Seed Starting!

This year we have been antsy with our garden so we decided to start some seeds.  We might have started a little early this year, but our plants will be bigger and more mature when we start transplant them.  Here are some pictures of our sprouts so far.

 

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Sprouted from left to right - Big Boy Hybrid Tomato, Roma Tomato, Jalapeño Pepper, Better Bush Cucumber.

 Cucumber Sprouts

 

 Tomato Sprouts

      We have some other seeds sprouting in other containers and will have more to come in the future.  The first row our pellets contains sweet peppers that we started after the rest.  These were the few seeds that you can start a little earlier because transplanting them at a larger size will allow them to mature faster.  However, you wouldn't want to transplant them as full size bushes, 18" plants are safe to transplant. 
     We used a $10 heating pad to add some heat from below.  Our house gets drafty at times, so it is a great way to make sure your plants get the heat they need to germinate.  We made sure to buy a heating pad that doesn't shut off after 2 hours because we wanted a constant heat. After the seeds sprouted we put them in a sunny, South-facing window and let mother nature give them some heat. 
     The next step it to transplant the cucumbers and tomatoes in bigger pots.  Later we will show you how to  make newspaper transplant pots that will maintain their integrity until you are ready to transplant.