So I've learned a new method of seed starting through the internet and want to help spread the word on how great of a method it is. I learned this method from a youtube video series I saw titled "Fork to Fork" The series was done by this particular Englishman and his family showing you how to grow vegetables and then how to harvest and cook them with simple methods and recipes. Highly informative and educational. Check it out.
Anyway here is what I gathered from it:
When we usually plant seeds we push them down into the soil a measure distance and then cover back up with soil. That has been the tried and tested method passed down the years. But it doesn't have to be that way. Especially when starting your seeds indoors. Outdoors I believe the method still stands because of weather conditions and animals/birds etc.
But indoors it doesn't have to be. And one of the reasons it doesn't is because the soil that is covering the seeds often acts as a barrier for the seeds to pop up through the soil. See often times when soil is given moisture and then dries out it creates a caked layer that tends to be hard to push through by a tender plant.
The new method to seed starting goes like this.. Place a nice layer of potting soil down first in your pods or pots. I like to use ProMix but any potting mix should do. Once you have your soil down go ahead and just place your seed(s) on top of the soil. Like shown in the picture below. You can see a pepper seed (looks like a minature potato chip).
Once I had my seeds in place I watered the soil and seed carefully not to float the seeds away. You'll understand why I water the seeds on top in just a moment.
Once you have wet soil and a wet seed I carefully layered on top of the seed and soil a dose of vermiculite to cover the seed. The vermiculite will act as a soil substitute that won't cake together to barrier the growing seed and the vermiculite is also great at holding moisture.
Once I've covered all the seeds with vermiculite I water in again. This way I know both the soil, seed and vermiculate have adequate water to start. If I just waited to the end to water the soil might not get a good amount of moisture do the moisture holding qualities of the vermiculite.
Now the way I start seeds is indoors with a heat mat, lights, and a hydrofarm germination dome. I've started seeds a total of four times in the past with reasonably high sucess rates and generally quick germination time periods of a week or so. I thought that was pretty good.. Using this new method with vermiculite and seeds on top of the soil I saw results in TWO days. Yes you read that right.. And I don't just mean the squashes and tomatoes.
I've seen a much higher sucess rate of the seedlings as well. Usually I'd get 4 of 6 to pop up, but this time I'm seeing 5 of 6 and 6 of 6. In fact it's so much faster than I expected that I am running out of space to put all the of the transplants from pods to pots.
I belive the plants in this picture are Kale (left row) and Romanesco (center row). Now don't get me wrong this isn't going to work for every plant/seed. I have certain rows that haven't showed signs of life yet. But I'm hopeful and positive that I'll get something. Just can't get over how quickly the results were there.
I challenge you to try it yourself. Vermiculite and lights can be purchased at Home Depot, Lowes, Garden stores etc. The heat mat and hydrofarm I purchased on Amazon. As I said before I don't think that it has to be under lights and heat mat for this to work but definately will improve your wait time and plant size. For extra stregth I have a small fan to add a bit of wind resistance to my plants. I've noticed it does a good job strengthening them for the great outdoors.
I noticed when transplanting the quicker germinating plants that their roots could travel easier as well because I wasn't pushing down the soil after placing a seed in the soil.. This gives the plant an easier time to spread their roots further and deeper. All good things for a health plant.
Anyway here is what I gathered from it:
When we usually plant seeds we push them down into the soil a measure distance and then cover back up with soil. That has been the tried and tested method passed down the years. But it doesn't have to be that way. Especially when starting your seeds indoors. Outdoors I believe the method still stands because of weather conditions and animals/birds etc.
But indoors it doesn't have to be. And one of the reasons it doesn't is because the soil that is covering the seeds often acts as a barrier for the seeds to pop up through the soil. See often times when soil is given moisture and then dries out it creates a caked layer that tends to be hard to push through by a tender plant.
The new method to seed starting goes like this.. Place a nice layer of potting soil down first in your pods or pots. I like to use ProMix but any potting mix should do. Once you have your soil down go ahead and just place your seed(s) on top of the soil. Like shown in the picture below. You can see a pepper seed (looks like a minature potato chip).
Once you have wet soil and a wet seed I carefully layered on top of the seed and soil a dose of vermiculite to cover the seed. The vermiculite will act as a soil substitute that won't cake together to barrier the growing seed and the vermiculite is also great at holding moisture.
Now the way I start seeds is indoors with a heat mat, lights, and a hydrofarm germination dome. I've started seeds a total of four times in the past with reasonably high sucess rates and generally quick germination time periods of a week or so. I thought that was pretty good.. Using this new method with vermiculite and seeds on top of the soil I saw results in TWO days. Yes you read that right.. And I don't just mean the squashes and tomatoes.
I belive the plants in this picture are Kale (left row) and Romanesco (center row). Now don't get me wrong this isn't going to work for every plant/seed. I have certain rows that haven't showed signs of life yet. But I'm hopeful and positive that I'll get something. Just can't get over how quickly the results were there.
I challenge you to try it yourself. Vermiculite and lights can be purchased at Home Depot, Lowes, Garden stores etc. The heat mat and hydrofarm I purchased on Amazon. As I said before I don't think that it has to be under lights and heat mat for this to work but definately will improve your wait time and plant size. For extra stregth I have a small fan to add a bit of wind resistance to my plants. I've noticed it does a good job strengthening them for the great outdoors.
I noticed when transplanting the quicker germinating plants that their roots could travel easier as well because I wasn't pushing down the soil after placing a seed in the soil.. This gives the plant an easier time to spread their roots further and deeper. All good things for a health plant.
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