We Tested The 3 Most Popular Seed Starting Methods
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Date: 2024-05-15
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Comments and reviews: 20
pdxmusl1510
Id add a few tips and cost savings ive learned.
1) when hardening off DON'T move your plants around frequently. Like twice a day. Its too much. Some plants will get stressed out. If you can help it. Obviously move them before the conditions will damage them like frost or being in too much sun. But. In the house if you have a room that gets a short amount of sun. You can partially harden them indoors. If you have shady spots in your yard, move them there first for a few days. I have full on shade, partially sunny, etc. I have the full spectrum. So i just graduate the starts as they respond to increase pressure. Its less work for me.
2) buy the nice trays if you decide to do trays. (Not the cells - more larter) start small you can buy more later. I started with cheap trays. Its fine if your not sure you want to garden. But if theres a chance you will stick with it. one day you will rage quit cheap trays and everything you purchased will be in the garbage. Because one day youll carry those trays somewhere and they will fail and break and dump everything on the ground. And you'll see your 8 weeks of work with your tomatoes on the ground. Probably no longer salvageable. Buy the nice trays. Not the most expensive. They'll last you for life.
3) i love epic gardening & there stuff. but. NEVER buy seed cells. From anyone. Most of the time the quality is terrible. Really cheap ones fall apart and your constantly replacing them. Mid grade ones people feel they can charge enough you may consider taking out a heloc for. The really nice ones like at epic gardening. youll sell your house cash out your 401k, barrow from a relative, sell a kid, and sell an organ to afford. Use solo cups. Mid grade quality. So yes youll occasionally need to replace, but very infrequently. And extremely cheap. You can cut them to air prune. They are typically taller which can cause some watering issues initially. But they root deeper. I find when transfered into the garden they are more resilient than traditional cells. And you can find solo cups in all the standard sizes. Its probably ok to get a few cell trays for setups you know youll always do. But lean heavily on solo cups or something comparable. To save money.
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Id add a few tips and cost savings ive learned.
1) when hardening off DON'T move your plants around frequently. Like twice a day. Its too much. Some plants will get stressed out. If you can help it. Obviously move them before the conditions will damage them like frost or being in too much sun. But. In the house if you have a room that gets a short amount of sun. You can partially harden them indoors. If you have shady spots in your yard, move them there first for a few days. I have full on shade, partially sunny, etc. I have the full spectrum. So i just graduate the starts as they respond to increase pressure. Its less work for me.
2) buy the nice trays if you decide to do trays. (Not the cells - more larter) start small you can buy more later. I started with cheap trays. Its fine if your not sure you want to garden. But if theres a chance you will stick with it. one day you will rage quit cheap trays and everything you purchased will be in the garbage. Because one day youll carry those trays somewhere and they will fail and break and dump everything on the ground. And you'll see your 8 weeks of work with your tomatoes on the ground. Probably no longer salvageable. Buy the nice trays. Not the most expensive. They'll last you for life.
3) i love epic gardening & there stuff. but. NEVER buy seed cells. From anyone. Most of the time the quality is terrible. Really cheap ones fall apart and your constantly replacing them. Mid grade ones people feel they can charge enough you may consider taking out a heloc for. The really nice ones like at epic gardening. youll sell your house cash out your 401k, barrow from a relative, sell a kid, and sell an organ to afford. Use solo cups. Mid grade quality. So yes youll occasionally need to replace, but very infrequently. And extremely cheap. You can cut them to air prune. They are typically taller which can cause some watering issues initially. But they root deeper. I find when transfered into the garden they are more resilient than traditional cells. And you can find solo cups in all the standard sizes. Its probably ok to get a few cell trays for setups you know youll always do. But lean heavily on solo cups or something comparable. To save money.
