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Hi, this is Sheriden Hansen with the USU Extension.
And today I'm joining you to talk about seed starting.
There are some equipment needs that you're
going to have to look at and get before you start seed starting,
so that you can be successful.
One of those things is a heat mat.
So a heat mat is really important
because it will put heat at the roots underneath where
you're starting your seeds.
And this one's a little used, but that's OK.
They typically last a long time, but you
want to purchase a good quality heat mat.
You're also going to need seed starting trays.
So we've got a bottom tray here that doesn't have any drainage.
You can also get trays that do have drainage.
But for my purposes for just getting these going,
I'm not going to worry about if that has drainage.
I also need cells or some kind of pot.
So you can see I've got a peat pot here.
This would work also equally as well.
And the advantage to the cells like this
is I can start a bunch of seeds very quickly and get them up
and going.
And then I can pot up into a larger size container.
So I'm utilizing my space more effectively right off the bat.
This does need to have drainage, so
make sure when you purchase one of these
that you would look at the bottom
and that they do have good drainage holes.
Another thing that I'm going to need
is some kind of cover for my seed containers.
So this is a plastic cover that you
can find at most nurseries or online
with seed starting supplies.
What this does is it's a dome, and it
traps the heat and humidity inside
of this small area of air.
And that's going to help our seeds germinate.
And it's also going to help our seeds be germinating quicker
and be more successful.
So those are some of the things I need.
I will also need a really good potting mix.
And I want a really lightweight potting mix.
This one I purchased from a local nursery,
and you can see it's very lightweight.
It's got a lot of little white specks in it.
And that little white speck is called perlite.
And that gives me really good drainage.
It also gives me good air spaces down where
my roots are going to be.
And that's very important.
It also has a lot of peat or coconut core in it.
And that's going to give me some water holding capacity.
So that's going to go--
eventually we're going to fill that up--
into my seed starting container.
The other thing that I'm going to need is a grow light.
And I recommend that you get a good grow light, something
that's going to last you for a while.
They can be a little pricey, but you can make one very easily
at home.
There are several YouTube videos out there
that show you in detail how to make one at home.
Basically I just need a bulb that is a full spectrum bulb.
It doesn't have to be red or blue light.
It can be completely full spectrum.
And I found that the full spectrum works really well.
And it doesn't cost me a fortune like the red and the blue LED
lights.
But that will work very well.
So you can see, I've got some seeds started over here.
I've got some things growing.
I'm going to show you the basics of how
to get started and answer hopefully some of the questions
that most people have.
So the first thing I'm going to do with these cells
is I'm going to fill them with soil.
And I'm just going to take that potting mix that I picked up
and I'm going to fill all of these areas.
And I'm going to fill all the way to the top.
Just kind of get this in here so you
can see what I'm going to do.
I'm only going to fill this halfway full so
that we can move through this.
There you go.
I've kind of got that filled up.
When I water this, this is going to sink down a little bit.
So I just want to make sure I get all the way to the top.
And then I'm going to take my seeds.
Make sure you source your seeds from a good place,
a reputable place that has good germination rates.
And you can usually find germination rates
on websites, sometimes on packages.
But you are going to want to get good, fresh seeds.
So if you have seeds that have been saved over from last year,
you can still use them.
That's one of the questions I often get.
But know that your germination rates are not
going to be as good as if you had fresh seeds that you
purchased this year.
As far as planting goes, this is where I get a lot of questions.
And this is where a lot of people
kind of make some mistakes.
So you can see I've got carrots here.
And I've also got peas.
And you can see the size difference between these two
types of seeds.
My carrot seeds are very, very small.
And my peas are quite large.
If I was to plant my carrots, I'm
going to put them just on the surface of the soil.
The general rule for planting depth
is that we plant three times as deep as the seed is wide.
So you can see that on my pea, I can kind of get a feel
for how wide that seed is.
And I'm going to go three times deeper than that seed is wide.
Where my carrots are so small, I'm
going to stay very close to the soil surface.
So let's plant up.
Carrots don't tend to do well when we plant them
in cells like this.
Anything with a taproot, you're not going to plant like this.
You're going to plant directly into the soil.
And you're not going to start it early.
One of the things that people like
to start early in their homes are things
like peppers and tomatoes.
So I have a yellow monster pepper here.
And these are very large peppers.
And peppers have a few things that they require to germinate.
They need the heat, and they also
need the light to get them going really well.
So if you don't have that heat mat,
you're going to want to invest in it.
I'm looking at my seed width.
I know I'm going to go three times as
deep as these seeds are wide.
And I'm just going to put this on the top of my cell.
And I'm going to push it down just barely, and back-fill
and cover up my seed.
It's really that simple.
And I'll just keep going until I have as many of these seeds
as I want.
I do tend to plant a few extra cells when I'm planting, just
in case if I have some that don't germinate
or if I have a problem later, so that I
can know that I have the amount of plants growing that I want.
After I get these all planted, I'm going to water these in.
And I'm going to be very gentle.
So I will use a watering can or just a sink with my hand
underneath the faucet, and very gently water these in.
I don't want the seeds coming back up as I water.
I'm going to make sure that the soil is saturated.
And if I've filled up this tray underneath with water,
I'm going to dump this out.
Because I don't want these plants sitting in water.
After it's watered in, I'm going to place my dome on the top.
And I'll move it so that it's sitting on my heat mat,
but also underneath my lights.
So watering is very important with these young seedlings
as they begin to sprout.
And you can see I've got a tray here of seedlings.
And you can see they're quite small.
That root area around that seedling is very minimal.
And so you're going to want to check these daily.
Over watering is just as dangerous as under watering.
You know that under watering will cause our plants to wilt,
but if we over water, then our plants sit in that water
and they can't exchange gases at the roots.
So just like us, they need oxygen at the roots and carbon
dioxide to exchange, so that they can do photosynthesis
and they can continue to grow.
So make sure your plants aren't sitting in a pool of water,
that they have an opportunity to slightly dry down,
but not too much.
That is our basics for seed starting.
I hope that this helps you be a successful gardener
and that you are able to start a bunch of seeds
and grow a wonderful garden this year.
Thanks for joining me and happy gardening.
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