Starting Seeds Indoors in Trays: COMPLETE Beginner's Guide with Step-by-Step Demonstrations

Have you ever wanted to try growing your garden plants from seed at home? Good! Let's do it together.

Not only is it more fun and more affordable, growing your garden plants from seeds is an easy and incredibly rewarding process. Indoor seed starting opens up your garden to new world of plants, new varieties and a heightened appreciation for the seedlings that make it all possible.

In this video, I will show you my *exact* process for going from seeds to vigorous, healthy seedlings. I'll be there with you every step of the way as you learn how to prepare a growing medium (aka dirt), what to plant in, how to care for the seedlings, and more.

Materials You May Need:
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#gardening #gardeningtips #homesteading

[johndoh]

Labeling. I put one marker on one side of the tray, so in one cell, and then put the info into a spreadsheet or doc, that's it. If you have a lot of trays you can put a number on the marker so you remember which tray is which.

Same thing when I put plants into the ground. I just put that into a document and because gardens tend to be grid like, I find a spreadsheet is good enough. Merge cells.

And yes my preference for putting seed into cells is filling cells to the level I want the seed, add seed for which this part is easier, and then add the extra soil on top, for which it's easier for me to get the depth right by how big of a pinch of soil I add in and also looking at how much the dirt went up in the cell. The only hard part about this is getting the initial level correct, but after a few trays this is now easy enough. I like this method because you need less dexterity in the fingers, and dry skin on the hand means a harder time controlling where seeds go.

[homebodyjen]

Lots of great info. What I have noticed is that your videos are longer than most others out there, but they cover everything that I struggled to find out myself through lots of research and watching a bunch of lower quality videos in the process. They are definitely worth watching from start to finish. :) I just started gardening this year in May, but I have successfully used a sunny windowsill and MIgardener seeds to start my tiny little patch of food. I use the indent method as well, and learned after 100% germination on my tomatoes that I should use less seeds, and to cull early on so it’s not as devastating to snip off the other seedlings. Lol. I am working on fall garden seeds right now to transplant out once it’s not so hot out and bottom watering is the way to go!

[vimondireksri]

I know I comment a lot (I post as the videos go on because they're so informative) but hear me out. Who else has been motivated by his videos to try new varieties?

[hardcorecopper]

Thank you for sharing all your wonderful knowledge! This is really going to make starting my seeds so much easier! PS we use plastic egg cartons. I like to use them because each cell is separated and it’s a clear carton so it’s like a tiny green house! 😊

[vimondireksri]

Thanks for the great tips. Now just need to "declutter" the bedroom and convince the wife to let me grow some seedlings near the south facing window. Wish me luck! :P

[Kittybob]

Any and all questions were answered during the whole video. Thanks so much for all information! Happy gardening!😁🌽🌼

[clarkl]

Whoa 😮 you just told me something I have NEVER HEARD before! Ok, OK @24:00 I found ANOTHER 😮 DON'T overwater OR drain out the excess (with nutrients) in the tray 👍(at least, when I have poured it out, I've watered other plants 😊)

[Kittybob]

I commented but forgot to tell you I’m going to try perennials inside in trays to plant before hard frost here in Indiana.

[DannyBoy]

Hey! Learned a lot from your great video. Thanks for sharing your expertise with everyone! ;-) I love your little herb-eating guy, too LOL Is he a Boxer/Dane mix?

[tednisbeth]

enjoyed your video, thanks looking forward to more.

[vimondireksri]

21:30 another great idea to figure out when to water. If your trays are the same size try to pick up the dry and moist tray a dozen times each. Memorize the weight. Eventually you'll just know if water is needed by just "testing" the weight. Without using the "toothpick method" which also works but I always misplace my toothpicks 😂 Alternatively with smaller trays you can use an old scale if you want to be precise. No more over/under watering.

[LauraBakerPhD]

Loving your channel. Super helpful! I wonder whether heat map needs to remain on after germination? And how many hours a day for grow lights?

[Kittybob]

Are indoor trays good with climate control domes? Also, water from the bottom tray it sits in?

[midsouthhomestead]

I love MIGARDENER seeds as well. I have have great success.

Thanks for video.
Rhonda from TN
💚👩‍🌾💚

[meganmardon]

Hi! Can I ask if you use humidity domes or not? Thank you so much! Such wonderful info you share 🍃

[ronaldhubble]

after germination can the trays be put outside with full sun? or, use a slightly transparent fabric to shade them a little? how tall or big should they be before transferring to the garden? the weather is in the mid 60's to upper 70's . thanks for a very simple factual site.

[steveviau]

I use boiling hot water to moisten the mix . Works great and kills fungus knats

[Alyss]

If you take the excess water out with something like a turkey baster (we have one just kicking around doing nothing in our utensil drawers since becoming vegetarian haha), and reuse it to water the plants, would that help mitigate the nutrient loss?

[heavenisreal]

How long do you leave grow light on per day for the seedlings?

[runrat]

Does anyone know where I can get the pan that goes under the tray since I have the tray but not the pan