deal with. A sterile mix will remove a lot of fungal issues associated with indoors...

I lose a few from damping off. But far more from the destructive snails. aphids, cutworms... :(

If soil is suspect, you can bake (only needs to heat up to about 160-170F). Just really stinky. Use old pot you don't care and place it on a grill. bake the soil until it all of it heats to the temperature.

Agree with Mike. Potting soil can mean lots of things...

I started seeds under an old fluorescent fixture last year, but didn't have much luck. Heat mats are kind of expensive for the number of seedlings that I'm hoping to grow, so I'm thinking about trying this:
http://www.gardengrapevine.com/BottomHeater.html
http://doorgarden.com/02/home-made-bottom-heat-seed-starting

It looks like it will cost about half of what a 4' heat mat would cost. We'll see how it works!

I read somewhere that having a fluorescent fixture and one incandescent bulb over the plants will give them the full spectrum of light that they need. Does anyone know if this is accurate?

That DIY heat mat looks like it would work just fine. When I need bottom heat I just put an incandescent bulb under my shelf and plastic around the sides and it heats up the whole area and is easy to adjust by putting a smaller or larger size/watt bulb in as needed. I've never heard of adding a regular bulb to help the fluorescents. I've had good luck with just standard shop lights placed as close to the plants as possible 2"-10".
Frank

The idea of bottom heat is to warm the soil, not bake the plants. I have used heat mats with thermostats. It cost was about $100 for the set up and covered a 4' x 8' germination bed which also had an on-demand water misting system installed. A neighbor gave me a foam flat with a heating element in the bottom (cost was ~$5) and it worked as well.

As for lights, I understand that the LED lights, with different colored LEDs, are power efficient and very popular among the indoor pot growing crowd due to the low energy footprint and high light intensity. Supposedly, a 45 Watt LED unit puts out about the same power as the 1500 Watt high-pressure halogen vapor lamp with ballast I used to use. These are good for lighting, but won't produce too much heat.

I have a heat mat, plastic "greenhouse" setup with spaces for 144 seedlings, and some seed starting medium that a friend loaned to me. She has a commercial greenhouse, so I'm guessing all this stuff works ok. Chris is planning on building me an adjustable light and I have a space that should be pretty safe from pets and kids.

So, my question now is do I leave the heat source on after the seeds have germinated? Also, how long do I leave the plastic cover on the trays? I searched online and no one breaks it down to the really basic simple steps for those of us who have no idea what we're doing.

Looking through these post quickly I didn't see one very important element ot floresent light starting. Put your tubes from the fixture very close to the top of your seeds. and inch or two. As the seeds pop out and start to grow keep the light close within an inch or two. If you don't do this your plants will get leggy. I start in a home made grow box. Its a frame with a slidding glass door hinged for the lid. I put my flats in this box to aid in moisture retention. For Heat I use an air matress filled with water, With a water bed heater under it. I suspend cooking sheets with my seed trays above the heated air matress. This setup is in my unheated homemade greenhouse. I have used florested tubes in my unheated basement sith great results also.
Good luck. I'm not sure but there may be some photos of my set up on this site somewhere.

Katt,
Pull the cover off as soon as the seeds have germinated. Leaving it on longer will increase the chance of diseases. The plants need to pump water to dry air to grow, so lowering the humidity helps them set going.

Hi all,
I use those boxes or cartons that you get baked chicken in from COSTCO as mini-green houses. I use those jiffy-7, (The grandkids love to see them grow when you place them in water.), peat pills you can buy @ Home Depot, one or two seeds per pill and place them in the box. The lid snaps in place so it won't blow off. Then I set the boxes in a place where they can get sun and wait for them to sprout. One thing I forgot one time is to label what I planted in which box.
If you punch drainage holes up the side of the black bottom box, you won't have to worry about too much rain drowning the seeds.  You can plant your seeds now in the cold country, when it is time for the seedlings to sprout
they will sprout.  Just check them once a day to make sure they don't dry out.  It won't hurt them to freeze, unless you are trying to start tropical seedlings.
This is a great way you can get grandkids interested in gardening.
Paul.

Hi MikeT,
Thanks for the videos, They Were Great!!
Also thanks for the suggestions about using a fork to make holes and move the media around!!
I will show my grandkids the videos so they can understand what they are doing.
I do use large forceps to handle the seeds. One of the gifts of old age are shaky hands. I can pick up single seeds better with the forceps.
Again, Thanks,
Paul.

Those were some nice videos....
Thanks
Frank

The grand-kid trick I used on mine was to plant peas in clear plastic cups filled with media. Put the peas against the wall of the glass and the roots will develop before their eyes. The girls watched them every morning and again at night until it was time to plant their plants in 'their' garden...

Oh, and thanks for the props on the video...

Does anyone know of an automated way of making sure your seedlings get the water and light they need?

I'll be travelling for about 10 days in early April, but I want to start seedlings in March for planting in May. It would be very helpful if there was an automated kit which turned on and off light and dispensed a set amount of water into a pan full of seedlings.

I fear I'll have to rig up something, but if there's one out there already no point reinventing it.

Thank you to everyone who offered their help!

We started our seeds on Sunday afternoon and as of this morning we have broccoli, kohlrabi, melon and 3 kinds of squash up already!

So - now what? Do I keep the heat mat on or turn it off and let them grow in the house-temp of 57-67 degrees?

I would take the heat mat off and let them grow.

Good Job
Frank

Thanks, Frank!

We were really excited to find starts this morning - makes spring feel even closer!

And I checked this afternoon - we have peas (to try growing inside) brussle sprouts, and tomatoes now too.

Hi, I'm in the UK and quite new to growing things. So this is probably a silly question.

I started some Aubergine seeds off in my spare room (the warmest in the house) and the instructions said to cover with a plastic bag or propagator and remove when seedlings appear. So now some are showing (maybe a quarter of what I sowed). Do I take the bag off now? Or wait until they all come up?

Not a silly question - I'm sure you read over all the questions I had... that's what we're here for - helping and sharing!

Granted, this is my first try with seedlings, but I'd leave the plastic on for another day or two. I found with my seedlings that one would sprout and many more would follow the next day or even later in the afternoon. They probably wont' all come up, but it sounds like you are well on your way!

Thanks! I will do that then.