6 Common Seed Starting Mistakes You MUST Avoid To Succeed

[@loribonzelaar9193]

What a gold mine of knowledge for newbie gardener. We live very close…. Following you now. Thanks for sharing.

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

Thanks for watching!

[@bobdebouwer7835]

Those are all very good tips and I like the way of thinking, smart cheap and readily available solutions

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

Thanks. Good luck this growing season!

[@joemachismo6594]

I definitely agree with the rain water thing. I started doing that a few years ago and noticed a big difference in my seedlings.

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

Isn't it wild how well it works? The plants get so green and healthy right away

[@ht6684]

Yep I always go that route with my plants, its how God intended it.

[@anthonycordero5733]

Yepp that's what I did cheap plug in led 35. Dollars looks like a halide lamp too works great no problems..

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

Thanks for sharing!

[@annwithoutane9432]

Thank you! I’m so anxious to start my seeds but after seeing this I’m waiting until the very end of April this year. I’m in Wisconsin and got my plants out a little too early last year and had to drag almost 50 5 gallon buckets in our garage because of a late frost. This year I want to go right from the seedling trays to the buckets so I’m waiting. Nice rain water tip too, am going to try that! Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

I was loaded with plants that needed to be planted out because I listened to the suggested dates or farmers almanac. I learned that the only thing that matters is days to harvest. I planted yukon gold potatoes in july last year because they are 75 days to harvest and I had that before first frost. Most plant in spring. I had a massive harvest. Did the same with everything. If I had the days to harvest available before frost I planted anything. It's nice not being limited by dates or seasons. I had carrots planted midsummer that did awesome instead of going by them being just a spring or fall crop. It's good to try stuff out even if people say it's wrong. We stumble upon "accidents" that end up surprisingly good or better than expected

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

For anyone curious, the thumbnail is a baby apple tree. I have 5 growing. Though the odds are against them growing into "honey crisp" like the parent, we will plant them and see what kind of fruits, if any, it produces! Will update in several years 😂

[@alexisgagnon2946]

how comes the odds are against?

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

@@alexisgagnon2946 apples do not grow true to seed. Every seed will grow into something unique.

[@ht6684]

Three springs ago I was getting compost out of my bins and I always sift it. Well we found a peach pit that had split and had a tiny baby starting. We potted it up and it grew to about two feet. We then put it in the ground and over winter the rabbits nipped off its head (fine because I always top fruit trees). Anyway now its about 15 feet tall, three years later. Peaches grow super fast and only last 20 or so years always a fun tree to grow. Hoping for fruit this summer.

[@totoroben]

My pro tip to seed starting is get a reflective grow tent. They really don't cost that much relative to your entire setup, you won't need to adjust lights because it is reflected in every direction. It saves electricity because no light is lost. You will need to mechanically vent it with a duct fan, but that's like $20 jumbo zip tied in place.

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

I'm using a white painted wall now and dollar store shower curtains

[@roannegrasso6035]

Love the rainwater suggestion, I never thought of it. So glad I just collected a bunch! Thank you!!!!

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

It works so great for the plants. I save plastic gallon jugs for various uses and just filled up 5 gallons and brought it inside

[@michaeltaylor4984]

Rain barrels, for the win. I have two on the house two on my garage and one on every out building. We had a great monsoon last year. Never had to use a hose.

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

@@michaeltaylor4984 better that way! The rain water works so much better. The difference is very noticeable

[@aether6500]

CHEEEEP lights 🤘. I dig your channel. 2" hanging height is SO much PPFD though. I think you're around 12500LUX÷5000K=250PPFD. When they're babies, that's a ton of DLI 24/0 or even 18/6. You want to finish in that ballpark, because 10000LUX÷5400K=185ppfd will be the least they'll get outside with the leaves pointing away from the sun. But I think you'd get faster growth with another couple few inches and let them grow into 2". At 7000LUX÷5000K=140PPFD, stretch to get out from under the shade almost stops. At 10000LUX÷5000K=200PPFD the stretch stops completely.

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

I don't pay attention to ppfd. Light is a particle so the area of foliage is the only spot receiving good light while the rest of the particles bounce everywhere else and get wasted. I use 2 inches because I don't want much vertical growth. When the plants are 2 inches tall the lights are 6 to 8 inches. When the plants are around 4 inches tall they are 14 inches under the lights in their final location before going outside

[@NathalieVA56]

I thought that it was rain water but I think it’s the atmosphere. I had seedlings on a table in the greenhouse with the sides opened up. The day after a heavy storm they just perked up ! Also, I start my plants early because I start my plants outdoors. It’s a lot of work with watching for the weather and bringing them back in but I never need to buy grow lights and/or have space in my house for them.

