Growing your own plants from seed in your own home is MAGIC.

Learn how to get started, what you’ll need, and what to expect in this video.

Find your last frost date

Check your hardiness zone (using zipcode) and planting times for each type of plant to know when to start your seeds indoors.

Soil temperature matters!

Hot peppers require REALLY warm soil (80-85 degrees F) to germinate and grow. The heating mat is required in that case unless you have a super warm greenhouse.

By the way, some seeds won’t sprout if they get too warm! For example, lettuce and other cool weather crops like soil temps in the 50-60 degrees F range.

Use a fan to prepare plants for the outdoors

About the fan: I'm turning it on for a few hours each day, not constantly.

The cover stays off now that seeds have sprouted (for air circulation). Give them as much sun as possible.

Don’t forget to transplant!

If you started with cells (tiny pots), your seedlings will need to be transplanted to a larger pot once they grow true leaves. The pots I used are a good size to transplant directly into the garden once the plant is 6-10 inches tall.

You can always transplant again at that point to a larger pot if your garden isn't ready or if you are growing your tomatoes in containers.

Tomatoes don't mind being transplanted several times, regardless of size. The one rule of transplanting tomatoes is to cover 2/3 of the plant in the new container. Bury them deep! Even if the soil covers some of the lower leaves.

Required Equipment

Seed Starting Mix: I always get this bag from Wal-Mart, not an important distinction.

Pots: I like to collect the small plastic pots from transplants I buy from the store. They’re a great size and stronger than those cheap black plastic pots

Seed Starting Plugs: Sort of required… You can use these first, then transplant to the larger pots, or you can just use the larger pot the whole time! I haven’t tried this kind BTW, just an example. :)

Seeds: Of Course!

Optional Equipment

Heating Mat: Here’s the heating mat I bought and love since making this video! Use this for tomatoes and peppers. DON’T use it for lettuce, spinach, broccoli and other cool weather crops.

Grow Lights: I haven’t tried these yet, but looking to very soon! If your little plants are long, leggy, floppy, and/or growing slowly, they most likely need more UV light! Put them outside if you can, cover them with a clear plastic tub for warmth, or get some grow lights.

I always say wait until you know you need something to buy it - I’ve made do with my window set up for several years, but now I’m getting serious about growing more plants indoors, especially lavender from seed!

Thanks for watching!

Lauresa

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