How to Plant Zucchini Indoors

Plant zucchini seeds indoors.

Also known as, summer squash, zucchini has a soft, edible outer skin. A member of the cucurbita family and close relative to the pumpkin, cucumber, gourd and melon, zucchini plants grows from seeds, which are ready for harvest within 55 days. The zucchini plant is frost sensitive, which means that planting the seeds outdoors before the final frost likely will render the seeds useless before they have had a chance to germinate. To avoid such a scenario, consider planting zucchini indoors and transferring the young plants to the outside garden after the spring thaw.

Things You'll Need

• Zucchini seeds
• Paper towel
• Organic potting soil
• Seed-starter tray with clear cover
• Plant heating pad
• Grow light

Instructions

1. Fill a medium-size bowl half full with water at the end of May. Place the zucchini seeds in the bowl of water for a 24-hour soak, which will soften the seed hull and expedite germination.

2. Remove the zucchini seeds from the bowl after the soaking and place them on a paper towel. Fill a seed-starter tray with damp, organic potting soil.

3. Plant two zucchini seeds ½ inch into the soil of each seed tray cell. Pat the soil over top of the seeds after planting.

4. Place the clear cover on the seed-starter tray. Set the tray on a plant heating pad set at 75 degrees Fahrenheit during the day. Turn the heating pad down to 60 degrees Fahrenheit at night before you go to bed, raising the heat once again to 75 degrees Fahrenheit in the morning when you wake up.

5. Remove the clear cover when zucchini seedlings emerge from the soil. Zucchini germination usually begins within five to eight days of planting.

6. Set a grow light 8 to 12 inches over the seed-starter tray. Allow the grow light to run for 12 hours each day.

7. Check the soil every few days for moisture. Keep the soil damp, not wet at all times as the zucchini grows.

Tips & Warnings

• Transfer the zucchini plants to the garden after the threat of frost has passed and the outside soil temperatures reach a steady 60 degrees Fahrenheit or above. Use an ordinary bulb thermometer to measure soil temperatures.

• If you do not have access to plant heating pads, keep the indoor temperatures at 75 degrees Fahrenheit during the day. Lower the indoor temperature to 60 degrees Fahrenheit at night. If you do not have a grow light, place the zucchini in an area that receives at least eight hours of bright, indirect sunlight.

• Do not over-water young zucchini plants. Watering with a spray bottle to keep the soil damp should suffice. Over-watering can cause the roots to die, killing the plants.

References

• The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension: Zucchini
• Cornell Cooperative Extension: Starting Vegetables Indoors

Resources

• Gwen's Healing Garden: Zucchini: A Powerhouse of Nutrition