I Failed At Seed-Starting (So You Don’t Have To)

Here are some lessons I’ve learned from the strife of starting my seeds indoors.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

It’s that time of year when we gardeners start wringing our hands. The seed and flower catalogs are flooding into our mailboxes and nurseries are kicking into full gear.

Our landscape/garden plans are tentative, flexible, or, for those of us with gridded paper, well-planned. The anticipation is palpable as we create plant wishlists on paper or in our minds.

Soon, with a single packet (or excessive amounts of packets), we will start our seeds.

As a gardener, I used to fall into the go-with-the-flow group. Throw it in the ground — if it survives, it’s meant to be here. If not, oh well.

But as my gardening obsession has taken over my life, I have become more meticulous and want more plants.

The least expensive way to have as many plants as possible is by starting seeds at home.

Three years ago I began the maddening task of starting seeds indoors. I’ve had partial success, but lost many of the seedlings along the way. Here is an account of my progress over the years:

Year 1:

1. Warm, sunny room with grow lamp
2. Properly sanitized growing containers

I lost half of my seedlings and learned the importance of keeping seedlings watered. When they dry out, even for just part of a day, they decline due to stress.

I also used peat moss as a growing medium during my first year. While peat is recommended in the U.S., I find that it both dries out fast and also seems to lead to root rot more easily. Paradoxical, I know, but that’s my experience.

Plus the mining of peat bogs releases lots of carbon into the atmosphere and isn’t sustainable.

Year 2:

1. Warm, sunny room with grow lamp
2. Properly sanitized growing containers
3. Moist, (not soggy) peat-free growing medium

With a properly dampened growing medium, I soon learned how important growing medium temperature is. The grow room was warm enough (70–75°F), but that didn’t guarantee that the soil was at the right temperature.

Seeds need warm, moist conditions to break out of dormancy. Cold, like excess dryness, stresses them out.

So, I caved a bought a heated seed-starting mat.

Year 3:

1. Warm, sunny room with grow lamp
2. Properly sanitized growing containers
3. Moist, (not soggy) peat-free growing medium
4. Heated mat

Let me tell you, the seeds were so successful with the heating mat! It made such a difference in their rate of growth and their overall health.

Buuuuut…. I still lost some seedlings unnecessarily. Why? Because only recently have I really learned about hardening off.

Hardening off is the process of acclimating a plant to withstand the change in environmental conditions when transferred from a greenhouse or home to the garden.

In layman's terms, it means getting a seedling ready to transition to the outdoors.

If seedlings get used to the nice, cushy, protected setting of the grow room where the temperature is ideal, the soil is moist and warm, and there are no cares in the world— they will have a rude awakening when they are thrust into the unforgiving outdoors.

Kind of like teenagers.

So this year, I plan to harden off my seedlings. Here’s what that process will look like:

1. Start seeds as I have in previous years
2. Once the first true leaves appear, (the ones after the seed leaves or cotyledons) I will remove the containers/trays from the heat pad and place them in a slightly less sunny spot
3. I will cut back on watering without letting them dry completely
4. If I need to, I will transfer baby plants to a slightly larger container by lifting them by the leaves (not stems or roots — they are too fragile) and carefully planting them in the soil
5. After the last frost, I will set them outside in a shaded area, then move them into more sun as the days go by
6. After a week, I will plant some and give the others away

To be honest, I find seed-starting to be the most difficult aspect of gardening. Seedlings are delicate and are stressed or injured easily. But the reward is great. To spend $2 on seeds and grow 10 or more perennial plants (that would cost $15+ dollars each at the nursery) is unbeatable.

There is something to be said for the sense of accomplishment I feel, too.

So, what are you going to do?

Making mistakes is a great way to learn, and I am glad for what I have gained in the process. Maybe you are a learn-by-mistakes kind of person, too. If that’s the case, ignore this article and try it for yourself! Guidelines shouldn’t stand in the way of you trying something new.

Whether you heed my advice or not, I hope you find your own success with seed-starting if you decide to give it a try.

And if you have any thoughts or advice of your own, please comment! I still have plenty to learn…