Healthy garden
Seed starting mistakes and easy solutions Story and photos by Petra Page-Mann
MISTAKE #1: Starting everything at once and too soon
On the first gloriously warm days of spring, it’s so tempting to sow all our seeds to celebrate: We are the harbingers! Alas, just like making a cake, timing is everything with ingredients just so, and starting seeds at the right time makes all the difference. Especially in the age of social media, it’s easy to feel endlessly behind the curve … and still start seeds too soon. EASY SOLUTION: Dig into Fruition’s planting calendar
Leaning into your regional gardening community is one of the best ways to have confidence, whether you’ve gardened for years or dreamed for years. Here in the Finger Lakes, Zone 5, we’ve made planting calendars as well as direct sow and transplant charts to set you up for success! For our full collection of calendars, growing guides and garden planners, join Fruition’s free Growing Library on our website. We also crow when we’re sowing on social media, so you don’t have to wonder! You’ll find us on Instagram as @fruition_seeds as well as on Facebook.
ABOVE: It's easy to sow seeds too deep: Most seeds are ideally sown twice their depth.
8 | MARCH-APRIL 2022
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tarting your own seeds can be intimidating, but here’s the thing: Seeds are in the world to transform the world, starting with themselves. A seed germinating is absolute magic. Both an art and a science, it took me years to become a confident seed starter, from yogurt cups on my father’s windowsill overlooking Canandaigua Lake to decades later, starting thousands of seeds on our organic seed farm each season. If I can do it, we all can! With the right timing, tools, and techniques, seed starting is remarkably fun and easy. After teaching seed starting to thousands of people, here are the five common seed starting mistakes I see people make, along with easy solutions to surround you with abundance for years (and generations!) to come:
MISTAKE #2: Egg cartons are for eggs (not for starting seeds!) Despite quaint Pinterest images, egg cartons are too small and curvaceous to grow healthy seedlings. Jiffy pots would be convenient, but their potting mix is too poor quality to grow healthy seedlings, either. EASY SOLUTION: Options abound!
The great news is this: You have an abundance of seed starting options, friends! Soil blocks (see photo), by far, grow the healthiest seedlings, naturally air-pruning and never becoming root-bound. Plastic cell trays as well as six-packs are convenient, though much more prone to becoming root-bound. Peat or “cow” pots are biodegradable and grow great seedlings. As long as you poke holes so they drain, yogurt cups and other recyclables can easily upcycle. Take-out containers can also be used as seed-starting trays and toilet paper rolls cut into one-inch rounds can grow healthy four-week-old seedlings, as well.
