Homemade paper pots, a plastic bottle, tape, starting soil, and seeds! A few tools.
When I lived at Heartsease Cottage I started lots of seeds in late Winter or early Spring for my large vegetable and flower gardens.
Now that I live in a lovely Condo (The New Heartsease), I still start a few seeds for transplanting into pots on my balcony or front porch.
Yesterday, I started both red and yellow Tumbling Tom tomatoes - these miniatures will get about 24-inches long, tumbling down the sides of pots and bear "grape" tomatoes. They're very compact and may be grown in pots with flowers. They have fine, fern-like leaves.
I also started curly parsley - less bitter, less tough than the flat-leaved Italian types - and Genovese basil. These will be grown in pots on the balcony for easy picking.
I used to make my paper pots from the black and white pages of newspapers because the black soy ink isn't harmful to seedlings. Now, most newspaper pages use lots of colored inks with questionable ingredients.
So, I use plain packing paper. Contractor's paper from hardware stores, or brown paper bags. Really, most any type of plain, un-inked and un-bleached paper should work.
To make the planting cups you'll need:
Scotch-type, masking, or painter's tape
Felt pen or marker
Paper strips 3-inches wide by 12 - 20-inches long (depending on thickness of paper, longer strips for very thin paper.
Glass or plastic bottle about 6-inches in circumference.
Scissors
Cut strips of paper and wrap each around the bottle to make as many pots as needed. Secure the seam with a strip of tape. Push the bottle up from the bottom so you have a border of paper at the bottom about 3/4's to one inch long. Fold this down all around. and secure in place with a piece of tape. Add another piece of tape crosswise to the first + to further secure the bottom of the paper pot.
With the bottle still in your pot, write the name of the seeds on the pot. Remove the bottle and make your next pot. Repeat, until you have all the pots you need.
To plant your pots you'll need:
Seed starting mix
Seeds
Bucket
Trowel or large spoon
Toothpick
Water
Spray bottle with plain water inside
Waterproof tray (styrofoam or plastic food tray without holes)
Plastic bag and tie
If you're filling your pots on the kitchen counter, as I do, you'll need to lay down some newspaper or something to catch the spills - and there will be some no matter how tidy you try to be.
Now, pour some seed starting mix into a bucket or container. Add water a bit at a time, stirring and mixing with the trowel until the mixture is fairly damp, but not soaking or dripping wet.
Trowel some of the mix into each pot, lightly tamping it down with your fingers or the butt of the trowel. Add three or four seeds to the appropriately labeled pot - one in the center and two or three spaced nearer the edges, equally apart. Use the toothpick to lightly press the seeds just beneath the soil. Tamp lightly.
Place pots in tray and mist lightly with sprayer. Slip each tray of pots into a plastic bag and twist the end closed, and tightly twist on a tie, allowing air to remain inside the bag so it's puffed up over the top of your pots. The bag will act as a mini-greenhouse until your seeds sprout.
My pots are under a grow light. Water mister is nearby for watering once they're removed from the bag. Until then, you shouldn't need to water your seedlings.
Place the pots under a plant grow light (Walmart and hardware stores have these), or in a sunny warm (but not hot) window.
When your seedlings almost touch the top of the plastic, remove the bag carefully. Then, don't allow the soil around them to dry out. Mist them with the sprayer as the top of the soil begins to dry. Mist until wet.
When your seedlings are more robust then "thready", you may water them with a gentle trickle of water just until water seeps out the bottom of the pot. Allow your seedlings to grow and thrive until all danger of frost is past and they have become somewhat robust.
On sunny, warm days I like to take mine out from under the light and allow them to sit in a sheltered spot in filtered sun. Don't forget to bring them back in a few hours later. This helps them to begin to acclimate to outdoor conditions and grow used to sunlight. Gradually, I introduce them to stronger sunlight, unless they are plants meant to grow in shade.
Plant the seedlings into your garden or into pots. Enjoy!
Seeds are a fun and frugal way to get plants. Kids love to watch the magic of seeds as they sprout into something to eat or pretty to look at. Seeds are less expensive than single plants. For the price of a packet of seeds you get quite a few plants.
With seeds you get to choose the varieties you want rather than accept the limited choices stocked at nurseries and garden centers.
Plant companies have so many delightful varieties! Go on line and request a catalog or catalogs, or order from online catalogs.
Some of my favorite seed companies are:
Pinetree Garden Seeds
Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company
Shumway
Burpee
Johnny's Selected Seeds
Jung Seeds
Don't forget to check Amazon. There's lots of seed sellers there! On Amazon I like "Under the Sun Seeds".
Good Growing!
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