Starting Plants from Seed

This was the first year that I tried my hand at starting plants from seed. I am horrible at keeping indoor plants alive, but I was buoyed by the support of my mom, a true green thumb, and a friend at work with an extensive and obsessive seed collection. What the heck, I figured, seeds and dirt are cheap, and it was February and planting seeds felt like such a hopeful act in the middle of the awful late-winter cold.


I bought a few packets of seeds and was given some more by my seed-obsessed pal. I tried to focus on flowers, herbs, and a few varieties of small tomato , rather than lots of vegetables, knowing that we won't have space for a proper veg garden until next year.


I bought a few packets of seeds and was given some more by my seed-obsessed pal. I tried to focus on flowers, herbs, and a few varieties of small tomato , rather than lots of vegetables, knowing that we won't have space for a proper veg garden until next year.

For containers, I decided to really push the "cheap hobby" aspect and use only recycled materials. I folded little newspaper cups. I used old tupperware. I filled up old muffin tins and take out containers. I cut the tops off of some small juice bottles. It was really fun and I was pretty proud of the results.


In went the seeds, and the containers took up residence in the still-under-construction guest room (I know!) on a desk with a wimpy light bulb. I was freaked out about not having proper lighting at first and intended to get a decent fluorescent grow light, but then things got busy, I was feeling cheap, and I never did. Next year, I think a better set up would really help.

The containers all sat on this table for a few months, growing bit by bit. A lot of things didn't make it. Actually, most things didn't make it... But even with my less-than-ideal setup, I managed to transplant a bunch of the tomatoes, nasturium, poppies, and all of the basil. The thyme, rosemary, lobelia, lavender, and portulaca all died at various stages - which I am blaming on their supposed general difficulty to grow and also my sub-par growing conditions. So there.



I bought seeds from Pinetree Garden Seeds, Baker Creek, and the very addictive ValueSeeds.com, who offer flat rate shipping, and rotate their stock regularly. So you never know what's available AND it'll be cheap, which feeds right into things I easily get obsessed with.