Now is the time to start planning your garden.

Many early-season vegetables can be started indoors 8-10 weeks before your last frost date. You can buy several packages of seeds for less than you’ll pay for a 6-pack of plants and you’ll have plenty of seeds left over for next year. Starting seeds is inexpensive and CAN be downright frugal.

In the past, I have had problems getting plants started when I direct sow into the ground. I don’t know if my seeds are rotting, critters are eating the seeds or sprouts, or what the problem is but I don’t have any problems when I put plants out as transplants. Starting seeds indoors works for me.

I like using the bottom halves from plastic milk cartons for a lot of my seeds. When it is time to start tomato plants, I’ll plant nine seeds (three rows of three) in each one. For some types of seeds, I’ll just put a pinch of seeds in and sort out the blob when it is time to transplant them. Plastic shoe boxes are a new addition this year- I didn’t save enough milk cartons.
Like most people, I don’t need 9 of each type of tomato I plant. I transplant the best ones and give or throw away the rest. Some don’t come up, some get culled, some don’t make it for who-knows-why. I still end up with enough good plants.


Here is my seed starting setup. As you can tell, I don’t have much invested:



Key components and approximate expense:
Plastic shelving unit- $20
Plastic enclosure- $5
Lights- $10 each
Plastic shoe boxes- $1 each
Bottoms from milk cartons- $0.00
Potting soil- however much you want to spend

The plastic for the enclosure consists of (2) clear plastic shower curtain liners. These are the lightweight ones from Walmart that cost $2 each. They last several years. I put zip ties through some of the holes in the top to hold them together. Duct tape works. Putting a heavy box on the top to hold them down works.

The lights I’ve been using cost about $10 each. It has been cheaper for me to buy a new fixture than to replace a bulb. I bought two per year over a period of years. I put in a 4’ shop light last year and it works. Some of the older ones are under-cabinet lights. The type of light doesn’t seem to matter, the main thing is to keep them as close to the growing plants as possible. I like to keep them about 2 inches above the growing tips. Sometimes I have to raise the lights daily. Plants grow just as well under one light as under two lights but I do rotate the containers as often as twice a day to get all of them under  the light at some point. You can probably see the little sections of chain I use to adjust the lights (I put cup hooks in the backs of the lights to hang them) but some are hung using zip ties. I like these because you can just close up the zip tie loop a little bit to raise the light. Downside is you cannot easily let them back down. Hey, zip ties are cheap! Make another loop.

I leave the lights on 24/7. Most seeds sprout in 5-10 days. Even if I only gain 2 weeks of growth at the beginning of the season, I end up with plants exactly where I want them. ***This obviously isn’t set up for veggies for which you want to plant rows and rows like beans and peas.

It never works out for me.  My plants die when I transplant them, but the seeds outside do fine.  

I obviously have a disconnect somewhere and can't figure out where.

You need to get them used to being outdoors. Hour today, two tomorrow, etc.

Then you have transplant shock..

I did soil blocks,vand I will continue to use them for seeds that have to be started early. That said, I direct sow a lot these days, even tomatoes. Yes. I live in MN. It's more about soil temps than the calendar. Last year the garden went in very late June.  It did fine. 

You can start dosing them with a fan and introduce them to wider temperature fluctuations and harsher lighting indoors. Just remember to work them up gradually.  I do that instead of the whole putting stuff out and taking it back in routine and it works fairly well.

In for tips and ideas.... and so I don't forget to get started!

I'll agree that the hardest part is transferring them outside. I try to move the plants outside for about an hour the first day, two the next, etc. for about a week before I leave them out permanently. I like to put them out during early morning hours at first, and I usually try to find a dappled shady spot to put them in.

I'll also use a small fan to blow over some plants while they are inside. This really seems to help tomato plants have thicker stems.

Oh crap, just remembered I forgot to start onion seeds!

Another tip that people can use:  Some small seeds that need light to germinate can be a bit of a pain.  If you are following the directions on the seed packet and aren't getting very good results, put some seeds on a paper towel, get the paper towel damp and fold it up, then place it in a baggie, but don't close the baggie.  When you see the initial roots start to peak out, you can place the now germinated seeds into your planters/peat pot/etc...

I buy nursery cloth that reduces the amount of sunlight the transplants get. I have one piece of cloth ( 8ft x 12ft ) that reduces the light by 50%. I have a second piece of cloth  ( 8ft x 12ft ) that reduces the light by 30% so it allows the transplants to receive 70% of the light.

I have an old metal table frame that I put the transplants under and cover with the 50% light. I leave the plants under that for 3 days. Then I remove the 50% cloth and put the 30% cloth on the plants. I let the plants sit there for 3 days.

After that I move the plants into the garden. I've done this with several different plants for the last couple of years. It's worked perfectly!

Don't have to worry about moving plants in and out of the house every day. If critters get to your plants just put some metal fence around the plants to protect them.