February is the perfect month to get a head start on your spring/summer vegetable garden.
Growing transplants from seed indoors can extend your garden season by several weeks, reduce your gardening cost and allow you to grow a more diverse variety of crops.
When stored properly, a typical seed packet can last several years. For the cost of a seed packet, you can plant a larger number of starts, than is typically affordable when purchasing from a nursery or big box store. More plants in the garden adds a safety net for a bountiful harvest.
Another benefit of growing vegetables from seed is the wide selection of varieties available from seed catalogs. Growing different varieties is important for an extended harvest and to find plants that grow well in your area.
Vegetable plants sold in seedling form from the nursery or big box store are generally available in only one or limited varieties.
Seed starting begins with finding the plant types you would like to grow. Plants started by seeds indoors include broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, parsley, herbs, tomatoes and peppers. Seeds generally started in the ground include beans, beets, carrots, peas and turnips.
There are many companies to choose from when buying seeds. Looking through seed catalogs is a delightful activity all by itself!
Other sources for seeds can be swapping with your neighbor. They might have saved seeds from last year’s harvest or have extra purchased seeds. The UC Mariposa Master Gardeners run a free “seed library” in conjunction with the Mariposa County Library. From the seed library, you can take home new seed varieties to try.
Seed packets and seed catalogs have all the information you need to successfully grow that plant variety.
Seeds to be started indoors or in an outdoor hot box or cold frame, happen six to eight weeks before the date you would like to transplant them and when the threat of frost has passed.
Seeds require three core components to break dormancy and germinate: water, oxygen, and optimal temperature. Water initiates the process by activating enzymes, while oxygen is necessary for respiration to provide energy for growth.
Proper soil moisture and warmth typically 65-90 degrees ensures healthy, quick development before the seedling requires light for photosynthesis. Seeds do not need light until they break ground and become seedlings.
The list of materials required is a short one. Decide in what type of container you want start your seeds. There are lots of options from cut off toilet rolls, plastic solo cups to purchasing seed trays. The container of choice must have holes in the bottom for drainage.
Next, choose your planting media. The soil media should be fine textured, uniform and airy. Do not use garden soil. It is usually too heavy and often may have disease-causing organisms.
A commercial potting mix suited to starting seeds works well. Fill your growing containers about two-thirds full. Plant according to the packet directions.
The seed packet will tell you how warm your seeds need to be to germinate. You might need to purchase a seedling heating mat. Once your seeds sprout and become seedlings, they need to be between 65 and 70 degrees during the day and 55-60 degrees at night.
Lastly, provide seeds with consistent watering. Seeds and seedlings must be kept evenly moist to thrive. The technique is to mist the seed/seedlings not to give a watering can size gulp of water. The soil should be evenly moist, not wet.
After the seeds sprout, find a location with proper light — a sunny window is usually the perfect spot as it has strong but indirect sunlight. Seed packages will instruct you on sunlight needs. If you don’t have a consistently sunny window, grow lights in all sizes are an inexpensive alternative to ensure even growth.
Two weeks before transplanting, or when your plants are two to four inches tall, expose them to outdoor temperatures to acclimate them. Do this by leaving them outside in a shady spot during the day for a week and bringing them inside at night.
The following week, leave them outside in their containers during the day and at night, gradually exposing them to more sunlight. This process is referred to as hardening off.
Have a seed starting or home vegetable gardening question? Call the UC Master Gardeners of Mariposa County Helpline at (209) 966-7078.
UC Master Gardeners of Mariposa County serve Mariposa County, including Coulterville, Greeley Hill and Don Pedro. For gardening and event information, call the group at (209) 966-7078 or email mgmariposa@ucdavis.edu. Find the gardeners online at cemariposa.ucanr.edu/Master_Gardener/, on Facebook (UC Master Gardeners of Mariposa County), and on YouTube at “UCCE Mariposa.” Listen to us on KRYZ 98.5 FM radio Wednesdays at 2 p.m. and Saturdays at 5 p.m.
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