After what was shaping up to be an unseasonably warm and early planting season, we had a few frosty mornings that kept delaying our planting. I was totally convinced that I was never going to get my garden in, and all my seedlings were going to die before I could transplant. Obviously that was a bleak outlook, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up. But now the warmth has returned, and this past weekend, I was able to get most of my garden planted.
This year’s garden has been nearly 5 months in the making. Back in January, I started planning the vegetable garden, perusing catalogs while also trying to keep from going overboard. I settled on 5 heirloom varieties of tomatoes, 2 varieties of pepper, 3 varieties of pumpkin, 3 varieties of beans, plus cucumbers, carrots, and summer squash. Compared to last year’s garden, I am being way more adventurous. I have never grown peppers or tomatoes before, and had to do a bit of research before I started them indoors. Our indoor grow setup was put to the test, and proved sufficient.
As the weather got warmer, I hoped for early planting, but wanted to avoid last year’s seedling failure. Most of our vining plants were stunted, and it wasn’t until this spring that I realized a lack of hardening off was more detrimental to my plants than I realized. But we also didn’t have a great set-up for bringing plants in and out until the weather improved. This year, I just used spare boxes, and as seedlings became acclimated to the weather, they took up residence on the back porch. Per my research, hardening off seedlings that were sprouted under grow lights should take at least a week, as one gradually exposes the seedlings to more natural sunlight and the elements. I’ll be the first to admit that I was not super scientific about the whole process, but I’m hoping it makes the difference.
Many of my plants are direct sow, meaning that they are not planted until the soil is consistently warm and out of danger of frost. Of my vegetables, I didn’t sprout the beans indoors, and of my flowers, only amaranth was an indoor sprout. This past Friday, the weather was beautiful and I started to move my seedlings to the garden. Six amaranth plants and a variety of peppers and tomatoes went into the ground, intermingled with marigold seeds to help keep off some of the pests. The following morning, I planted carrots, all of my beans, and some of the vine plants. I sprouted a few of my vines inside, and they are still in the midst of the hardening off stage, but I hope to get them into the garden this week.
Over the course of the last few months, I consulted multiple websites and books for inspiration and help. My favorite resource has been the Family Garden Plan, a book that I found through one of my social media accounts. The experiences of other people have been really useful to me, and I appreciate social media for those connections. One of the biggest learning curves for me has been figuring out how to grow and maintain seedlings. I had to repot several sets of seedlings as they outgrew the original pot I had put them in.
I would love to answer questions about our set-up, or hear your story about starting seedlings indoors!