Seed Starting Masterclass: My Blueprint for Success Every Time

We all know that feeling of disappointment when al the seeds we lovingly sowed have failed to germinate. It's so frustrating! So how can we avoid it happening and ensure that we get more success with our seedlings?
In this week's episode, Ben treats us to a seed starting masterclass, with ten top tips for seed starting magic.

For more videos on success with seedlings, check out these next:
The Complete Guide To Sowing Seeds

Sow Like a Pro!

Or to 10X your seedlings, watch this:
Budget Busting Plants: More Food For Free

And enjoy a no-obligation, completely free trial of the Garden Planner here:

[Fred.pSonic]

Beginners can really get caught up to speed just by spending 15 minutes with Ben here. Even experienced gardeners can benefit from a refresh and a new tip or two. Well done sir!

[denniskellrr]

I have been researching gardening for 40 years now, and this is the best video I've seen on seed starting.

[ardenthebibliophile]

The top of a refrigerator is also a warm spot to get seeds to germinate

[Ficus_blue]

I don't have fancy lights or heat mats but instead use polystyrene sheets that I have recycled from previous deliveries to make an "incubator" for my seeds. The sheets help with keeping things warm and because they are white they also help with light reflection back onto the seeds to keep them straight. I simply put my seeds on a table in front of the window and make a fence around the seeds with the polystyrene and some tape. I've been reusing the polystyrene for years now and it seems to really help.

[Harold_Blackwell]

Soaking seeds before planting helped me tremendously.

[gointothedogs]

Lots of tips and tricks. I appreciate your putting up lists and charts to help!!! Seeing it visually helps a lot!

[MDJ-]

A few years ago I started converting my backyard into a cottage inspired kitchen garden. Your videos have a great source of knowledge, humor and inspiration. Thanks for sharing with the rest of us!

[dontcarejustwatchvid]

H202 is absolutely one of the best, PROVEN (in research) assister in germination rates.

[jeffhurst]

Your demeanor and ways of presenting…including your humor…informative ways to handle seed starting, planting, tending, and harvesting the garden items is very well received. Your straight forward and brief-to-the-point advice has helped us get better and abundant harvests. Much appreciated. Oh, and I learned a few things in this video. Keep them coming.

[davidsdesign]

Hmm seems to me like this is all just a thinly-veiled plot to have a cup of chamomile tea... not that that's a bad thing

[stephenbeck]

I soak basil and use a pipette with the tip slightly cut off to make the opening a little bigger, and use it to suck up seeds, then squirt them into the soil.

[NanasWorms]

I'm saving this video as a reference when I begin to sow my seeds this year. Another tip I use is to have a fan gently circulating air around tomato seedlings. Makes them grow nice, thick stalks.
~ Sandra

[theknittedgarden]

This video does not deal with the issue of damping off disease. I lost most of my seedlings until I started to add mycorrhizal fungi to my seed starting mix. My local nursery sells it. The beneficial fungi strengthen the seedings and may even fight off the bad guys so most of my seedlings are strong and survive.

[veronikab]

While we don't condone violence on this channel ... but let's rough up our seeds! That cracked me up! I started watching your channel in August, when me and my husband bought our first garden in very bad shape. I have made an awesome compost heap that is now half full thanks to the many leaves of the fall and all the kitchen scraps we've collected and dumped there. This February will be my first ever time trying to sow seeds! I can't wait to see the results! Thank you for the awesome videos that kept me entertained on boring winter days!

[lucybarnard]

I’m so glad you said use the tea bag again, I thought it might be drink the camomile tea then collect your wee!

[debdonaghey]

Thank you Ben for all the hard work you put into your videos. They are a delight to watch and full of such helpful information, I'm getting so much from watching them!

[escapetoruralwales]

Your videos always arrive at the perfect time Ben 💪👍🌱

[frankclough]

When he said birds eat seeds then spread them in their droppings and then said he puts seeds in a cup of Camomile tea and drinks the tea I thought he was going to show us a novel way to spread the seeds.

[jameshorwath]

This is by far the best gardening video on the web, spot on with everything. The practices shown are tried and true, and it's awesome you are sharing them, so cool, thank you so much, I hope every gardener watches this. If I could just mention my own technique (sorry), which is using "old school" christmas lights as heat source. Has to be c7, the stuff from us old-timers' childhood. Table/lights/a rise (2x4), grates/pots. Obviously cant regulate heat via thermostat, but can lower or raise with the addition of extra strings of lights. I have been doing this in unheated areas for more than a decade, and am currently using it to heat a simple but effective hydroponic setup. I hope I'm not sounding arrogant, just trying to help. Thanks again for all you do, most righteous.

[janetleeadams]

Such a great, peaceful gardening video. Thank you. A friend and I have had so many gardening adventures in our desert gardens. The first year, the mice ate all the watermelon seeds. We had to replant three times. Once the plants finally started growing, the early morning 'desert dew, ' that is humidity, caused the young plants to wilt. As the weather changed, the intense sun burned the fruit ! We have moved on to peppers and some herbs which do well in the sun, and started growing grasses for the animals. Sometimes we just have to be guided by the land itself.