Planting Veggies Inside

Planting veggies inside in order to transplant them outside when in season is tricky. For one thing, you definitely need a greenhouse or a truly southern window (or grow lights) for them to be able to get enough Sun. if you are new to gardening, let the nurseries do it for you. However, if you want to give it a try, I will share what I do.

The crops that I want to start early, I plant in blocks. I use a tool that I purchased from Johnny’s Seeds and Fort Vee potting soil from the Vermont Compost Company.

I get the medium wet, then stuff it into the sections of the block tool. These squeeze out leaving a perfect little hole in the middle for planting.

I then place in the seed, cover with a bit of soil and label.

If you want to start with pots, fill them with potting soil leaving space about an inch from the top. Place in the seed or seeds (I will often plant several planning to thin to one later), and cover with another bit of potting soil.

Either way, it’s important to water them well and make sure that the top of the soil doesn’t dry out until after the plant has emerged. Look on the seed packet to see how long they will take to germinate. Some seeds come up right away and others take quite a while. Parsley seeds take a full three weeks to germinate. Put them in a place that gets at least six, preferably eight, hours of Sun a day.

This Friday and Saturday are excellent days to start plants that will be growing fruits and veggies above the ground. The Moon is waxing and in the incredibly fertile sign of Cancer.

Although I start my seeds in these soil blocks, I will be eventually transplanting them into larger pots and out into my heated greenhouse.

Spring is, indeed, right around the corner!

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