Notes From The Potting Shed #2 (tips for starting seeds indoors)

Welcome to Week #2 of my new weekly gardening post with ideas for what to do from week to week as we get ready for our summer gardens.

My Floret special zinnia and dahlia seed blends are here!

Seed Orders - All my seed orders have finally arrived. I am finished! No more ordering. The last to arrive were the Floret flower seeds. They were very pricey, but can I just say... I am so excited for these!

I'd like to say no more seed purchases, but I would probably be lying ; ) I will check the racks wherever I go, as one is wont to do, even though I do not need even one more thing!

Check out these lovely Apricotta cosmos at https://elinlannsjo.elle.se/elins-personliga/about-it-all/

This garden above is one of my favourites, it is my 'muse' garden. Elin blogs in both English and Swedish, but if nothing else, her garden photos are to die for. I just love those Apricotta cosmos.

If you are new here, you are probably thinking that I am a flower gardener after all this talk about flower seeds. Quite the opposite actually. I am such a rabid (hah) food grower that my veggie seeds were ordered a long, long time ago, so also arrived long ago. The flowers come after the veggies have been seen to first.

A wheelbarrow full of paste tomatoes for canning, plus a bit of basil on the side.

I am crazy about growing heirloom tomatoes, but grow a bit of everything. Anything the family eats, including the dogs, I will grow.

The flowers give me a cutting garden, but best of all, they attract bees and beneficial insects. Feeding the bees ensures that I have fantastic germination (never have to help the squash along) and attracting beneficial insects means I have natural pest control.

My fancy schmancy seed starting station in the guest bedroom.

Tips for how to start seeds indoors.

I grow all my seeds in a bright south facing window. I use a heating mat, humidity dome, and ProMix potting soil. I do not use extra lights, just the bright, cool window. If starting seeds in the house with no additional lights, you need...

• bright south facing window, or better yet, south and east corner window.

• do not start too early so that they overgrow your space.

• Cool room, ideally 12° to 15°C (50 to 60°F) to keep them from stretching out.
  

This is my bougie (hah!) seed starting station the way it looks right now, today. The tray on the right has the heat mat in it, the one on the left has the transplants.

*As an Amazon affiliate, if you purchase an item from one of these links, I make a teeny bit of money to support my blog. It does not cost you a penny more than it would if you went to the item on your own, without my link. Huge thanks : )

Seed That I Will Be Starting This Week

Snapdragons - I have these guys in the freezer so they'll be ready to sow this weekend. They will then be sown right on top of the soil, not covered with soil as they need light to germinate, placed on bottom heat with the humidity dome on top.

Dahlias - Can be sown anytime this month. Seeds are sown as usual, no special requirements. As I can pop them into either the mini greenhouse, or the greenhouse to grow on, I will start them this weekend. Dahlias are very sensitive to cold weather, so do not harden them off too early! These seed dahlias will make small tubers that can be lifted at the end of the season to store for next year.

Thunbergia - I want to get these vining beauties off to a good start, be of a decent size for when I pop them into my hanging baskets. Thunbergia is great in full sun or mostly shade.

Asters - I think I will sow a few asters and then direct seed the rest in May.

Tomatoes - If you are following from the PNW, I always started my tomatoes in mid to late March on the island. That was perfect timing there. I am going to do the same timing here on the prairies this year, even though our last frost date is 2 to 3 weeks later.

As the season is a few weeks shorter, am hoping that having the plants just a bit more mature when they go out gives them enough time to do their thing. Fingers crossed! Am also planting them in the sunniest and most sheltered areas of this new yard. I need to make a lot of sauce and a case of salsa, too.

That is it for me this week, will start the brassicas in a few weeks. You can start perennials, onions, peppers, leeks, celery, herbs, eggplants, onions, chives...

The Morden Midget eggplants from the same company are looking great.

On the heat mat today...

Eggplant Saga - I started 3 varieties on January 29th (all from Revival Seeds). The Morden Midgets all germinated just fine (see picture above), have been transplanted, are growing nicely. The other 2 varieties did nothing. Nada. I started some again on Feb 23rd, still zero germination. Not one seed has germinated.

I then decided to try germinating them in wet paper towel for the 3rd try, just like you would do to check to see if your seeds are still viable. Nothing has happened yet but if any germinate, I will plant them up. If not, good thing I grew 4 of the Morden Midgets so that I get eggplants this summer!

