Starting from seeds: UR doin it WRONG!

Last season, we ordered a lot of vegetable seeds. We hadn't really grown from seed before, we usually just got little plants at the nursery. We didn't have a clue about starting seeds! It was already mid-May before we got started. Our major error, we later found out, was putting our seed flat full of soil pellets outside on our front porch. Here in the South, in mid-May, it's already too hot outside for most seeds to germinate well. We were having days above 80 degrees. Out of the several dozen seeds we planted, only a couple sunflowers and zucchini squash came up... As it turns out, most seeds sprout best at room temperature, more or less, and some seeds just can't germinate at high temperatures. Well, at least we learned what not to do, and as usual, we had to learn it the hard way!

 Here's a pic of last year's porch set-up: the seed tray, small pots with some of the sprouts, and some transplants we had bought from the local nursery.

The great thing about starting with seeds is that you get a ton of them! We spent $40 on seeds last year and we didn't even put a dent in them. Now, the seed companies would like you to think that your seeds expire after a year, so that you can buy a new supply for every season... but, really? I've talked to some experienced gardeners who tell me that seeds will last 3-5 years or longer if kept in a cool, dry, dark place. Now that's more like it! So, we'll be starting off this season with the seeds we bought last year, supplemented by a few others we picked up at our local nursery. We spent most of the winter studying gardening books to increase this year's chances of success...