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jenperry427
I've been soil blocking for a few years now and do agree with pretty much all of the cons listed, its definitely not a good intro point for people new to gardening. I have arthritic hands and wear thick gloves to press the blocks, which helps but it still hurts after you do enough of them. However I love not dealing with plastic cells, I'd have to remortgage my house to buy enough epic cells to fill my racks here in canada, and the flimsy ones are frustrating and wasteful. Figuring out your soil blocking mix that works for you is key for them to not fall apart. I found that adding coco coir and sheep wool pellets to the mix helps a lot, but pressing the ever loving crap out of them is the biggest help. Lean on that soil blocker like it owes you money. Which is does, because it was like $70 to buy. You end up with packed blocks that stay together, and everything grows like stink in them. You Can't Eat the Grass and Regenerative Gardening both have great videos on soil blocking technique. I'm considering a Swift Blocker for next year. Super expensive to get in canada, but I think my hands will thank me.
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I've been soil blocking for a few years now and do agree with pretty much all of the cons listed, its definitely not a good intro point for people new to gardening. I have arthritic hands and wear thick gloves to press the blocks, which helps but it still hurts after you do enough of them. However I love not dealing with plastic cells, I'd have to remortgage my house to buy enough epic cells to fill my racks here in canada, and the flimsy ones are frustrating and wasteful. Figuring out your soil blocking mix that works for you is key for them to not fall apart. I found that adding coco coir and sheep wool pellets to the mix helps a lot, but pressing the ever loving crap out of them is the biggest help. Lean on that soil blocker like it owes you money. Which is does, because it was like $70 to buy. You end up with packed blocks that stay together, and everything grows like stink in them. You Can't Eat the Grass and Regenerative Gardening both have great videos on soil blocking technique. I'm considering a Swift Blocker for next year. Super expensive to get in canada, but I think my hands will thank me.
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marybethskarke5791
Great video, especially for those who haven’t tried starting from seeds. I’ve been planting seeds for awhile but always learn something new. I asked for the Epic deep seed starting trays for Christmas and let me tell you, they’re a game changer for me. The deeper size and the air pruning slits made it so that I was able to grow tomatoes and peppers from start to planting out in them, saving time and additional soil that wasn’t needed to up pot to a larger size. I may need to adjust my starting time next year because the plants did so well and having to hold my peppers back because of chilly weather made them slightly root bound. I just teased the roots some before planting in my raised beds and they’re growing like crazy. The trays aren’t inexpensive but like you said, they’ll last forever. The bottom tray that’s sold separately is nice and rigid for moving them around.
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Great video, especially for those who haven’t tried starting from seeds. I’ve been planting seeds for awhile but always learn something new. I asked for the Epic deep seed starting trays for Christmas and let me tell you, they’re a game changer for me. The deeper size and the air pruning slits made it so that I was able to grow tomatoes and peppers from start to planting out in them, saving time and additional soil that wasn’t needed to up pot to a larger size. I may need to adjust my starting time next year because the plants did so well and having to hold my peppers back because of chilly weather made them slightly root bound. I just teased the roots some before planting in my raised beds and they’re growing like crazy. The trays aren’t inexpensive but like you said, they’ll last forever. The bottom tray that’s sold separately is nice and rigid for moving them around.
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yamato-qi3es
Yo comment section.
What would you do if you had very small amount of good quality soil either used or naturally found, almost no store bought fertilizer and no homemade compost when you are first starting.
your goal is to grow as much has possible and it being self sustaining and finding ways to add nutrients to the soil and improving soil quality and actually compering the results to see what grows best like medieval time what would be the approach purely theoretical
what would you think the results would be.
that could be an interesting video though it probably wouldn’t generate good crops or be good for the garden it would be interesting to see a minimal recourses gardening
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Yo comment section.
