Don't panic. It is not time to start most of your favorites. But it is time to get ready. This is the indoor growing season. An organized approach prevents massive random purchases every time you visit a nursery or box store.
First, you will need viable seed. If you haven't ordered via mail or internet, local seed racks are up and have everything you will need. Packets have a date on the back, and if it doesn't say 2010, be suspicious. Compare prices. Look for the number of seeds per packet. You know the routine. It ends with not buying too many.
Next: Good soil, which probably should be at the top of the list. This is the stage on which your plants will perform, at least until you transplant outside. If it is not the best, your plants are not going to be their best. When it comes to starting seeds what good soil usually means is soil that prevents "damping off." This is the name given to the sudden death of very young seedlings. They just keel over. It can be caused by a number of different fungi and usually hits right at the soil line.
Over the years I have come to believe in using good compost for all my plant needs, including starting seeds. I use compost precisely because I know the microbes in it will keep the bad guys in check. I was, however, raised by a dad who was at the other end of the spectrum. He had an electric steam soil sterilizer and used it to kill all the microbes, including pathogens, in his starting soils.
Both systems result in the bad guys getting knocked out. The problems arose for Dad when bad guys came knocking later in the process. Without the beneficial microbes to keep the invaders out, Dad lost. In addition, sterile soil needs nutrient addition because there is no soil food web working and thus feeding the plant. Fertilizing young seedlings can be tricky. You don't want to "burn" or damage their root systems.
The choice is yours. If you use compost, it must be good compost. Sterile soil should be sterile, not last year's. How do you know if compost is good? Smell it and look at it. Smell bad? See things you recognize? Is it pasteurized? It isn't good compost.
The best way to know you have good compost or soil is to test it. Grow some cilantro seeds or mung bean seeds in the compost or soil and see how they do in terms of germination. It only takes a week or so, and you have plenty of time before you really will be starting seed. Remember, starting with good soil is crucial.
Either way, you will need to make sure conditions are ideal. While you want humidity, it's best if air is circulating. A cheap little fan will do the job, so if you don't have one, add it to the list of things to get.
Next, if you are going to start and grow plants from seeds indoors and are serious about the endeavor -- that is. you plan do it more than just this year -- consider getting a seed heat mat. I have been using one given to me by Hydrofarm (hydrofarm.com) for years and consider it one of my most indispensable gardening tools. It fits right into one of those black or gray, plastic flats and warms up the soil 10 to 20 degrees above room temperature. Its one-piece design is a big, big improvement over the heating cables you used to have to lay out with tape.
You probably only need one mat. Once seeds are up, they can be moved off it and the next batch germinated. In my experience, a heat mat helpsspeed up germination and increases the numbers of seedlings that successfully germinate. The quicker seedlings are up, the faster they move out of that danger zone were they are susceptible to damping off.
Finally, you have to label plants, especially seedlings. It's part of good gardening. You won't remember things at the end of the season. Invest in a handful of those white labels and a good pencil so you can keep track of when and what you planted.
Get ready.
Jeff Lowenfels is a member of the Garden Writers Hall of Fame. You can reach him at teamingwithmicrobes.com or by calling 274-5297 during "The Garden Party" radio show from 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays on KBYR AM-700.
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