Start by buying your seeds from a source that you trust. Better-quality and fresh seeds sprout more, as their higher germination rate gives you a starting advantage.
Pot them with seed-starting mix. There's no actual soil in these mixes, but they're good conditions for a sprouting seed. They also offer a great balance between retaining water and drainage while reducing issues about disease. Garden soil should be avoided for starting seeds indoors since it typically won't drain well and might have spores of plant disease.
Be sure there are drainage holes in your containers. It's okay to recycle pots, like using empty yogurt containers, but you have to poke holes in them to drain them. Biodegradable pots also work well too.
Plant the seeds at the right depths. Read the seed packets for this. Precise measurements aren't necessary, but you should be mindful not to do any planting deeper than directed.
Put the containers somewhere warm once sowed. Given the long nights in winter Canada, windows might not always work. The top of your fridge could. So could a spot by a radiator or heating vent. Look over your pots every day for any signs of growth. You need to keep their seed-starting mixture moist, and seedling roots require both water and air. Don't saturate them with water though. It should be like a damp sponge that has both water and air.
You'll want the pots in bright locations once the seedlings emerge. Sunny windows do work now, but the consistent light of supplemental fluorescent lights also works, and sometimes even better. If you can, hang these lights only an inch or so over the plant tops.
Cool room temperatures are best for many seedlings, which isn't hard for Canadian homes most of the time, even in spring. The ideal temperature is usually going to be in the high 60s on the Fahrenheit scale, or about 2 degrees Celsius less than your normal room temperature in the rest of the home.
Fertilize weekly, preferably with something organic, once your seedlings have a set or two of leaves. Once they do get two sets of leaves, you need to thin them out. One seedling per pot is the healthiest way to go, so pick the ones that look strongest for keepers.
Starting off seeds indoors doesn't just have to be something you do to get a jump on spring. For some plants, you can do a second round in the summer if you know you'll have room in your garden after the initial harvest but still have some growing time outdoors. For that matter, some small plants can stay indoors their entire life cycle for indoor gardening any month of the year. Even in Canada, it's possible to enjoy healthy and fresh plants at any time of the year.
Article Source: Canada Grows Indoors
