INDIANAPOLIS — The end of February and start of of March is the best time to start plants indoors so they are ready to transplant outdoors when warmer weather will allow them to thrive.
Pat from Sullivan Hardware and Garden demonstrated the basics of starting seeds on 13Sunrise Sunday morning.
The advantages of starting plants from seeds indoors include the educational benefit for children to participate as well as the ability to find seeds for rare varieties that are not found on the shelves in most garden centers.
"Most people start seeds because it makes them feel good," said Sullivan, adding that vegetables are the most common project for indoor starters. "Tomatoes, herbs, peppers would be the kind of things people want to start on their own," he said. Avoid beans and lettuce until you can start them in the ground when the ground is ready.
You will need containers, soil and light to be successful.
Sullivan recommends a mix of peat moss with pearlite which is lighter than soil for indoor planting and contains no unknown chemicals that can leach into dirt.
A light soil will dry up quickly, so you will need to keep your seeds watered. Sullivan recommends using a dropper to provide liquid, not granular, fertilizer once a week.
Place the containers near a sunny window or, even better, place an artificial light (LEDs work well) near the tops of your plants and raise it up as they grow. If you place the light too high, the plant stem will grow thinner because it will be trying to "reach" the light. Placing the light lower and closer to the plant will produce a stocky stem and stronger plant.
Watch Pat's full segment in the video player.