Seed-starting time is here!
Find out when, how and with what (check my list of favorite supplies to get your seeds off to a great start)
👉👉If you like the insights, tips and advice in this newsletter, share it with a gardening friend.
Hello, friends!
Yes, the birds are singing, crocus shoots are making an appearance and we’ve got an extra hour of daylight, but we all know what the main attraction really is — it’s time to dust off the ol' seed-starting supplies and ensure your grow lights are in proper working order, if you're using them. But when, exactly, to start?
That depends on what you're growing. Most seed packets advise starting seeds indoors a set number of weeks (“4-6,” “6-8,” etc.) before the average last frost date and, depending on what you’re growing and where you live, that date varies.
Plug your zip code into this handy tool from The Old Farmer’s Almanac to get the average last frost date for your neck of the woods.
Now find that date on your calendar and count back the number of weeks recommended on your seed packet. That's when you should start your seeds indoors to ensure they grow big and strong enough to transplant outdoors at the right time — without getting overgrown and leggy.
But if the instructions read, “When the danger of frost has passed,” that's a different story, as the “average last frost date” isn’t a guarantee but “when the danger has passed” is absolute. This date more often is used for transplanting outdoors, but make note of the distinction when reading your seed packs.
Chose a container
If reusing last year's containers or cell packs, disinfect them for 10 minutes in a 90/10 water/bleach solution, then rinse well before using.
You can also start seeds in clean peat pots, yogurt containers, egg cartons or even eggshells (rinse shell half and carefully poke a tiny hole in the bottom with a sewing needle or pin).
Get sowing
1 Fill your container with a sterile, moist, soilless seed-starting mix (never use garden soil; it's too dense and can contain organisms that could lead to disease) and sow three or four seeds per cell, pressing gently.
2 Keep moist. Watering through holes poked in the bottom of containers will avoid accidentally washing away seeds and greatly reduce the odds of fungal diseases. This is easily done by placing containers in a tray filled with water. Alternately, especially for very delicate seeds, you can use a spray bottle to mist them and keep them moist. Cover cells tightly with plastic wrap.
3 Set in a warm, cozy spot, out of direct sunlight. (The top of your refrigerator is often ideal). Check periodically and water as necessary. Keep an eye out for "damping off," an airborne fungal disease that thrives when seed trays are kept in cool, damp, dark locations. You'll recognize it by a characteristic white mold layer on the soil surface. If this happens, scrape it off and allow the medium to dry completely between waterings. If it returns, sorry, but you’ll have to ditch the seeds and start over (after disinfecting the pot and filling with clean media.)
4 When seedlings pop up, remove the plastic wrap and place containers in bright sun or, even better, under fluorescent lamps, for 14 hours daily. Temperatures of 65-75 degrees will ensure the best results for most plants, and a heat mat placed under the seed tray or containers will hasten germination (remove it when seeds sprout). Remove the weakest (not the smallest) seedlings, leaving just one per cell. It’s best to do this by clipping them at the soil line with manicure scissors; pulling them up risks interfering with the roots of the seedling you’re keeping.
5 A week before transplanting into the garden, begin to "harden off" plants by placing them outdoors for incrementally longer periods each day. Pick a shady spot protected from wind and start with one hour, then bring them back indoors. Repeat, but for two hours, the next day, and continue adding an hour of exposure each day for a week, after which point you can plant them in their permanent, sunny spot in the garden.
6 Send me photos of your seed-starting operations and details about what you’re growing and how.
📬 Ask Jessica
DEAR JESSICA: I’m trying to grow asparagus and garlic for the first time. Tell me everything I should know. I love your calendar, am reading it often. —Tony Meule, Valley Stream
DEAR TONY: I’m so glad you’re enjoying the calendar!
Not sure I can tell you everything you need to know without going all War and Peace on you, but I can certainly help you out with the basics!
If you planted garlic cloves in (ideally) September (unpeeled cloves, pointy ends up, 2 inches deep and 3 to 6 inches apart in full sun,) they should be coming up now, like Paul’s, below. If you didn’t plant them last fall, you can do so now (hurry!), but cloves will be smaller because they didn’t get that beneficial winter chill.
It’s not as easy to tell when garlic is ripe as it is a tomato because in this case, the harvest is underground. So watch the leaves. When the lower leaves turn brown but the top ones are still green, gently and carefully check a couple of underground bulbs to gauge their maturity. If their skins feel empty (or empty-ish), the cloves are too small, and won’t store as well, so cover them back up. If skins are tight around cloves, it's time to unearth them.
Asparagus is an exercise in patience — but good things come to those who wait! Plant in spring, but don't harvest until the third year. When those third-year stalks are 6 to 10 inches tall, carefully cut each slightly below the soil line using a sharp knife. Harvest from spring through July 1, then allow plants to rest up for next year's production.
💡 If you do one thing this week…
If the lawn has bare spots, seed over them now. Water gently but deeply the first time, then apply more seed once a week and mist just enough to keep them from drying out every day or two until grass is 3 inches tall. Hold off on fertilizer until Memorial Day.
For more daily tips — 365 of them! — grab one of my last remaining calendars before they’re gone (we’re down to the last half box!)
Now available autographed and with free shipping.
👏 Sunday shoutout
“I love when you get those warm, late-winter days,” writes Weekly Dirt subscriber Paul. “The warm sun really perks up the garlic I planted in late October. This year, I have about 110 throughout various places in my yard.”
Send in your photos, and you might be featured next! Be sure to include your full name and the names of anyone depicted, your hometown, details about your plant or garden, the name of the person who took the photo, and a sentence granting permission for its use in this newsletter and archives.
📧 Send me your feedback!
I welcome your comments and suggestions, so please send them along — as well as any topics you’d like to see covered and questions you’d like answered in the Ask Jessica section.
Until next week, stay safe. Be well. And always keep your mind in the dirt. —Jessica
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