COMPLETE SEED STARTING GUIDE | SUPPLIES, TIPS, AND MORE!

What seed starting supplies are essential and what supplies are just nice to have? Join us as we provide a complete breakdown of seed starting supplies from soil, trays, heat mats, and domes. We'll tell you the best soil to use and the advantages of using trays with smaller cells.

We'll tell you when and how to use heat mats for seed starting, and then we'll continue along with our spring seed starting schedule by getting our peppers planted.

0:00 Intro
1:12 Why Is Seed Starting Such a Valuable Skill?
1:47 Why Shouldn't You Use Potting Soil?
5:55 The Best Trays & Containers for Starting Seeds
10:55 The Importance of Using Heat Mats
14:59 Do You Need a Humidity Dome?
16:46 Why Don't We Use Grow Lights?
17:59 Planting Pepper Seeds in the Greenhouse

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[LazyDogFarm]

What type of mix do you use for seed starting? Let us know!


0:00 Intro
1:12 Why Is Seed Starting Such a Valuable Skill?
1:47 Why Shouldn't You Use Potting Soil?
5:55 The Best Trays & Containers for Starting Seeds
10:55 The Importance of Using Heat Mats
14:59 Do You Need a Humidity Dome?
16:46 Why Don't We Use Grow Lights?
17:59 Planting Pepper Seeds in the Greenhouse

[wadedavis]

Nothing like starting with a seed and seeing it through all the way to the end. Very satisfying. Especially when sitting at the table. Thanks Travis for sharing your knowledge. Your my #1 go to gardening channel.

[bobbun]

As someone who has used both, I will say that LED lighting is way better than shop lights. For one thing, it's a lot harder to get fluorescent grow lights than it used to be. Good fluorescent grow lights are expensive wide-spectrum types anyway, so the cash savings isn't that great, especially since you should change them fairly often. Fluorescent tubes naturally dim over time. If you want more light for your fixture and electricity buck, consider getting some mylar "space blankets" to wrap your growing area in.

If you're trying to grow strong, not leggy seedlings you shouldn't overlook the value of a small oscillating fan to keep some air flowing over the seedlings as well.

[jeas]

🤣🤣🤣"Take the lid off!" is the BEST advice I ever got from an old timer... I killed every seedling I germinated for years.

[TMesser]

I started my peppers because Travis started his. ;) thanks for all your time. You're such a big help to me.

[theIAMofME]

I start seeds indoors. My little cheapy setup is rockin it. LOL I got a five tier metal shelf. I ordered these cheap grow lights from Harbor Freight. They are like 19 watts each light. Two per shelf and they link. They come with hardware. But, I used reversed industrial zipties. The heavy duty ones can be flipped around and used over and over. I have several of the cheap two pack of heat mats off Amazon. I used Dollar Tree windshield shades to put all around the sides and top of the shelves. And a heavy duty power strip. I don't have a timer. I just use the alarm on my phone. It's what works on a budget. I started with two shelves. Now I'm working 4 of them. The top shelf I'm using for seed tray storage. It grows A LOT of seedlings!!

[GardenTois]

Adding that you are growing in Georgia is best info ever!

[beckyharris]

Started all my early transplant yesterday. Hopefully this year will be better then last years extreme heat

[michaelsmielecki]

I make my own seed starting mix using coir bricks, worm castings, and vermiculite. 1 brick, plus 4 cups each of worm castings and vermiculite works great for me. I have an indoor setup with a 4 foot wide 5 shelf rack, 4 foot long LED shoplights on 4 of the shelves, that are 4700 lumens and 5000 kelvin on chains to raise and lower them. I have 2 small tray size heat mats for starting warm weather seeds, all plugged into a power strip connected to a timer.