What would you do if you had very small amount of good quality soil either used or naturally found, almost no store bought fertilizer and no homemade compost when you are first starting.
your goal is to grow as much has possible and it being self sustaining and finding ways to add nutrients to the soil and improving soil quality and actually compering the results to see what grows best like medieval time what would be the approach purely theoretical
what would you think the results would be.
that could be an interesting video though it probably wouldn’t generate good crops or be good for the garden it would be interesting to see a minimal recourses gardening
reply
bdctrans70
Great information and a great shout-out for the accessibility pros and cons. Good work! I use the jug method for my tomato and tomatillo seeds, but I use clear gallon glass jars. I use onion net bags to lay on the bottom to help remove the plant once it is ready. I find this method works best for them to prevent dampening. With my root veggies (except potatoes, I use the old tissue wrapping paper and cornstarch. I lay the tape face down and they performed wonderfully. I direct sow all my squash and melons. I use seed trays for non-root veggies and flowers. I have had mine for ages, just keep reusing these plastic babies. For herbs, I directly sow in pots.
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Great information and a great shout-out for the accessibility pros and cons. Good work! I use the jug method for my tomato and tomatillo seeds, but I use clear gallon glass jars. I use onion net bags to lay on the bottom to help remove the plant once it is ready. I find this method works best for them to prevent dampening. With my root veggies (except potatoes, I use the old tissue wrapping paper and cornstarch. I lay the tape face down and they performed wonderfully. I direct sow all my squash and melons. I use seed trays for non-root veggies and flowers. I have had mine for ages, just keep reusing these plastic babies. For herbs, I directly sow in pots.
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hilpri
Great video! When you grow good (Botanical Interests) seed, germinating isn't that hard. Getting the seedling to turn into a healthy plant. well, that's taken a lot of trial and error. Thanks for the ideas. The Burpee plastic and silicone reusable cells/trays do a great job for very little money though they won't last as long as the Epic hard plastic. Plus, don't skimp on the grow lights and heat mats. I have so many potted up starts this year that I've been giving them away by the trayload to friends and co-workers just so they don't go to waste. My small yard is starting to look like a farm thanks to the Epic Gardening team and BI. Dang you all! LOL!
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Great video! When you grow good (Botanical Interests) seed, germinating isn't that hard. Getting the seedling to turn into a healthy plant. well, that's taken a lot of trial and error. Thanks for the ideas. The Burpee plastic and silicone reusable cells/trays do a great job for very little money though they won't last as long as the Epic hard plastic. Plus, don't skimp on the grow lights and heat mats. I have so many potted up starts this year that I've been giving them away by the trayload to friends and co-workers just so they don't go to waste. My small yard is starting to look like a farm thanks to the Epic Gardening team and BI. Dang you all! LOL!
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MattSeremet
I started using the snail method recently and it's been amazing. Coco perlite (or any seed starting medium) coiled up with some thin film backing. Seeds are placed evenly on top and then a tiny bit more growing medium. I germinate in a clear bin with led strip laid on top, and then let grow a bit. Unravel and they separate easily with minimal neighbors (it's a long linear strip of dirt essentially. I even put the snails into my hydro spots once they sprout so they can grow a few inches. For me it just works and I never have to worry about it.
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I started using the snail method recently and it's been amazing. Coco perlite (or any seed starting medium) coiled up with some thin film backing. Seeds are placed evenly on top and then a tiny bit more growing medium. I germinate in a clear bin with led strip laid on top, and then let grow a bit. Unravel and they separate easily with minimal neighbors (it's a long linear strip of dirt essentially. I even put the snails into my hydro spots once they sprout so they can grow a few inches. For me it just works and I never have to worry about it.
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MyFocusVaries
I know my limits for attention, so spring and winter sowing works so well for me. Winter sowed may have less on top, but they often have a better developed root system. I bought aluminum roasting pans with plastic domes. I even sowed cucumbers and other tender veg, those I stacked in my little greenhouse rack on my deck and snapped the lid on. It held the moisture in. I didn't need to water until the heat of mid May. I know I won't keep up with watering, and I don't have lights or space inside.