The potato onions (Cicada Seeds) are all up and have had their first haircut, they are off the heating mat to make room for the seeds I will sow this weekend. They got their first haircut.

The celery is ready to be transplanted now (6 weeks from sowing). They are about 2 inches high and look great.

The Globe Onions (Red and Yellow) got their 2nd haricut already.

Red and Yellow Globe Onions have had their 2nd haircut. When starting onions (and leeks) from seed, the tops will grow tall like grass. Each time they get to about 6 inches high, trim them back to one inch tall. This puts energy back into the bulb. If you have not yet started yours, today is a great day to sow.

The patio tomatoes/indoor tomatoes will soon be ready for their larger pots so I am on the lookout for some 6" clay or ceramic pots to grow them in.

Peppers, sweet and hot, all look great. See week #1 for varieties and more information.

Fertilising

I feed them every week or two, depending on how they look, with liquid seaweed or liquid kelp, or an organic tomato food. Yep, tomato food for all the seedlings. I always feed my plants on Fridays as Fertiliser Friday is easy to remember and keep track of when they were last fed.

In the greenhouse I used to also do pest control Sunday. That was the day I went through everything to check for bugs like fungus gnats, or worse. If I found aphids, I would spray the tray of seedlings with Safer's Trounce or End-All. I only used this in the greenhouse (or in the house) but never outside. For fungus gnats I used bio controls.

Outdoors I always allow nature to take it's course, never spray anything as any product that kill bad guys will also kill the good guys. So, I count on the birds and the beneficial insects to do their thing. If that fails, I toss the plant.

Other Things On My Mind...

Our wicked cold snap has ended, we are now in plus degrees during the day so the snow is slowly melting away. Will be at least a week yet till I can start emptying the greenhouse to get it ready for seedlings.

The heated shop/studio is getting interior paint this weekend, then needs flooring, lights, plug ins, set up, so we are probably 3 weeks out for using that. I will be holding how-to-grow workshops in the studio, plus move my seedlings out there. More on that once I can get in and show you around.

FAQ's

Question - When you say keep the seedlings cool and bright, how cool is cool?

Tanja - Ideally 10 to 15°C degrees, with 10 as the night time low and mid to high teens maximum for a high during the day.

Question - Is it too late to start peppers and eggplants from seed?

Tanja - It is not too late to start anything as of yet, but I would sow as soon as possible, especially the hots peppers as they (often) take longer to germinate. Put them on bottom heat for faster germination.

Question - Have you seed green dianthus seeds anywhere.

Tanja - I have not but they sound like a fun must-have! I would buy a plant or two at the nursery and allow them to self seed all around.

Just transplanted seedlings.

Question - how deep do I plant tomatoes when I transplant them? Can I do the same with peppers? Do I plant deeper every time I transplant?

Tanja - Transplant to about 1 cm below their bottom leaves as in the picture above. Yes, you do this with peppers, eggplants, and other seedlings the first time you transplant. Tomatoes can be planted deeper each time they are transplanted. Remove a bottom leaf or two, plant deeper each time.

Question - How often do I fertilise seedlings? What do I use to feed them?

Tanja - Once every week or two with a half strength, very mild fertiliser. I like liquid seaweed or kelp. To keep track of when I feed, I always do it on Fridays. Fertiliser Friday keeps me in line. Once your seedlings are bigger, well established, you can give them full strength vegetable fertiliser or liquid seaweed.

My last potager on the acreage.

Question - Hi Tanja, I'm wondering what you put under the stone mulch in between your beds at Nitty Gritty? I'm wanting to put stones between by beds but not sure what to lay down first. Sure miss you out here :)

Tanja - Nothing. We did not put anything under the pebbles in the walkway so that we could easily weed. Running a hoe through it was easy peasy. Had we put fabric underneath, it would have torn, ripped, caught up on the hoe, would have been a nightmare to weed. Plus fabric never ever looks good, it always shows.

I highly recommend that you do not put anything down, especially not plastic or landscape fabric. You will hate it. Weed seeds will blow into the rocks, germinate in the rocks, often embedding the roots into the fabric, making it a big mess.

Thank you all so much for your questions, please send more :)

Happy Growing~ Tanja