Seed Starting, Transplanting & Nutrients

Here's an older post from our old blog.  Enjoy!

Sometimes you get lucky and you plant a seed, give it a bit of water and it grows.  Other times it takes more effort to get things growing.

1. Remember that each seed variety germinates at a different rate.  Example:  Beans can take as few as 5 days to germinate while tomatoes may take up to 14 days.  Cabbage can germinate in as few as 5 days and peppers typically germinate in 10-14 days.

2.  Soak your seeds.  Not all seeds should be soaked.  I prefer to soak seeds like peppers, squash and tomatoes.  Soaked seeds tend to germinate quicker after a 12-24 hour soaking.  I soak beans for only 3 hours before I plant.

4.  Soil.  For smaller seeds, delicate seeds or sometimes just because, I use Coconut Coir Pellets for seed starting.  We use Coconut Coir because it is not acidic like peat moss.  I know that the soil has not been contaminated with soilbourne fungus or disease AND Coconut Coir pellets make transplanting simple and easy.  When transplanting your seedlings in pellets I place the entire pellet into the ground or soil-filled container and cover with dirt.  EASY!

If you're growing seedlings indoors, they might have been pampered all winter/spring.  Aside from the random cat attack or possibly too much watering, they have been relatively safe compared to the dangers that await them in the great outdoors.