Seed Starting Update – February 2025

February means I am well into seed starting for the year! It’s exciting to see those newly planted seeds turn into sprouts and begin growing. Every year I try to plant a large variety of vegetable garden plants including the must have tomato and peppers plants. I also enjoy getting a lot of ornamental seeds growing too. Below you can see a video of where I’m at with my seed starting, take a look at some of the process of starting seeds, and check out the seed starting setup I use.

Important Points Covered in the Video

  • Plastic Cups for Seed Starting (mini-greenhouses)
  • Grow Lights – I just use simple fluorescent shop lights. I’m switching to LED bulbs as they go out. (48″ ballast)
  • Heat Mats
  • When to Start Tomato and Pepper plants
  • Frost Date – For Us around April 15th
  • Seed Starting Setup

Vivosun Heat Mats

In the video I showed these seed starting heat mats from Vivosun. The mats are flexible and can slide onto a 4ft long shelf that is about 20 inches deep. They have other sizes are available that may fit your shelves if you are using different sizes than I am.

The link includes a bundle kit that has a thermostat for adjusting the heat mat temperature. You can buy those separately or not at all if you choose. Link: Vivosun Heat Mat (aff) If you just want the thermostat here is the one I bought: Vivosun Thermostat (aff.).

How to Save Seeds of Echinacea (Coneflower)

Updated on 11/23/2024 Fall is that time of year when gardeners begin the process of cleaning up the garden but also is the time when we begin to think of next year and saving seeds. One of the my favorite plants is echinacea and I…

Read More

Germinating Japanese Maple Seeds in a Plastic Bag

I love a nice Japanese maple! Who doesn’t? There are Japanese maples  with variegated leaves, ones with deep burgundy colors, others with interesting shaped leaves that are highly dissected and many other kinds. The fall color on a Japanese is almost always guaranteed to be something special.  Their…

Read More

Seeds and Where to Find Them

By now you may have received your first seed catalog(s) in the mail. It’s a fun time of the year for gardeners. We get to sift through the pages, read the descriptions designed to entice us, and dream of what we will plant next year….

Read More

Self Sowing Coleus in the Garden

I love surprises in the garden.  Plants that pop up where you least expect them – unfortunately those are usually called “WEEDS.”  Sometimes though we find plants of value that pop up.  Here are a few pictures of some self-sown coleus plants that came up…

Read More

Discover more from Growing The Home Garden

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Discover more from Growing The Home Garden

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading