![]() Left on too long, domes can kill seedlings. Once your plants have popped up, they need lots of air and light. Domes are really only used on the trays until the seeds germinate, which for some varieties may be as few as a few days. Plus, having variable plant heights in the same tray makes adjusting the height of the lights over the trays difficult (shorter plants within the tray can get leggy when light is adjusted for the taller plants).ĭO remove the plastic humidity dome after your seeds germinate. Germination rates vary by variety so it is best to have all the cells filled with the same flowers, that way you won’t be forced to remove the dome too soon for a row of early germinators or too late for those slow to germinate. Once sprouted, move the tray off the heat and make room for the next seed starting tray(s).ĭON’T seed more than one type of flower in the tray, especially if you plan to use a humidity dome. Leave your seed starting trays on the heat mat only until they germinate. If you are a home gardener or small scale flower farmer you can get by with just one or two mats. One year I totally jumped the gun and planted zinnias way too soon and I had plants busting out of their pots, becoming root bound because they had no where to go. They were ready to be transplanted outside, but the spring frosts hadn’t yet passed, so I had to throw them all away.ĭO use bottom heat to get your seeds started. It is amazing how much faster and how much better seeds germinate with a little heat at their feet. If your frost-free date isn’t until mid-May, for example, you’ll want to start your foxglove now, but hold off on fast-growing, heat loving zinnias until later. If you read the seed packets or catalog descriptions, you’ll note that it is recommended to start some slow-growing flowers earlier (10-12 weeks before your last frost) than others (4-6 weeks). If they are really tiny like Iceland poppies or snapdragons, you’ll probably wash them away and have to start over.ĭON’T start your seeds too early. In the rush to get growing, it is easy to fall into the trap of starting all your seeds all at once. If you add your seeds to dry potting mix and then try to overhead water, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll send your seeds floating to the corners of the container. When it came time to transplant, instead of popping the plants out with a nice solid chunk of soil attached, the soil separated from the roots and I ended up with a crumbly mess and traumatized plants.ĭON’T forget to moisten the seed starting mix prior to adding your seeds. I remember mangling a whole mess of baby snapdragons because I had been sloppy about filling the flats with the soil. By pressing down on the soil, you not only eliminate air pockets that little rootlets don’t like, but you also make it so much easier to remove your baby plants once they are ready to transplant. This list of quick tips is meant to complement other resources I’ve already created, plus help you learn from some of my greatest seed starting blunders.ĭO tamp down the soil into your containers or cell packs. I’ve put together a little list of some Do’s and Don’t when it comes to seed starting. Learning the hard way isn’t the most fun way to start seeds, so hopefully you can avoid making these same mistakes. Seriously, I’ve found some pretty lame ways to waste expensive seed and lots of creative ways to kill baby plants over the years. There’s nothing I hate more than seeing trays of beautiful little baby flowers go downhill before my eyes because I overwatered, underwatered, or got too excited about transplanting and didn’t properly harden them off. ![]() In the Floret Shop, I’ve included sowing and growing instructions for dozens of my favorite flowers. ![]() Here on the blog, you’ll find a post covering Seed Starting Basics. In the Floret Resources section, I have created a little Starting Seeds 101 tutorial and photo essay (be sure to click the arrows to advance the images) with some of the basics. In addition to some of the tips I’m sharing today, I want to make sure you know about a couple other sources of info here on the Floret site: One of my goals here on the blog is to provide you with the best information, to help you grow great flowers and hopefully dispel the notion that success is only possible for professionals. Starting your own seeds can be intimidating for new gardeners, but once you get the hang of it, there’s nothing to fear. ![]()
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