How to Sow Vegetable Seeds Indoors
There is nothing better than a nice juicy tomato, crisp pepper or some other vegetable picked fresh from your garden. Many people buy their seedlings from a greenhouse or nursery, but those vegetables can be costly, and your choice is limited. Why not start your own vegetable plants indoors? With a few simple items, like potting soil and grow lights, you are well on your way to sowing your vegetable seeds indoors, getting a jump start on the growing season. It is best to start vegetable seeds indoors, eight to ten weeks before the last frost. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Vegetable seeds
- Flat or peat pots
- Potting soil
- Water
- Plastic
- Grow lights
- Heat mat (optional)
Instructions
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Fill a flat with potting soil. You can also use individual peat pots to plant the tomato seeds.
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2
Place vegetable seeds in rows across the soil, if planting in a flat. A good rule to follow is eight seeds per inch. If planting in peat pots, use one to two seeds per peat pot.
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3
Cover the seeds with a quarter inch of soil. Do not put too much soil over the top of the seeds or they will not germinate. Check the label for planting depth, but if there is no label, then plant the seeds one and a half to two times deeper than the width of the seed.
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4
Press the seeds into the soil. Seeds need to be in contact with the soil in order to germinate.
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Water the soil thoroughly. Place a piece of plastic over the top to hold in moisture.
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Set the flat or peat pots in a warm place. You need to keep the temperature about 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, make sure the area receives six to eight hours of light per day. A sunny window or grow lights will help the seeds to germinate. Do not place the seedling tray in direct sunlight. You also can put the seed trays on a heat mat to keep the soil warm.
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Remove the plastic cover when the seeds germinate. Germination takes 5 to 12 days.
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Place them under florescent lights. Keep the lights on for 18 to 24 hours per day.
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Transplant the vegetables into six-inch pots when they have at least two true leaves. True leaves are the first two leaves past the primary leaves. Place the pots in a sunny window and keep the soil moist, but not soggy.
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Toughen up your plants by taking them outdoors for several hours a day. Put them in a sheltered area of your yard. Do this for a week, increasing the amount of time they spend outdoors by an hour every other day. Transplant the vegetables outdoors when all danger of frost is past.
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References
- Photo Credit vegetables image by dinostock from Fotolia.com
