In sports, I think the term is false starts. Whistles blow, refs get loud, and penalties can be involved. But in gardening, an early start — if done right — will help win the planting game.
OK, I’m calling a time-out on my sports puns; I would be inviting bad calls and angry fans with my lack of knowledge. I’ll stick with gardens.
Now is the time to start seeds indoors. Think of this as training camp: Tiny seeds are coached into seedlings before they get to play in the big leagues of the garden.
This year, I saved egg cartons throughout the winter and will begin my seeds there. Other years, I have used trays and small peat cups or pods on cookie sheets. Garden centers and garden departments will have plenty of supplies if needed.
The soil you use should be light and fluffy enough for the young seedlings to find their way through. Fill the containers three-quarters full of soil. Then, drop one or two seeds in each cell, or in my case, egg cradle. It’s easy to get carried away and add more seeds; this will only cause crowding later on.
After the seeds are sown, top them off with a thin layer of soil. Then water the seeds.
Don’t go crazy with the water; use enough to wet the soil but not create puddles in the bottom.
Important pro tip: Label your trays. There is no need to guess which seeds are which. Remember, teams put athletes’ names on jerseys, so you should name your seedling trays.
Third quarter of the game. The seeds are in the soil; the soil has moisture; now, it is time to create a mini greenhouse to provide the ideal environment for germination.
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This can be a plastic tray cover, plastic wrap, or even plastic bags. If you bought seed trays, they may have come with a plastic dome-like lid. Regardless of what the trays are covered with, the goal is to keep the moisture inside. The odds are good that with this mini greenhouse, you may not need to water the soil until seedlings appear.
Keeping the trays on a warm surface will help with germination. Think of them as warming the bench. Literally. Seed warming mats are available. Please don’t use your heating pad; it is not water-resistant.
Once the seeds have germinated and seedlings appear, remove the plastic covers.
Now the seedlings need light. If you don’t have a sunny window, consider grow lights. They seem to be everywhere now and in all shapes and sizes.
Give the newbies light for at least 6 hours a day. Pay attention to the moisture levels of the soil. Like athletes, these seedlings need water to stay healthy and perform.
Although there is a roster of seed choices to start early, I am going to draft zinnias, snapdragons, marigolds, tomatoes, and maybe even peppers for the seeding sowing game.
I have had luck with tomatoes and zinnias, so this is an expanded list of players for the pre-frost team.
As they grow, the seedlings may need to be transplanted to larger containers, but if I time it right (6 weeks before the last frost), the seedlings may be able to go straight to the garden after hardening them off or acclimating to the outdoors sun and temps.
There has been lots of talk about sports and brackets this week. As coaches are formulating game plans, I am mapping out my plays and doing the work to create a winning team of seedlings ready for the court around mid-May.
