The Seed Starter Tray I’m Using This Year
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I have tried so many methods when it comes to starting seeds indoors. The seed starter tray that I’m using this year is gorgeous, efficient, sustainable, and self-watering. What a gem!
I’ve loved soil blocking as a great means for starting seeds, however, it requires quite a mix of soil that ends up being just too much for me. I don’t have to start too many seeds indoors thanks to our great weather and end up direct-sowing a lot. I do typically start about two dozen plants indoors, getting a jump on the season.
The Seeds I Started
This year I have started some tomatoes and peppers inside, as I wanted a couple of very specific varieties. I got Banana Peppers and Lesya peppers – both being sweet. For tomatoes, I got blue cream berries which are sweet to snack on and pretty (to draw in my little ones), as well as the classic Bonny Best varietal that is great for canning. Marinara sauce, here we come!
As it is more economical for me to just buy a seed starter soil mix, I did that this year. I rarely even need a full bag. To use this tray that I have from Gardeners, you add water to the tray, place a wire rack above that with a little absorbent mat on top. Then your galvanized tin seed cells go in, and you fill those with nice damp soil.
How to Fill Your Seed Tray
Here’s a little video that I made on Instagram that you can watch HERE.
I love the ‘set it and forget it’ method of this seed starter tray (and anything in this season of life), so this suits me. Then I popped my filled tray under some grow lights and will await sprouts! There are few things quite as exciting, truly!
For both my tomato and pepper seeds, I have them placed just on top of the soil, with a very gentle push just below the surface of the soil. I did water them from above at first sowing. From now on I’ll just water within the seed starter tray.
While I use grow lights, I typically don’t need a heat mat and did without that this year again. A fan on the seedlings would be ideal to strengthen them, but I’ll just run my fingers over the seedlings each time I do laundry, as my setup is in the laundry room.
While starting plants from seed can be daunting, the adventure always brings be back to the goal: being close to nature. Understanding her rhythms, getting to know her better. In the best version of my world, I save seeds from each plant to use again and again – like they did way back when before seed catalogs were mailed to us.
If you need more info on seed starting, I have a blog for you HERE.