It's time! For what? ... to get those tomato, pepper and eggplant seeds started indoors.
My first year of growing I planted lots of bell pepper and eggplant seeds as soon as it was warm enough outside for them to grow... sometime in April here in Zone 8a.
Well, a few weeks after Labor Day (🙄) I had the most beautiful peppers and eggplants growing...long after all the other summer harvest was done.
This is when I learned about starting my peppers and tomatoes in MARCH so they have time to germinate and start growing long before it's time for them to go outside. Peppers take sooooo long to germinate. I seriously thought all of my seeds were DEAD that first year, but they weren't. They just take a long time.
The general rule is to get your seeds started 6-8 weeks prior to the last Frost Date in your area. You can look up the last frost date in your area here.
Today I started the seed planting process.
This is what I started today:
🍅 cherry tomatoes, and 2 'indeterminate' type tomatoes
🫑Bell peppers, cayenne peppers, hot peppers, and Jimmy Nardello Italian peppers
🍆Black Beauty eggplants
🥬Red Russian Kale
🌿Purple Basil, and Green basil.
In a couple of days I'm going to start lots of flowers seedlings! I need another mat first though.
SEED STARTING TIPS
🌱Use either seed starting soil or you can use regular potting mix you just might have to run it through a 1/2" sifter to get the big chunks of bark out so they don't hinder the new seeds pushing through.
🌱Water the new seeds from the bottom rather than on top to prevent fungus and fungus gnats. You can also sprinkle a little cinnamon on top of the soil after planting the seed to prevent fungus gnats.
🌱Put your seeds on a plant heating mat until the seeds germinate. You can purchase them on Amazon here (Plant Heating Mat). It's a low low heat but it's steady and warm enough for the seeds to germinate. As soon as the seeds germinate take them off the mat. Leaving them on will either kill them or cause them to get very leggy and weak.
Note: Someone asked me about using a heating pad that is used for sore muscles, etc. The only problem I've found with using 'people' heating mats is that they usually have an automatic cut off after 2 hours so you would have to check the mat regularly to see if it was still on. You want your mat to stay warm continually until the seeds germinate. Also, plant mats are plastic so you don't have to worry about getting them wet.
🌱You will need to put the new seeds under a grow light of some sort. You don't have to get a specific grow light like in my set up above. You can really use any light I heard.
Most people use some kind of plant grow light or something like a florescent light. Bottom line, the seeds and new seedlings need light! Lots of it. I leave my lights on them about 16 hours per day. I keep the light close to the top of the new leaves so they don't get leggy.
🌱 LABEL YOUR SEEDS! I promise you, once you plant all the seeds and they start growing you won't know what is what. Unless you don't care, I suggest labeling. You see that I used a wooden spoon to label mine. You can use whatever you have around the house.
🌱 Last, BE PATIENT. It can feel like a long process but just focus on the end result. Big, beautiful produce.... and your produce won't likely be RECALLED!
That's all. I just wanted to send a quick note to let you know this is the time to get your indoor seed starting set up if you are planning to do it at all.
Let me know what you are growing! That reminds me. After this newsletter grows a little bit more, I plan to set up a community chat page where you can easily ask me questions and we can share knowledge, challenges, successes, etc.
Happy Growing!
I'll see you in the next edition!
Jan ✌🏽
