Growing Concerns: Starting seeds indoors fun and rewarding (2024)

FAQs

What is the benefit of starting seeds indoors? ›

Starting seeds indoors gives your vegetables, herbs, and flowers a head start so they can grow larger and have better (and longer) harvests or flowering periods. With a few basic supplies and a little patience, it's easy and fun to start seeds indoors.

Temperature control is key. Heat is usually the most important factor in coaxing your seeds to germinate, so placing your newly sown seeds in a warm (around 75 degrees F) place will help them germinate faster. Fast germination is key for making sure you get the optimal number of seeds sprouting.

Seeds for Root Crops Should Not Be Started Indoors

For that reason, it's best to start root crops like carrots, beets, radishes, and even potatoes in the soil where they'll grow.

Starting seeds indoors gives the young plants time to build a robust root system and strong foundation first, before the starts are expected to start producing fruit. Just be sure to harden off seedlings properly before transplanting them outside, or even the healthiest seedlings will struggle.

Starting seeds indoors is an excellent way to give your veggies a head start before they're ready to live among your other garden plants. Naturally, you'll need room in your home for all those seedlings!

Germination is the process by which a plant grows from a seed into a seedling. Seeds remain dormant until conditions are favorable for germination. All seeds need water, oxygen and optimal temperature to germinate.

Seeds that are typically started indoors include long season crops, like eggplants, okra, tomatoes, broccoli and kale. Some plants do not fare well as transplants or need to be transplanted at the right stage of growth so they aren't stunted by stressors.

The natural light from a window is seldom enough for good, strong seedling growth. They will usually stretch and lean towards the light and will not produce sturdy plants. Sowing seeds indoors under fluorescent lights is the easiest way for the home gardener to control growing conditions and grow healthy transplants.

If you're storing and sowing seeds inside, they won't go through a cold winter, which some need to signify it's time to wake up and grow. To ensure high germination rates, wake seeds up, and potentially speed up the process, soak seeds before sowing them to soften and loosen that outer protective layer.

Mid-March is the best time to start many vegetables and annual flowers indoors for transplanting outside once the threat of frost has passed.

Should you start cucumbers indoors? ›

Luckily, they are easy to start indoors and each plant yields a lot of fruit. Cucumbers are easy to grow indoors and started them 4-6 weeks before May 7 will give a convenient jump start to the season. Plant the seeds about a half inch deep in 3″ pots. I recommend only planting 1-2 seeds per pot as they grow quickly.

Seeds do not stay seeds forever. In their given nourishing soil, water conditions and sunlight exposure, seeds will start becoming what they are meant to become. In our lives, we must embrace our current conditions, to then adopt the transformations that will take place.

A seed contains a miniature plant, called an embryo, that can develop into a fully grown plant. The outer shell of a seed, called a seed coat, protects the embryo. Inside the seed a nutritious material provides food to the embryo. In flowering plants this material is called endosperm.

Learning Objectives

1. Students will be able to describe the steps of how a plant grows, also known as germination, and what factors affect plant growth. 2. Students will be able to identify the parts of their planted seed.

If you start too early, you might end up with leggy, overgrown plants that need babying until the frost disappears and the soil warms. Start too late, and you'll be drooling over your neighbor's BLTs while forlornly waiting for your plants' blooms to turn into fruit.

Research indicates that sprouting certain grains and beans can boost their antioxidants, amino acids, and B vitamins. The nutritional composition of sprouted seeds has also been shown to reduce antinutrients such as phytic acid, which can inhibit the absorption of other important vitamins and minerals.

Choosing Your Seeds

While you can grow — or at least start — most any plant inside, some work better than others. Most fresh herbs thrive indoors and replenish continually with a bit of pruning. The majority of cool weather veggies can be grown indoors as well.