Starting Seeds

Last year my three trays of seeds never even made it to the surface. Perhaps they were old seeds, perhaps I over/under watered them. I have theories, but no definitive answers.

The ones I just threw in the ground in my raised beds did great. Interesting, no?!

Conclusion? So far in my gardening career, I really stink so far at growing seeds indoors. My uncle bailed me out with a bunch of seed starts he had left over. Show off.

Despite my seed death toll, I have decided to give it another go. This year, I have done even more research, and am flipping the script.

I have cleaned my trays with a 1:9 bleach water solution.

I have purchased sterilized potting soil instead of making it myself AND I am going to compare that with seeds planted in jiffy starters and "power plugs" from a local hydroponics store.

I am only planting seeds that say they are okay to start indoors. (maybe!)

I am setting up lights and keeping them on quite a bit.

I am going to use heating pads on a timer (one hour on, one off, at least at first.)

I am setting up a shelving system for all of this in my scary basement.

I am going to keep my little domes on the plants until they start.

I am only going to water them once and then pour out the excess water. After that, I will mist them a couple of times a day.

I am not going to fertilize them.

We will see how this all goes.

What have I learned from this? That you can read all you want, but in the end, you just have to go for it. Throw some seeds in some dirt, watch what happens, and reflect on what you want to do next time. Get over the idea that you are going to be good at something because you want to be. Isn't it more satisfying to be good at something because you worked hard at it?! Let go of any attachments to what you think should happen.

Good lessons for life, really.

Someday I will share about what I have learned from knitting.