Seed Sowing 101: How to Start Your Seeds Right

Welcome to Seed Sowing 101! This page is a collection of information from Growing The Home Garden all about seed starting. The posts listed below are geared toward a gardener who is just beginning to learn how to start plants from seed and provide useful information on some of the choices you can make for successful seed starting. If you have any questions about any of the material please comment in the posts!

Growing The Home Garden: Seed Sowing 101 Series

Selecting Seeds – There are many factors that can go into finding the right seeds that can effect your success and your budget. The Dirt on Seed Starting Soil – The right seed starting soil is one of the most important decisions you make when starting seeds. Bad soil can introduce diseases or create a difficult environment for seedlings to succeed. Choose the right soil and your plants will grow to be happy and productive!
Timing (Your Seeds) is Everything! – Learn how to time your seedlings just right and work around frost dates.
Where to Plant Your Seedlings? – Select the right location for your seedlings. Do you use raised beds? Do you plant in the ground? What is your native soil like? There are lots of factors to consider.
Hardening off Seedlings – Don’t risk damaging your newly raised seedlings by not hardening them off properly.
Use plastic cups as greenhouses to start seeds. Learn this technique of creating a plastic cup mini-greenhouse! It’s cheap, effective, and very easy to do!

Plant Specific Seed Starting Techniques

Baptisia australis (False Indigo): Starting Baptisia australis from seed.
Dogwood: growing dogwoods from seed.
Heucheras: Growing heucheras from seed.
Japanese Maples: How to growing Japanese maples from seed. Or see how to germinate Japanese maple seeds in a plastic bag.
Lettuce: How to direct sow lettuce in the garden.
Magnolias: How to grow magnolias from seed.
Yuccas: Growing yuccas from seed.

More useful gardening information:

Seed Sowing is just the beginning of it all! Once you have mastered seed sowing you are well on your way to become a complete gardener. Below you will find a few other useful posts that may help you with your gardening education!