We moved to this colder growing zone recently so I am preparing to start seeds in a green house at some point. I don’t know which trays or seed starting system to get. Want to keep it as simple as possible, and be happy with whatever system I invest in.
Would you like to share what is your favorite way to start your seeds? Which are your favorite trays, or perhaps you don’t like trays. What has worked for you throughout the years?
Thanks so much for sharing!
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For trays, the small farm community seems to prefer “winstrips”, which were taken out of production but are back through Neversink Tools. They are quite expensive, but very well designed and will last many years. Many of the other options are cheap plastic that will deteriorate quickly. In general, we use the 72 cell the most, usually for starts that get a bit larger before transplanting. We use 128s for things that don’t need to get quite as big.
It can also be nice to have some supplemental heat for chilly conditions. Two basic options are electric heat mats and cables that go underneath trays to provide some warmth. If you are leveling up your setup, a germination chamber can also be helpful for more sensitive plants. You can buy a fancy one or design a simple one. Over the years we have used a metal shelving unit with old clear greenhouse plastic lining the outside, then a heat/humidity source from a crockpot (with a little oil and water inside to generate the heat/steam, or you can get a livestock heating wand that will provide the same effect.
As for the soil medium in the trays, that’s a big discussion. I’ve done a lot of research, and the most common recipes seem to be a mix of high-quality compost, coco coir or peat moss, perlite, maybe vermiculite, and then fertility amendments, which vary quite a bit. If you have really good compost, you can start things in 100% compost, like Charles Dowding. In general it’s good to have some compost as an inoculant to introduce plants to other microbes early in their lives.
Having said all of that, I’m a huge believer in direct sowing in the ground when possible (which is an Adaptation Gardening principle). We have seen better results with much less labor and inputs from direct sowing seeds, especially things that don’t really need supplemental heat in our climate. A couple tricks are to measure soil temperature to determine when to plant (don’t rush it if the soil is cold), and to “overseed” or plant seeds more thickly and gradually thin or “rogue” out any undesirables, until the preferred spacing remains.
Wow Spencer, thanks for all the details! I have a very short season, about 85 days, so I believe that there won’t be an option for me (at least at the beginning - an for things like peppers) to start seeds in a warmer environment.
I am going to try many of the wonderful landraces by Joseph. Will get a huge head start that way.
Will look up the brand for trays you mention. We’ll have a relatively big garden around 2000sq ft. But it is just for our family. No selling or plans for expansion.
It’s a wonderful thing to be able to learn from you and all the experienced people in this forum.
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I tend to go towards 100% direct sowing, except solanaceae: tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, physalis. Next year I’m gonna be direct sowing all, + doing some tray sowing using soil blockers as usual as back up for some solanaceae… but not tomatoes and tomatillos as they are so vigorous! For the rest of them it will allow me (and nature!) to do some earliness and vigor selection as I’m sure only 5 to 30% of most will have time to fruit before first frost!
Regarding all cucurbits (including melons and watermelons) the direct sowing has proven to work good, though if I had a shorter growing season, I would start them in soil blockers and transplant them early as far as their growth is concerned, as soon as 2 real leaves great maximum. That not to compromise their root system.
The direct sowing saves time and gives vigor in my experience: I don’t have to cuddle anything, I just need to sow at the right time + that allows me to do large oversowings for doung early vigor selection, something I wouldn’t do in trays as it’s time and material consuming.
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You can grow most your food for production but also setting aside some low fertility direct seeding plots for “STUN" (Sheer Total Utter Neglect) and saving seed from it, will greatly boost production and reduce labor eventually.
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Sorry I hadn’t seen that. So I would sow everything (except probably cucurbitas) in soil blockers. I would just try to not let the plant “sit” in there, for them to be perfectly fit to take over the garden when thry go in the real ground
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Thanks so much for sharing your experience. I really want to direct seed and let nature select the most hardy, early ones. I will definitely do this, even if all die. Will start some in the green house too to make sure will have some to harvest.
So you use soil blocks, that’s good to know. I am a bit intimidated by the growing curve to get them just right…
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This sounds very exciting. I really have nothing to loose. I wonder what would grow in STUN conditions 
Will definitely try. Thanks for the encouragement!
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Do you grow corn? I grew a mix of flint corns this year and it seems like the “atomic orange" really stood out for fast harvest, I’m definitely selecting them for a short season plot next year that i can possibly replant root veggies in August. They only grow about 3 feet high but put out these 8 inch, 8 row cobs that were dried down and ready to pick in less than 3 months. It would likely do you well in an 85 day season.
That definitely sounds like the kind of corn I need to try! Sounds wonderful, thanks for sharing.