Starting Crops from Seed: A Complete Grower's Guide

In this video we discuss seed starting from a professional perspective.

We cover: How to start seeds from scratch, what to start seeds in, what trays to purchase, how to heat a greenhouse and more.

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Tilth Soil Mix:
All About the Garden Trays (Dowding):
Swift Blocker:
Standing Blockers:
Basic Cell Trays:
Neversink Winstrips:
Paperpot stuff:

Indoor growing resources:
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[notillgrowers]

To clarify the heating cable issue. The issue is not the heat distribution. That’s fine (just place row cover overtop until germ). I have no issue using sand it just doesn’t feel necessary and it’s heavy and I’m lazy. Sand can also be a bit sketch depending on its provenance. My issue is the quality of the cable I purchased. I’ll update on that probably towards the end of the season

[avermontlife]

The rule of thumb I have used on planting seed depth is to look to the size and shape of the seed itself. For example, a thin and tiny lettuce or carrot seed tells me to keep it on the surface, whereas a chunky brassica tells me to plant it a little deeper. This has worked for me, and is intuitive. Now, temperatures are another kettle of fish. Farmer Jesse, you are adorable.

[shawnmurphy]

We use plastic shipping pallets mounted on plastic legs for greenhouse tables. Makes cleaning much easier and the pallets are cheap.

[alexfilippidis]

Best content out there. No BS and straightforward.. greets from Greece

[Sir.Rattington]

This is my first year starting plants primarily in soil blocks and I am only just getting into the bulk of seed starting season, but I can already say the effort is well worth it. My plants are visibly healthier, I feel like they’re easier to manage, and while I haven’t yet planted anything out this year the few plants I trialed in soil blocks last spring established faster and on average yielded more than their counterparts started in conventional trays.

[igneousc]

As a home grower I was tempted to get some winstrips this season for ease of use, but I feel like I'm mostly there with soil blocks and it makes sense to stick with them, your older vids really helped.

My home soil block mix last year worked out quite well, I used the Promix Premium Organic Garden Mix 2 cu. ft. Compressed Soil bags from Home depot, and mixed in some of my own homemade compost and some bags of perlite and I had great germination and it mostly was perfect for soil blocks in general. A very cheap way to start soil blocks as a home user imo.

Getting the mini blocker last year was HUGE for getting my seeds started without making giant 2" blocks. I start everything in a grow tent with a grow light, so I used bootstraps 10/20 trays, the only thing Im considering doing this year is maybe using mesh trays that fit into those, I just cant decide if I'll get enough value out of that to bother.

I think most people would do really well with soil blocks, but they can be kind of frustrating until you get a muscle memory of how they work best for you.

[gracepoitras]

How do you set up watering for seedlings? I work for a tribal nation and help with their food sovereignty program. I’m working with minimal resources, but we have a high tunnel where I’m doing a series of seed starts for this season and next. I’m trying to figure out a way to set up a list system while having the starts under some frost cloth? Would you recommend just hand watering instead? This was the only part that was missing from this video! 😊

[melissalynn]

What?! I had no idea that Tilth made its way outside of Cleveland. Pretty cool!

[thingiscertain]

No frills here - straight talk. A lot of vey useful info in a relatively smail space of time. Thanks.

[lisamcdonald]

Love the hair cut ! Last year we tried soil blocks after years of watching you, found it very time consuming and tricky to get the right mix. Definitely better starts but I guess depends on how much you have to do and how much time you have

[douggibson]

Thanks Jesse, excellent information. Trying to be a better seed starter.😊 Dad jokes extremely dry and cool from the sender 😅

[waynesell]

Thanks Farmer Jesse.. it's late at night. Great pick-me-up. Preparing my grow room indoors. Haven't seeded anything yet. Super to hear I'm awesome! Gonna get a hat someday, also need a haircut too.

[veggiepatchideas]

Great advice, Its really nice watching a larger scale operation. big thumbs up 👍

[sweetpeasbackyardgarden]

Love the content as usual. I also use the Charles Dowding trays. Very sturdy and versatile for my small backyard garden.

[TheEmbrio]

Improvement for your (probably) long to do list : LEVEL watering table. Lol. Thanks so much for the complete video

[that_auntceleste]

(watches avidly despite the fact that my seed starting area is one shop light in the corner of my home office)

[KellyPeterson-xtjo]

I just discovered your videos, love by the way. I have helped several people to start gardening & all still have their gardens except me. I recently moved into a 34ft RV & i haven't scaled down enough yet to fit any type of garden. 🤣🤣 I'm trying 🤣🤣 My question is... for yrs my tomatoes grew fantastic but they just won't redden. Granted i love fried green tomatoes but would love for more to turn red. What is happening? Or not happening should i say 🤣🤣🤣

[-IE_it_yourself]

2:18. would wind work if i dont have access to a fan?

[lisafox]

Thank you so much! I just ordered your book and excited to read it. Great info as always

[hendrixjohnston]

we followed jm farriers design for heated germination tables, and they are working great. I encourage you to check out his video.