Germinating From Seed
Materials: Seed & Cutting Mix, Vermiculite, 2”x 2” Nursery Pots, Starting Tray, & Fresh Seeds
Planting Summer Squash…55 Days to Harvest
Spacing & Thinning Instructions
Fill your trays with Seed & Cutting mix to about 75%
Sprinkle thin layer of Vermiculite, enough to just cover soil. Place seeds on top of vermiculite and cover very lightly again with Vermiculite. This is less important with larger seeds like these but for small seeds, such as Peppers or Tomatoes, it is crucial not to bury the seed deep.
With larger squash seeds I placed about 4 in each container. We can pick our best growers in another week or two and thin out the other 3 in each pot.
All new plants look very similar when they sprout, it’s much easier to label now than to identify later.
Again, this is more important the smaller the seed but still best practice to not water from the top. I like to place my tray on a baking sheet and allow the soil to soak up water from underneath for about 10 minutes.
I use a spray bottle set to mist to soak the Vermiculite as well. Pouring water from a can or the sink will likely move and possibly bury your seeds, preventing their growth.
Allow the tray to drip dry for a few minutes to get excess water out. We’re ready to move to the growing shelf.
Materials: Indoor grow lights (LED is cheap and effective), metal shelf, heating mats, power strip with a timer, and a desk fan all courtesy of Jeff Bezos.
Our tray of squash seeds should sprout in a few days. It is important at this stage to keep the soil moist. You can cover these trays with plastic domes but I find it easier to use spare bubble wrap from all of those Amazon boxes. Not all seeds need light to sprout. The initial phase for most has more to do with moisture and temperature. The heat mats raise the ambient temperature by about 10 degrees. 70-80 degrees is perfect for germination.
The first two leaves of a seedling are called Cotyledons. Another reason that you don’t want to bury seeds too deep is because they won’t have enough energy to break through the soil. The plant is now able to use photosynthesis for energy. At this point, the heating mat and the bubble wrap are no longer necessary.
There is no nutrition in Seed & Cutting Mix or Vermiculite because fertilizer can burn seeds and prevent them from starting. After your seedling has developed it’s first set of real leaves, they will need nutrition.
All fertilizers come with a ratio on the packaging. This is a 3-1.5-2. . It is a ratio of Nitrogen to Phosphorus to Potassium, or NPK. For seedlings, you want close to a 1-1-1 but this is what I have on hand right now. Dilute this even further than the instructions say for seedlings…more like ¼ or ½.
Dilute in a spray bottle and spray the plants at the base trying to avoid the leaves. 5-10 pumps per pot every week should be good.
Keep these moist and fertilized until they are ready to move outside. It is important to “harden off” your seedlings before transplanting. The fan helps with this while indoors. Simulating a breeze forces the stalk to strengthen but going directly outside will likely kill them at this point. When you are ready to move to outdoor pots or a garden, begin setting tray outside for an hour the first day, two the second and so on for about a week. Now your seedlings are ready for the big time!
This year all of the tomatoes I grew from seed for the first time. I started peppers too late so we bought transplants at a nursery. Back row: Kentucky Half-Runner Green Beans from seed sowed directly in soil outside Middle rows: All sorts of variety of tomato and two Sugar Baby watermelons to the right Front row: Variety of peppers
Check back in about another month and I hopefully will have some green beans, tomatoes, and peppers!