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I know my limits for attention, so spring and winter sowing works so well for me. Winter sowed may have less on top, but they often have a better developed root system. I bought aluminum roasting pans with plastic domes. I even sowed cucumbers and other tender veg, those I stacked in my little greenhouse rack on my deck and snapped the lid on. It held the moisture in. I didn't need to water until the heat of mid May. I know I won't keep up with watering, and I don't have lights or space inside.
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epic_gardening
I was just going to write you a note today and tell you how special it is to receive a package from Botanical Interest. When seeds arrive in the printed boxes that I have come to know, its so special to open the box and find your seeds tied into a bow with the lovely green ribbon and carefully packaged into the box with the special paper that I don't even know how to describe. It's just really special, so please don't change that. I love giving these seeds as gifts. Meg is awesome!
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I was just going to write you a note today and tell you how special it is to receive a package from Botanical Interest. When seeds arrive in the printed boxes that I have come to know, its so special to open the box and find your seeds tied into a bow with the lovely green ribbon and carefully packaged into the box with the special paper that I don't even know how to describe. It's just really special, so please don't change that. I love giving these seeds as gifts. Meg is awesome!
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trishdavi7049
Another reason the jugs didn't develop as healthy seedlings is there is less warmth to the roots in the light colored container than the dark. You might want to look into next year is biodegradable mesh soil bags. The true test of these methods is results after transplanting particularly upon beans and what you would normally sow directly. Much as you dislike the soil blocks, they have the least root disturbance during planting than any containers shown
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Another reason the jugs didn't develop as healthy seedlings is there is less warmth to the roots in the light colored container than the dark. You might want to look into next year is biodegradable mesh soil bags. The true test of these methods is results after transplanting particularly upon beans and what you would normally sow directly. Much as you dislike the soil blocks, they have the least root disturbance during planting than any containers shown
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kittiew260
So my answer depends. I have great success winter sowing perennials as well as cole crops. Inside warm veggies and soil blocks are good for starting if you know how to use them then uppot.
I have epic success with cut flowers and perennial seeds, winter sowing cold climate & easy stratification. I am saving myself hundreds establishing perennials. Wish she would have tried perennials seed they are a challenge along with some that need stratification.
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So my answer depends. I have great success winter sowing perennials as well as cole crops. Inside warm veggies and soil blocks are good for starting if you know how to use them then uppot.
I have epic success with cut flowers and perennial seeds, winter sowing cold climate & easy stratification. I am saving myself hundreds establishing perennials. Wish she would have tried perennials seed they are a challenge along with some that need stratification.
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metasamsara
after trying all the methods from peat plugs to quality coco plugs to glass water to paper towel to direct soil to direct coco, i will stick to direct soil/direct coco.
root riot plugs were the worst of it all. in perfect condition they are very fast, but they allow seeds to get stuck germinating upside down, and they are the perfect breeding ground for root eating worms. after all, if nature prefers soil, there's a reason for it evolution wise.
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after trying all the methods from peat plugs to quality coco plugs to glass water to paper towel to direct soil to direct coco, i will stick to direct soil/direct coco.
root riot plugs were the worst of it all. in perfect condition they are very fast, but they allow seeds to get stuck germinating upside down, and they are the perfect breeding ground for root eating worms. after all, if nature prefers soil, there's a reason for it evolution wise.
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ruthabigail5939
Omg the jug method works great. I tried it for the first time this year. It was transplanting those sprouts too early that ruined it for me. I jug-started my sunflowers this spring so I could start them earlier and it worked great! And then I transplanted them and the birds and lizards woke up from winter and ate them all definitely trying again this fall/winter and saving all my jugs until then. I'm definitely a fan of free gardening hacks
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Omg the jug method works great. I tried it for the first time this year. It was transplanting those sprouts too early that ruined it for me. I jug-started my sunflowers this spring so I could start them earlier and it worked great! And then I transplanted them and the birds and lizards woke up from winter and ate them all definitely trying again this fall/winter and saving all my jugs until then. I'm definitely a fan of free gardening hacks
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A1BASE
I’ve given up trying to start seeds.
