For people who want to grow more food with less work. 🌱 This is my weekly newsletter loved by 38,000+ subscribers—here's what one of them had to say: "These are not the regular run-of-the-mill garden-based emails. You actually touch on more unusual tidbits that encourage me to keep growing and learning."
the game-changing items I use to start my seeds every year
|
Funny thing here—I originally wrote a different email for today to go over the must-have items in my seed starting kit, the ones I've used for many years that I would buy again and again (if I had to—but I haven't, because they're going on seven years and still look and perform great). And the email got so long that, well, it ended up turning into a blog post because I just had so much to share! If you're curious what I use to start my seeds every year, I just compiled a list of my 5 essential items (along with a few nice-to-haves that aren't crucial, but make things so much easier).
Here are a few items that I think are most important for strong, healthy seedlings:Besides seeds and seed starting mix, I highly recommend investing in the best seed starting trays you can afford. These items are frequently handled and suffer the most wear and tear from being left outside, dropped, stepped on, thrown around... I can't even tell you how many I had to replace in the beginning because they would bend or bow, or start cracking after the first season. So I bought my first Bootstrap Farmer trays seven years ago, and haven't looked back. (This is not a sponsored email, by the way. It's a genuine recommendation based on my own experiences.) They are the heaviest-duty trays that come in all sorts of configurations, depending on your needs. I use their 1020 shallow trays, into which all my other seed starting trays nest. These shallow trays make it so easy to bottom water seedlings! They also don't sag under the weight of a full tray of plants and soil, which is super important to me. I have these 32-cell trays with pots, which I use to start seedlings that don't need to be potted up or transplanted right away. The system is very flexible, so I can use the trays and the pots together or separately. I also have these 72-cell air pruning trays, which are my favorite! If you've been using standard cell trays this whole time, you've got to give air pruning trays a try. They have special air strips that promote air flow and help grow healthier roots and stronger seedlings, similar to soil blocking (but without the mess). My air-pruned seedlings come out quite robust, and the large holes on the bottom make it super simple to pop out the seedlings without disturbing the roots too much. The air pruning trays fit right into the 1020 shallow trays above, and I bottom water my seedlings for consistent moisture. Another thing I love about my Bootstrap Farmer trays are all the COLORS! They're so fun and make me smile every time. (Though they also come in black, if that's what you prefer.) I just ordered a few multi-colored sets for my daughter's school garden, which I know the kids will be so excited about. ​You can explore their entire line of seed starting supplies here. They also make 50-cell, 72-cell, and 128-cell trays; 4-cell and 6-cell plug trays; microgreen trays; seed starter kits; soil blockers; and other gardening tools and equipment. Most of their items are made in USA! One more item I want to share with you, which is a total game-changer for me: these full-spectrum LED grow lights. I used to start seeds indoors in a window, which (being in Southern California at the time) worked out fine since I usually transplanted my seedlings immediately. (We had a long growing season and zero risk of frost, so I sowed most seeds in the ground but would start a couple trays inside as backup.) BUT! Now I start more than 75% of my crops indoors, and grow lights have made a HUGE difference between big, healthy, resilient seedlings that get a full 16 hours of light per day, and smaller, weaker, leggy seedlings that always stretch toward the sun in a window. Grow lights pay for themselves over and over again. And these days, LED lights have really upped the game, becoming way more affordable for the average home gardener while maintaining great quality. If you invest in only one new gardening item this year, it should be grow lights. P.S. I talk about my 5 must-have seed starting supplies and equipment in this new post. These are actual things I'm using at home right now, and not some random list of "recommended" pots and plant tags. 😊 |
Garden Betty
For people who want to grow more food with less work. 🌱 This is my weekly newsletter loved by 38,000+ subscribers—here's what one of them had to say: "These are not the regular run-of-the-mill garden-based emails. You actually touch on more unusual tidbits that encourage me to keep growing and learning."