Come April, most nurseries across the country will begin setting out their first wave of plants. After months of bitter cold and dull, grey everywhere the eye can see, this can be a beautiful site. For true gardeners, the first plant acquisition of the season feels a little like Christmas morning.
It’s nice to support your local nursery, but there is a better, more cost-effective way to fill your property with beauty. Growing your plants from seed is easier than most people think, and can get you the garden of your dreams at a small fraction of nursery prices.
When to Start
You may be surprised to learn that seed sowing begins in the Winter. If you look at the back of most seed packets, you’ll see that the supplier recommends starting them 6-8 weeks BEFORE the last frost of the season.
Now, most gardeners are still working their way through a stack of good books, or figuring out the best places to play online blackjack in January and February. Why is this the best time to start thinking about your spring garden? You want to start your plants when the weather is mild . While each species is unique, it is often easier to support a young plant in cold conditions than it is in very hot weather. Why? For one thing, perennials in particular are usually frost-hardy because they need to be able to survive in a wide range of conditions.
It’s also easier to warm a plant up than it is to cool it down. If you get a frost in late March, you can save your young plants with a tarp, or maybe some extra mulch. There’s not much you can do about a July heatwave.
The other reason to start early is because it will take a long time for your plants to establish. If you want tomatoes by July, you can’t start them in June.
If you can’t start early, starting late is the next best thing. You can plant perennials in the early fall as long as you do it 6-8 weeks before the first frost. This will give the plants enough time to settle in and ensure that your garden comes in nice and full the next spring.
Some plants, like garlic, tulips, and other bulb species, require fall planting.
How do you know when the first or last frost of the year will be? It’s not an exact science. You can take your dates from online almanacs, and compensate with mulch to protect young roots from surprise frosts when necessary.
How to Grow Plants From Seed
You’ll quickly find that every species has its own sowing instructions. Some seeds need to be sown shallowly, while others need more soil above them to do their good work. To begin:
● Acquire your seeds. If you have an established garden, you can harvest your own seeds over the summer. Choose plants with a proven track record of success. If you’re starting from scratch, buy from established seed catalogs with good reputations.
● Sew them in starter trays. Starter trays are inexpensive and require only a small amount of soil for each slot. Just make sure you follow the seeed instructions carefully as you begin planting. It’s a good idea to sew 30% more than you think you need. Some seeds may not take, while others won’t survive until the planting period.
● Water regularly. Newly planted seeds are pretty delicate. You want to keep the soil damp, but not super saturated. A gentle spritz from a spray bottle should do the trick.
● Plant after the last frost. By the spring, you’ll have dozens—maybe more—plants that are about the size of your thumb. Small though they may seem, these plants are mighty. Once the threat of frost is in the rearview, plant them carefully outside.
Seed starting requires regular work, but aside from the day you sow and the day you plant, most of your efforts will only require a few minutes of your time each day.
On planting day, make sure that you space your sprouts per packaging instructions. It will look silly placing these finger-sized plants several feet apart, but they need that room to grow.
This process will take time, but it could potentially save you hundreds of dollars each season. It costs only a few cents to start a plant from seed. Quart-sized perennials, on the other hand, often cost $10-15 at most nurseries.
Conclusion
Good gardening takes time. For perennials in particular, the things you plant this year may not reach their full potential for a few seasons. As a gardener, you need to get comfortable with the idea of waiting. That’s never more true than for people who start their plants from seed.
There’s an old saying. The best time to start a garden was ten years ago. The second best time is to start today.