[russeellbowman]

I am doing household type volume gardening, about 120 plants per season, for a retired couple, also donating some things to help others. With a tight budget, we are making cold frames from left over windows after remodeling. Heat and ventilation are more critical with cold frames and it is difficult to keep things under control since the lack of volume brings quick changes. I will be looking for automatic controls to do it right. Total cost should still be a lot less than a green house. Your advice for seed starting mix is very useful since I tried starting with regular potting mix and had limited success. One item that is important to all seed starters is finding garden markers and little sticks to label things. I used Sharpee markers last year only to find out they faded in sunlight. I will use markers resistant to sunlight, called garden markers I found on Amazon. I will probably probably use popsicle sticks with fine marker tips since catalogs just charge too much for the ones I need. In my case, I have a lot of variety and low volume, so a lot of sticks are needed. I saved a lot of perennial flower seed pods from last year, about half a gallon of mixed seeds, that are being stratified under the deck. Plans are to mimic nature by planting them soon outside and let natural thing progress with the high volume of seeds I saved. Our stretch of rural highway has no one planting something special for folks to see on their travels. I will also be planting mint and other fragrant plants that spread and can overgrow weeds along the embankment and ditch on the side of the highway. We get a lot of bicyclists going by. It would be nice for them to pause and appreciate a moment on their journey. Just saying, letting you know what is going on at our place. Russ

[aileensmith]

So far we do not have the luxury of a greenhouse. A few years ago we went to grow lights and definitely the best move in getting the seeds germinated and going strong indoors. We have purchased our grow lights from Gardeners Supply Company. Growers Solutions is also another good source. Initially the grow lights may appear to be a bit pricey. We are now several years and with the exception of having to change a couple of bulbs (T5) no other out of pocket expense. Because we grow indoors we use the bottom watering system. Picked up on the possibility and vermiculite being a plus in bottom watering so we will try that when we start our peppers and tomatoes. As always another informative video and Thank You Travis for sharing!

[tater]

I grow my seeds out in a tote in one of the unused bedrooms in our house. I always start with new seed starting mix, and I do use the trays, but I also use a 3/4" piece of plywood on top of the tote with a hole cut in the top and have one of those chrome/aluminum drop lights mounted in the plywood. As far as the light goes, I buy the LED lights that are equivalent to 100watts. The number you really need to pay close attention to is the Brightness of em which is the Lumens. I chose to get the Daylight bulbs that have 1680 Lumens and I constantly run two lights at a time, which puts me over the 2000 lumens minimum.
I've used the shop lights before and they work ok and at the time, I was able to grow enough starts to actually give some away that I had left over that wasn't going to be placed in my personal garden. The one thing I miss about my shop lights, Is my shop light was 4 feet long, the tote I'm using is only 2 feet long so I had to switch my light source. BUT, I also included a christmas rope light inside the bottom of my tote and put my seed trays on top of it for a heat source until they got started. The rope light makes a huge difference in starting my pepper seeds now. I was able to have germination for hot peppers within a weeks time.

[priayief]

Great information!

Some advice for those new to germinating their own seeds: You can easily test which germination medium works best for you. Sow identical seeds in two different sets of germination containers and fill each container with your different germination mediums. Then, all you have to do is observe the results.

You can also do a separate test to compare if vermiculite or perlite works best for you. Same procedure except use two separate containers using identical germination mediums and seeds. Then, cover the seeds on one container with perlite and the other with vermiculite. Observe the results.

[DV-olvt]

Good advice about washing your hands after touching pepper seeds. I will also suggest doing the same when ya eat crawfish.

[Julian]

Every videos one's lessons 💪👍as always thanks Travis!! Have a great weekend in family!

[travisevans]

I also like top watering when starting seeds but I do bottom water when established sometimes but not always if the top drys out and becomes hydrophobic it works well so you don't wait for water to soak in

[adigmon]

I used to use grow lights. My plants do better and grow faster if I wait a few weeks and start them inside and then put them outside during the day. If it gets too cold at night, I bring them in.

[robertwalker]

Full spectrum LED grow lights for me. Great video. Thanks Travis!

[anjelica]

This is great, thank you! Seed starting has been the hardest for me to get the hang of. Honestly, your guys' videos through the years have helped me be more successful!

[gatorguy]

Excellent video! We live in Tallahassee and it is time to plant seeds. New SunPad heat mat should arrive today. I make my own seed starting mix on a 4/1/1 ratio (peat, perlite, vermiculite). This year I selected my tomatoes and peppers based on your recommendations. Keep up the good work.