Starting Seedlings and Hardening Off

This year I finally decided to invest in a grow light setup so I could start seeds indoors. I had tried several times before with mixed results. Mostly the seedlings came up, had fabulous potential, then died off. I blame myself for those failures as I’m sure I lost interest at some point and did not treat the new little lives as kindly as I should have. I have come a long way with learning patience and care and this year had a very successful batch of seedlings.

Grow lights a-growin'

Over the winter I did a lot of research into grow lights. At first I thought I would rig up something on my own. I could buy a couple lights and then build some sort of stand but then I would need a spare table or sideboard which would cost more. Trying to be economical seemed to cost a lot more in time and effort. In the end, I went to the Gardener’s Supply Company website and ordered the Stack-n-Grow light system with one add on shelf. The unit was easy to set up, light weight, and had nearly enough room for all my seedlings. I say nearly enough because by the time I re-potted all of them, it was full to overflowing.

Brand new set-up with its first seedlings

I started my first seedlings at the end of February. I have been planning a flower garden (a very un-Shaker garden) since last fall. I priced out perennial plants and decided to try starting some seeds on my own. I planted Echinacea, butterfly weed, lavender, chrysanthemums, columbine, and wild Oswego tea, the seeds of which my husband collected while in the field for work. They all sprouted within a week and quickly grew into strong little plants. I thinned each to one per cell and watched most of them thrive. About a month after planting, I transplanted the seedlings into 3” peat pots. I had nearly a dozen of each variety.

Oswego tea seedlings before thinning

Butterfly weed seedlings, tall and proud

In early March I started tomatoes and peppers. I had gotten the tomato seeds free in 2014 with a catalog order. They are Martino’s Roma tomatoes, a variety I have never tried before. I usually like growing Juliet tomatoes and some kind of beefsteak but I figured I would give these a try. If they didn’t come, I could always get some other varieties at the greenhouse. But they did come and are doing quite well. I transplanted them twice before planting them out – first from the starter cells to peat pots then once more into large plastic pots. They were large enough to set out in the peat pots but the weather was still a bit iffy and I didn’t want to stunt their growth in the 3” pots. That seemed to be a good decision. I transplanted them out into the garden a week ago and they now have little buds on them.

Peppers and tomatoes in larger pots

Tomato successfully transplanted into the garden

I tried starting two types of peppers – California Wonder sweet peppers and Poblano peppers. The Poblano seeds came from a pepper we got at the grocery store and apparently were not viable. That’s too bad. I purchased the sweet pepper seeds and they grew very well. I did lose one of the seedlings early on but I still had five to plant out into the garden. They are looking particularly green and lovely so I have high hopes.

Peppers happily transplanted

So green!

I started another round of seedlings in early April – cantaloupe, fennel, dill, and cilantro. The herb seeds came from a Chia herb garden I found on clearance after Christmas. I had actually started the basil, parsley, and marjoram from the kit in January. (There were only three pots in the kit even though there were five packets of seeds. Weird.) So, the extra herb seeds got started with this round.

Fennel and cantaloupe seedlings in peat pots

I have learned that hardening off the seedlings is very important for successful transplant. Our back porch is wonderful for such a thing. It faces east so it gets some sunlight in the morning and shade in the afternoon. It is screened in so that air can move through but strong winds are a bit tempered. The flower seedlings got a good week of hardening off before I planted them out.

Hardening off the flower seedlings

Unfortunately, I kind of forgot to start hardening off the vegetable plants until three days before I intended to transplant them. I transplanted the flowers about ten days before the veggies and herbs. So, the veggies got a rapid transition on a particularly hot Memorial Day weekend but the vast majority of them did just fine. The dill and cilantro, however, melted right into the dirt and were no more. I’m not too heartbroken, however. I’ll directly plant some dill seeds in the garden and I don’t like cilantro anyway. It is a vile-tasting herb. I only started the seeds because I had them.

Panorama of my lovely garden on June 4, 2016

Overall, the seed starting went very well. I will certainly be doing it again next year.