Now that the summer heat is starting to taper off a bit I’ve started thinking of fall planting. All the nursery stock around here is mostly gone so I’ve started thinking about starting seedlings again. I’ve not had much success in this area and figure it’s because I’ve been looking for the perfect “growing kit” and haven’t researched techniques much. That and I forget to water. What can I say? Having a baby made me forget to water my seedlings and they all died. I don’t feel guilty - much.
In any case I’m considering building a cold frame to extend the growing season - and start earlier next year.
I’m going to see what books my library has on seed starting - I’d really like a copy of The New Seed Starter’s Handbook (see amazon link below).
I still have tons of seeds from previous failed attempts - some of which were grown locally and are actually pretty high quality - it’s the grower that had issues LOL.
So - please share any and all seed growing tips - I need all the help I can get. 
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I didn’t have any luck with my seed starts this year. I don’t have a ton of room for mine to grow inside, esp. sunny area. Please let us know what you do. I want to do a fall garden, and I’m not even sure what to plant!
I didn’t have any luck with my seed starts this year. I don’t have a ton of room for mine to grow inside, esp. sunny area. Please let us know what you do. I want to do a fall garden, and I’m not even sure what to plant!
I bought a kit (dome thing) but only the carrots actually grew well with it. The other seeds, I just planted it in the soil and waited it to grow. I watered every day, and a week or so later, they started to grow. They are slowly growing, I think because of the weather.
Good luck with yours.
Hilary - it depends on where you live on what you can plant for fall - I am going to try spinach again, some peas, beets - other things I tried growing in Spring and would like to grow again.
DP - I noticed lots of variable results with seeds I grew in my greenhouse kit - the stuff I planted outside was pretty slow sprouting…thanks, good luck with yours too
I tried this winter (my first year gardening) to start seeds indoors. They germinated great on the top of the fridge, but quickly went leggy on my window sills. Seattle doesn’t get enough sun in the winter for seed starting. Unfortunately I didn’t have a good space for setting up a light system in my house where I could assure decent temps. From my one-time experience, seed starting is not too hard, but you need a space for it (not much, a 4 foot wall section is sufficient). I did a ton of research on the net but you can’t make up for climate. This year I’m going to do winter sowing and let nature take it’s course. Shoot me an email if you want more info.
Sinfonian - Utah has similar issues in winter…
setting up a light system really daunted me this year - sounds like what I’ll do till someday I have the time (and money!) to set up a good indoor lighting system…
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