Seed-starting Basics

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Heirloom bean seedlings emerge. David Cavagnaro

By Nancy Bubel

After the warmth of holiday gatherings and festivities, planning for spring comforts us in the cold, short days of winter. Apart from the satisfying process of nurturing little green seedlings under your roof, practical reasons exist to start some of your seeds indoors. First, well-established young plants will produce earlier, thus giving you a longer picking season. In Northern states, such as Pennsylvania, where I live, we start heat-loving, long-season crops such as okra and eggplant indoors if we are to expect anything from them before Labor Day.

Second, many of us routinely start garden plants indoors — rather than buying seedlings from a nursery — to take advantage of special varieties available only from seed companies. Whatever your requirements — tomatoes for drying, storage or exceptional flavor; white eggplants; seedless watermelons; long-keeping cabbage; hot peppers; slow-bolting lettuces — these and many more vegetables with special qualities can be yours if you grow the plants from seed.

Unless you have a greenhouse or a large bank of fluorescent lights, you’ll want to be selective about the varieties of vegetables, herbs and flowers you start at home. Pick ones that will benefit the most from an early start. Given space for only a few, I’d choose tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and cabbage; basil and parsley; and snapdragons and dahlias from the “Spring Indoor Seed-starting Guide.”

Several others, including beets, Brussels sprouts and Chinese cabbage, don’t necessarily need a head start indoors, but I have done so on occasion. Beets need to be thinned, and they are sensitive to toxins in the soil. Brussels sprouts reach their best flavor in fall from spring planting. If you start Chinese cabbage early, sow it in individual pots because transplanting sometimes can make it bolt to seed prematurely.

The following vegetables are not usually recommended for indoor seed sowing: asparagus, snap beans, lima beans, carrots, corn, endive (best in fall from spring outdoor sowing), parsnips (best eaten in fall), radishes, spinach (seeds germinate well in cool soil), soybeans, Swiss chard and turnips. Herbs that fit in this category include dill, cilantro and summer savory.

HOW TO BEGIN

Your seed orders have arrived and you’re ready to plant. First, gather your containers. These can be special seed-starting flats, cubes or other systems ordered from a catalog; flats made from scrap wood; or a cobbled-together assortment of cut-down milk cartons, used aluminum pans, chipped pots, cottage cheese tubs, etc.