Planting seeds indoors

Finally, Spring! After this terribly long Canadian winter, I am itching to be in my garden. But, alas, the ground is still frozen, hard as a rock.

Twice before I’ve tried to start plants from seed indoors. I used small pots filled with potting mix. And twice it has been a let down – the plants died soon after sprouting! Not sure if it’s because I overwatered or did not water enough, or if there was not enough sun. Nevertheless, as I am impatient to plant something, I’ve decided to try again.

This time I am using peat pellets. They are little hard disks of peat moss, wrapped in webbing, that when saturated, expand to about 1 – ½”. The brand I used instructed that one is to put water in the bottom tray, then place the pellet tray on top of the bottom tray, and add 3 seeds to each pellet.

Some of the seeds I used were so miniscule, that I had to put more than three seeds. The instructions also did not advise to separate the webbing on top. This did not seem right to me, so I did some investigating on YouTube and found the below video tutorial. Wish I’d seen it beforehand! Perhaps you'll find it usefull if you decide to start your seeds indoors.

What I do like about the peat pellets is that they stay moist, so you don't need to be constantly be spritzing them with water. I should mention I also read that when using peat pellets, you should not spritz them as it may create fungus (ewwww). I also did that when I first planted, but so far, they are fungus free.

The seeds have now sprouted, but I’m not sure if they are ready for the sun, yet.


Got any tips for growing seeds indoors? Post your comment to this blog.