Between the effort and babying involved, the susceptibility to over / underwatering or other weather damage, legginess, rodent damage and simply the TIME involved I’ve just bought already established plants this year.
Honestly, it probably costs me less in the long run doing this.
Starting from seed is a labor of love, but I think it’s overrated for most people.
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I’ve given up trying to start seeds.
Between the effort and babying involved, the susceptibility to over / underwatering or other weather damage, legginess, rodent damage and simply the TIME involved I’ve just bought already established plants this year.
Honestly, it probably costs me less in the long run doing this.
Starting from seed is a labor of love, but I think it’s overrated for most people.
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epic_gardening
With the squash, I would think the cause of the difference in colour between the jug and the soil block/seed trays is more likely because the jug doesn't allow a same amount of light through the jug container that the other two methods get through the greenhouse. It's obviously still enough light, but the jug is not completely clear, so it would still be slightly less.
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With the squash, I would think the cause of the difference in colour between the jug and the soil block/seed trays is more likely because the jug doesn't allow a same amount of light through the jug container that the other two methods get through the greenhouse. It's obviously still enough light, but the jug is not completely clear, so it would still be slightly less.
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VeretenoVids
I have arthritis in my hands so I get you on soil blocking, but I still love it. I hadn't seen someone pack them like you do. I use a wide tub and essentially scrape the blocker at an angle through the soil then pull it upright at the as it gets close to me and push it down into the soil. IMO, easy and quick and less pain on the hands--at least my hands.
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I have arthritis in my hands so I get you on soil blocking, but I still love it. I hadn't seen someone pack them like you do. I use a wide tub and essentially scrape the blocker at an angle through the soil then pull it upright at the as it gets close to me and push it down into the soil. IMO, easy and quick and less pain on the hands--at least my hands.
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familyrussell1488
I have great success with the winter sowing method. For squash plants, the container needs to be opened when the set of true leaves has developed. Just like you would remove a humidity dome when planting in trays inside. The squash plants are more sensitive to air circulation. The winter sown seedlings have strong roots and are acclimated.
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I have great success with the winter sowing method. For squash plants, the container needs to be opened when the set of true leaves has developed. Just like you would remove a humidity dome when planting in trays inside. The squash plants are more sensitive to air circulation. The winter sown seedlings have strong roots and are acclimated.
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epic_gardening
Because of arthritis in my hands, I can’t use soil blocking. Cutting up plastic jugs isn’t easy either. Like you, I do sturdy plastic seed trays that can be used for years. They work just fine, but having a light setup is critical, as you say. Using the easiest method makes it possible to garden years longer, which matters to me at 77.
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Because of arthritis in my hands, I can’t use soil blocking. Cutting up plastic jugs isn’t easy either. Like you, I do sturdy plastic seed trays that can be used for years. They work just fine, but having a light setup is critical, as you say. Using the easiest method makes it possible to garden years longer, which matters to me at 77.
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chamberswagner2010
That was really interesting and useful! Thank you! meggrowsplants - are you going to keep track of which ones are planted out in your garden to track to see how these different start methods might continue to effect the plants during their life cycle I'm just curious because I love nerdy testing like this. :D
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That was really interesting and useful! Thank you! meggrowsplants - are you going to keep track of which ones are planted out in your garden to track to see how these different start methods might continue to effect the plants during their life cycle I'm just curious because I love nerdy testing like this. :D
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modelno2004
I had great success with winter sewing tomatoes in late feb in zone 7. They grew the heartiest seedlings for me compared to seed trays, because I’m TERRIBLE at watering, and I traveled a lot. I probably could have started them in mid March and still be oksomething I’ll try next season!
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I had great success with winter sewing tomatoes in late feb in zone 7. They grew the heartiest seedlings for me compared to seed trays, because I’m TERRIBLE at watering, and I traveled a lot. I probably could have started them in mid March and still be oksomething I’ll try next season!
reply
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