Paper pots for planting seeds!

 

This is my second attempt at starting seedlings indoors.  When I did it once before, I thought I could start seeds under the light of a south window.  Not so.  It wasn't nearly enough light to get seedlings to grow stocky enough to plant into my windy garden spot.  So this year I've been doing a little research and found a dandy article on the methods of starting seedlings at Mother Earth News.  I used to pick up that magazine at the library in the front entry where folks would leave their magazines to share for free.  Here is the article I learned so much from: Best Tips For Starting Seeds Indoors.  One of the tips was to make your own pots from paper cups or from newspapers, and since we have lots of newspapers, I opted for that.  I spent a good hour rolling pots and ended up with 63 pots for my seed planting.  Here's a video for a very simple newspaper pot. 


I bought a 4 foot hanging shop light that has florescent bulbs.  I'll put that above my trays of pots and hope that I will have plenty of light for young seedlings to get a good start.  I'm planning to plant tomatoes:  Sweet 100s, Heirloom Beef Steak, Better Boy, and Early Girl.  We have such a short growing season that I like to have some early tomatoes as well as some that take a little longer just in case we can get a few huge tomatoes late in the season.  I'll also be planting:  broccoli, Brussels sprouts (experiment), cabbage, peppers, and maybe some cantaloupe.  I want to start some flowers too:  moss rose, snapdragons, marigolds, and petunias. 

(Illustration By Elayne Sears)

Another great tip I found was how to make your own liquid fertilizer  for young transplants.  Since I have chickens, I can use some of that manure mixed with wood shavings and add in grass clippings and a few other things into a bucket of water.  I had always heard that chicken poop was "too hot" to mix into the garden directly, so it makes sense to make a "compost tea" with it to use as fertilizer.  I've also read that some people take their weeds, throw them into a bucket, add water and sunshine, and let it steep into a tea that works as fertilizer.  Not even the weeds need to go to waste!

I will wait until about March 10th before I start planting my seeds because our last frost date can be as late as the end of May.  By starting my own seeds, I will have more choices for the types of plants I can grow instead of relying on the greenhouses to make those choices for me.  I hope to save a little money on my garden costs too.  Wish me luck!

Do you have any seed starting tips to share?