This class will cover the advantages of starting your own seeds indoors and under cover outdoors. Participants will learn proper seed-starting techniques and find out how to foster the right conditions for growing seedlings to transplant size. Participants will take home seeds that they start in the class.

1. January 2012
© Independence Gardens LLC
Download the handout
that goes along with
this slideshow!
h p://bit.ly/xnpYix
Seed-Starting
Independence Gardens
Portland, OR
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

2. What We’ll Cover Today
Preview
Got Questions?
Topics We’ll Cover
• What is a seed?
Please ask as we go along.
• How does it work, & what
does it need?
• Why start seeds indoors?
• When/where/how to plant
• Making a seed-starting setup
• Best seeds for seed-starting
and where to get them
• Seedling care
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

3. What is a seed?
Seed: A mature fertilized plant ovule consisting of an embryo and its
food source and having a protective coat or testa
Or…: A potential plant, dormant until it experiences the right
conditions, when it uses the energy it has stored to grow until it can
photosynthesize
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

4. How does it work?
• Cotyledons
(cot-ull-EE-
dons)
come rst
• en, look
for “true”
(foliage)
leaves
• Germ time
depends on
plant, seed
quality, etc. Plant parts exercise!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

5. Why start seeds indoors?
• Cost
– It’s generally cheaper to start your own
• Save and share seed; store seed properly so you can use it for a few years
• Timing
– It’s easy to get a jump-start on the season, stagger plantings, and
grow mega-veggies!
• Reliability
– It’s hard to know where your starts were before they came to
you…unless you grew them
Alternatives: Starting seeds outside with season-extenders (cloches and cold frames)
or oating row covers (reemay); buying plants as starts to transplant later in the season.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

6. What does a seed need?
• Growing medium
– Soilless seed-starting mix is recommended
• Garden soil is heavy and can harbor disease organisms
– Seed must be in rm contact with the soil all around it
• Warmth
– Consistency is key (avoid uctuations)
– Most cool-season veggies will germinate at room temp
– On the other hand, warm-season plants (tomatoes, peppers,
cukes, eggplant, okra, squashes, or melons) need temps of
75°-90° to germinate, and a er that, like to hang out between 60°
and 75°
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

7. What (else) does a seed need?
• Moisture
– Water from below so soil is damp, not
soaking
– Damping-off (  ) is a fungal problem
associated with soil that is too wet!
• Light
– As soon as it emerges
– 14 hrs./day (in 2011, the rst day this
happens without supplemental light:
April 25)
– Automation: light timers are lovely
• Air ow
– Plants get “leggy” ( ) if there’s not
enough air movement/light’s far away
• Space & time
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

8. When to plant
• Find your last frost date
~April 15, in Portland
• Count backward an appropriate length of time!
– Varies by plant; check seed packet and planting calendar
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

9. When to plant example: broccoli
• Last frost date is 4/15
• Broccoli is safe to set out 4 weeks before to 2-3
weeks a er last frost date
• It takes 6 to 8 weeks to get to transplant size
• 4 weeks before 4/15 is 3/18 & 3 weeks a er is 5/6
= Plant (3/18 minus 8 wks.) to (5/6 minus 6 wks.)
= Sow seeds indoors 1/21-3/25
• Our best advice: STAGGER YOUR PLANTINGS
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

10. Where to plant
• Choose your own container
– Needs to be well-drained, so poke drainage holes if the
setup doesn’t have them already
– Err on the side of shallow
• You can transplant to a larger container before transplanting
out to the garden ( “up-po ing,” or “po ing up”)
– Sanitize pots if
you are reusing
• 10% bleach
solution/15 min.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

11. Make a seed-starting setup
• Use materials you have on hand
– Bookshelves
– Utility shelves
– Shop lights
• Lights
– Light sets
2-4 in. above
growing tips
– Moveable to
t different
varieties
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

12. How to plant: dig, drill, dump!
• Depends on the size of the seed: plant at a depth
~2x the seed diameter
– Dig: make a hole, drop in the seed, and cover it up
– Drill: the nger-poke method
• For larger seeds: put the seed
atop unpacked soil, and poke it
in up to your rst knuckle
– Dump: the sprinkle method
• For smaller seeds: shake a few out of
the seed packet onto the soil
– Other methods ()
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

13. Your best bets
• Brassicas • Nightshades
– Kale – Tomatoes
– Cabbage – Peppers
– Chinese cabbage – Eggplants
– Broccoli
– Cauli ower
– Brussels sprouts
NOTE: You can try to start just about anything early indoors just try to take
extra-good care of them…and hedge your bets by planting some outside, too.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

14. Not your best bets
• Root vegetables • Cucurbits
– Radishes – Cucumbers
– Carrots – Squash
– Beets • Winter (e.g. pumpkins) and
summer (e.g. zucchini)
– Turnips
– Melons
– Parsnips
• Fussy greens
• Peas
– Spinach
• Beans – Swiss chard
• Corn
• Dill
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

15. Caring for your plant-babies
• Light
– 2-4 in. above plants, 14 hrs./day
• Water
– From below
• Organic fertilizer
– A er true leaves appear
• Brushing or fanning
– Make ‘em stocky!
• inning
– Do it (down to 1 plant/cell)
• Hardening off
– Acclimatize
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

16. And nally…
• Focus on organic, heirloom, and especially local varieties
– Healthy seeds, diverse characteristics, suited for
cultivation here
• An insider’s tip on where to get seeds this season:
–www.SabinGardens.org
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

17. Next steps for you!
• Take the handouts home and ll
out the date ranges for planting
– Just your favorites to save time/
energy
• Look through your seeds/seed
catalogues and select your top
picks
• Make a plan: put your seeding
dates on your garden calendar
• Logistics: set up your seed-
starting area before you need it
• Put your plan into action!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

18. Questions?
Tuesday, January 31, 2012