Adventures of An Amateur Herb Gardner with Robyn
Sunday, March 4, 2012 ;)
Last year my fiance Scott constructed a raised garden bed in which we planted a few basil, rosemary, tomato, squash and green bean plants. Some we started from seed, while most we bought from the local nursery. We had what I would call a moderately successful crop. Over planting prevented it from being abundant.... truly a beginners mistake. Taking our lessons learned from last year, we decided to try our hand this year with an herb garden... all grown from seeds. I have decided to document and share with you the entire process including all of the information that I have collected.... (fingers crossed) ... in a couple of months I will have successfully posted a complete tutorial on "How to grow an herb garden from seeds" AND have a wonderful garden FULL of yummy herbs. I invite you to join us on our journey....
Deciding what to grow and how to sow my seeds:
Below is a chart of all of the herbs we decided to sow in our garden along with the pertinent planting/growing information. You can get a full size view of the herb chart by clicking here.
**It is not recommended to grow cilantro from seed indoors. The tap root system is too long and delicate for transplant. So I will start some from seed indoors (just to see for myself) and plant some seeds in the garden once the last frost of the season is over.**
**I will be transplanting my rosemary into a large pot instead of my garden**
While the local nursery and home and improvement center sell great seed starting kits, I have decided to use paper egg cartons. The reason for my decision... For starters, I have acquired an abundant amount of paper egg cartons (thanks to my catering job). Also, these wonderful egg cartons are biodegradable, so when it's time to transplant my herbs into the garden I can plant each cell directly into the ground. Plus here in Craftville we are all about the reusing of items!
Getting Started:
Materials Needed:
paper egg cartons
seeds
seed starting mix
pencil
rubbermaid lid (drainage/watering tray)
black plastic bags
cling wrap
popsicle sticks
bowl
spoon
room temp water
paper towels
Prepping the Seeds:
There are a plethora of techniques on how to start/prep your seeds. I have chosen to soak my seeds in wet paper towels for 4 hours. This helps in the germination process by softening the seeds shell. In order to keep them organized I have created labels, for each variety, out of popsicle sticks. If you noticed, in the above chart, it is recommended that some of the seeds be placed in the freezer. I have done this and won't be sowing those seeds till next week.
Prepping the egg carton:
In order to provide proper watering and drainage, for the plants, I poked holes in the bottom of each egg cell. I used a bead file (because it's Craftville and we have bead files laying around). But an ink pen or pencil will do just fine.
Due to the nature of the egg carton material, it tends to absorb moisture away from the soil. To prevent this from happening, I soaked each carton in room temp water until it was wet.
Prepping the seed starting mix:
There are numerous seed starting mixture recipes that you can use. What is important is that you DO NOT use potting soil to start your seeds. Potting soil is way to dense for seeds to germinate. I have chosen to use Miracle Grow Seed Starting Mix. I have read mixed reviews regarding using this product. In the end I had to choose one and decided on the Miracle Grow.
Moisten the seed soil mix by placing the soil in a bowl, add room temp water and mix. You don't want to add so much water that it turns to mud. Just enough so that the soil is moist. By pre-moistening your soil it insures that the soil is evenly hydrated. If you try watering the soil after you plant the seeds it will disturb the seeds planting.
Sowing your seeds:
Fill each cell of your pre-soaked egg carton with the moistened seed starting mix. Tamp down the soil lightly but firmly.
With a pencil, poke holes in the soil to the planting depth required. (refer to the chart at the beginning of this post) Remove your seeds from the paper towel and place in the holes. Cover with soil. Then use the popsicle labels, created earlier, to label each variety.
I grouped the herb varieties by similar germination times. (refer to chart at the beginning of this post) I did this because I wanted to be sure that all of the herbs that have similar germination times are all in the same carton. When it is time for them to be placed under the grow light I won't have to cut the cartons.
** For tiny seeds, use 5-8 seeds per cell. Tiny seeds may be too small to break through a layer of soil, so they should NOT be covered with soil. **
** For medium sized seeds, place 3 seeds in each egg cell and cover with soil. **
Cover the egg carton in plastic wrap. This helps lock in the moisture and maintain a constant temp (it's the greenhouse affect). Some of the seeds require a "dark germination" (refer to the chart at the beginning of this post). For those seeds cover with a black garbage bag.
The soil must be kept moist but not overly wet. Place the carton on the drainage/watering tray. I chose to use the top of a rubbermaid container. Once a day, or as needed, fill the tray with luke warm water. Do NOT keep the watering trays permanently filled with water as the pots will soak up too much water and promote mold growth. You will also need to remove the saran wrap covering and mist with water when the tops get dry. Keep the cartons out of direct sunlight until the seeds begin to sprout.
Fingers crossed that in a few week I will have tiny baby herb plants
:-)
Stay tuned for their progress and the next stage of the process.....
Happy Planting,
Robyn
;)
