Simple Setup for Growing Seedlings Indoors
Growing garden seedlings indoors can be a lot of fun. It’s fairly simple. Once you are set up, you can save money every year by growing your own transplants. However, the biggest advantage is: you can grow a larger variety of plants from seed (e.g. heirlooms) than if you bought transplants at a store. Buying transplants is OK. Much of your decision on whether to start with store bought transplants, or seedlings you grow yourself, is primarily determined by how much time you have.
I will divide this explanation into two parts. First, how to set up your light system. Second, how to plant your seed trays. I’m going to explain my setup. You can apply the same ideas to a smaller or larger setup.
You can use old, 4 ft. long, fluorescent light tubes or you can buy new, 4 ft. LED lights. The LED lights use about half the electricity of the old fluorescent tubes so you might want to spend some money for new LED lights. The new LED lights are also not as heavy as the old fluorescent lights.
If you ever plan to grow plants under lights for a full season, you would need to buy Grow lights. They are considerably more expensive than regular LED lights. Grow lights provide the proper light spectrum needed to grow plants indoors for a full season. Your seedlings will only be under lights for a month. Consequently, you can use lights that do not have the appropriate spectrum for growing plants yearlong. Also, when you grow plants for a full season indoors, you often need high intensity lamps. Not only do plants need the right spectrum of light, they also need the right intensity of light. High intensity lamps can be really expensive. Fortunately, you do not need high intensity lights for growing seedlings for only a month.
BUILDING THE LIGHTS
When you have your three, 4 foot LED lights, you strap on the three lights perpendicular to the two hockey sticks with long zip ties. With three lights, you will end up with a pretty solid arrangement. A combination of LED lights and modern, carbon fiber hockey sticks is not very heavy.
At the hardware store, buy the lightest chain available. Before you arrive, you need to measure how far it is from your ceiling, where the chains will be attached, to just above your seedling trays. Whatever that distance, multiply by four since you will need four chains. Have them cut your total chain into four lengths at the hardware store so you won’t have to cut the chain at home. You also want to buy 4 large screw hooks.
The beauty of the chain links is that you can easily raise or lower the light apparatus. When you first plant your seeds, you want your lights to be as close as you can get without touching the tray or soil. Remember light intensity? Light intensity does actually help germination. Your light intensity won’t be very high, but it will be enough. As the seeds start to grow, you can raise the lights a little. You want the lights close, but not touching the plants. Also, when you water the seedlings, you will need to temporarily raise the lights high enough to get in there with a watering can to water.
PLANTING THE SEEDS
Planting seeds in trays is pretty straightforward, but time consuming. I hang on to my six pack and four pack seedling trays from year to year. We still buy some flowers to transplant so we end up with a few new trays every year. I’ve been saving them for a long time in my garage so I’m pretty well stocked. Also, my neighbor kindly gives me her flower trays that she would normally recycle. I’ve never had any problem with plant diseases from used trays. You could wash out your used trays before sowing, if you do have a disease problem.
Organic soil is pretty easy to find at stores these days. I buy my soil ahead of time and make sure it doesn’t freeze solid. It can still be pretty frigid in March when I begin growing seedlings so I store the purchased soil in the basement. I load my trays with soil outside because the soil always inadvertently goes all over the ground. I do my best to have cardboard or a tarp to catch the overflowing soil. In March, when I’m loading soil in trays, it can be pretty cold outside. I usually choose a day that is sunny and a little bit warmer. The trays are in flats, usually 36 or 48 cells per flat. I pour soil over the flats and gently spread it out. Then, I carry the loaded flats downstairs where I can sow seeds in warmer conditions. I can usually fit eight flats on my grow table.
In the basement, I plant my seeds, being careful not to bury them too deep. You need to look on the seed packet for recommended seed depth. Some seeds barely need to be covered at all. I usually place two seeds per cell. If the seed is more expensive, like tomatoes (30 seeds per packet), I will sow only one seed per cell, provided that the seed looks large enough and not deformed.
I place plastic sheets over my grow table. When you first water your newly planted seeds, you might have some water overflowing off of the table. Be ready with a mop and some rags. It takes some time for the water to soak into the dry soil you bought. The first watering may seem a little chaotic. In future waterings, you won’t need to apply as much water. You probably won’t have any water overflow problems.
My seedlings grow in the basement laundry room. The clothes drier provides residual heat to help the seeds sprout. If your grow room is too cool, you might need to buy some heat mats to place under the seedling flats, or heat the room in some safe manner. This is something you should consider when deciding where to grow your seedlings.
After a month of seedling growth, I move my flats outside into a cold frame. Then, I start another batch of eight flats under lights. This batch consists of the warmer weather crops.
Growing your own seedlings in the spring can be very rewarding. You can save money while growing an interesting variety of heirloom plants which you cannot find as transplants at the store. Once you have your lights set up, you can enjoy years and years of transplants you grow yourself.
Check out the new book "Organic Gardening for Beginners and Students" by Edwin McLeod on Amazon.com. Here is the link:
https://www.amazon.com/Organic-Gardening-Beginners-Students-McLeod/dp/B08SPJRDR9/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia-wc-nc-drs1_0?crid=1BNQGFMKIIV1A&cv_ct_cx=organic+gardening+for+beginners+and+students&dchild=1&keywords=organic+gardening+for+beginners+and+students&pd_rd_i=B08SPJRDR9&pd_rd_r=0ac2a8ad-1585-4377-ab44-6b65da3a00f0&pd_rd_w=fIXsa&pd_rd_wg=HonLD&pf_rd_p=a64002b9-9c26-4361-b8a1-b0f5a4835670&pf_rd_r=04ZD57XC005SXGKVZSCS&psc=1&qid=1611679684&s=books&sprefix=organic+gar%2Caps%2C191&sr=1-1-38d0a374-3318-4625-ad92-b6761a63ecf6
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Edwin McLeod has been gardening for 45 years. He studied Botany at the University of Michigan, receiving a Bachelors Degree. After graduating, he worked for Dr. Lloyd Andres at the USDA Biological Control of Weeds Laboratory in Albany California. During this time, he conducted a survey of 20 organic farms in California to find out how they control weeds without using herbicides. Shortly thereafter, he managed a small farm owned by Benjamin Berg. In the early 80s, he worked for Amigo Bob Cantisano at Peaceful Valley Farm Supply. Edwin McLeod is the author of “Feed the Soil” - a book about how to improve soil fertility through natural methods and green manuring. He has taught high school students Biology and Physics for the past 30 years. “Organic Gardening for Beginners and Students” is an outgrowth from his Biology of Food class at the Center for Advanced Studies and the Arts in Oak Park, Michigan.
This is great Edwin! I'm (hoping) to start my first backyard garden and building my own raised beds. Lots to learn :)
ReplyDeleteThis is Caroline from CT btw. :>
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