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

The air outside is fully of nitrogen especially after a storm. Some gets taken down by the rain into the soil. The plants absorb some through their leaves. They are made to "breathe" the air outside. I love when storms are coming because my plants will look great as soon as the next day.

[@billcorbitt7642]

Yes a thunder storm is know to create nitrogen for the plants

[@Haze763]

Hey Robbie, new subscriber here in SE Michigan. Great tips!! I'm starting some seeds next week and we're getting rain 🌧 here all day tomorrow and into Saturday. I'll be putting some buckets outside to collect for my seedling waterings. I'm trying to keep it simple and not over spend on a pH meter, expensive potting soils, on and on. As you know, we could spend $$$$ on gardening items. Last year I started 6 solo cups under 1 dollar store Sunbeam 14.5 watt 5000k daylight bulb in an aluminumn clamp shop light fixture. All my seeds came up! This year I'll have 2 bulbs goin. The thing I did wrong was having my light too far away. I had it about 8" away from the top of the sprouts. This year I'll be right on top!!! Good luck too you this season. What part of Michigan are you in? Happy growing!!

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

Hartland. My best tomatoes were grown right in solo cups! Good luck!

[@Haze763]

​@@FastGardeningMichigan I just started watching your video on growing zones. You did say you're in Hartland. That's just past Waterford from me. I'm just a city gardener in Wyandotte, just south of Detroit. I went to Google and found out that I'm in 6B. I'll be doing more research today. I never knew about looking into growing zones to get an estimated time schedule. Thanks for the advise man. ✌

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

@@Haze763 yea it's weird. Hartland is like a microclimate Everyone else is zone 6

[@jang6591]

Toward the end of the last growing season, I started catching rainwater in an old livestock tank mostly because I did not like running a water hose across the backyard. And my plants seemed to handle the heat stress much better. So I've added more catchment areas for rainwater, but I had not thought of watering the seedlings with it. So will do that now. I've ordered a couple of the lights you recommended and look forward to getting those in the next few days. Finding your channel helped me make a choice on 'grow' lights. 😉 I prefer sowing seeds outdoors and this is my first attempt at it indoors. The last average frost date in my area is March 16, adding two+ weeks to that (just to be safe) I will be putting these plants out in early April if all goes well. I've just now started seeds in dixie cups for tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. Question: Do you think letting water from the hose (city water) set outside in a tank will help make it better for the plants? Now that I think about it that's also what I did last year when I did not get enough rain, I filled that tank with the hose so it sat out, grew algae, and looked like pond water. I am enjoying your channel. It's been timely for me and I like your practical, common-sense methods.

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

Thanks for the feedback! I try to time everything to be out at a time where it can help people out. Giving seedlings rain water is a game changer I wish I knew sooner. I am not sure about letting city water sit out. I'm sure it will catch some of the good stuff in the air and be better than straight out the hose. The rain is up in the electrically charged clouds where it is infused with the elements that bring life, especially nitrogen. I can't stress enough how great rain water is. I had a drought last year so it was tough for me too. But when that rain did hit it took my stunted garden and made everything grow overnight. Thanks again. Comments like this let me know I'm on the right path on what I am trying to accomplish with this channel and best of luck this growing season!

[@williamkeeney9836]

Get u a tote and put paper towels down in it put your beans in and put paper towels on top keep went and let them sprout and move them in your garden

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

Beans, peas, anything with a tough seed coat I just soak in warm water for a day before planting. They get planted around 3/4 inch so they retain moisture underground to germinate.

[@Electedsphinx40]

I just realized the 3 weeds I pulled from the garden today are apple trees now looking at the thumbnail they in my pathway rn I'm gonna go put them back in some soil they must have made it in my compost 😆

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

If they are apple trees they won't grow into the mother tree anyway. It's just a fun experiment to see what it turns into. Might be a 10 year waste of time! OR you get some awesome new variety.

[@Electedsphinx40]

@@FastGardeningMichigan I only found 1 the squirrels probably ran off with the others, I could graft onto it and use it as a root base tho right? I might decide to try doing bonsai with it might be cool

[@Electedsphinx40]

@@FastGardeningMichigan It definitely a golden honeycrisp apple as those are the only ones I buy

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

@@Electedsphinx40 even if the seed grew from a honeycrisp, the seed will not grow into a honeycrisp. From my understanding seeds turn into a completely new variety. I'm still learning about apple trees and will be planting several dwarf varieties this year. James Prigioni's channel is my go to for all fruit tree info. He grew trees from seed and named his own new variety. He has a video on it and it's pretty cool but seems like most of the seeds turn into nasty fruiting crab apple-like trees but worth a shot! That's why I am trying it

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

Highly recommend that channel. His food forest is amazing

[@Gintelligence]

first time using led ..vs fluorescent--outstanding result with seedlings, is there enough juice to grow lettuce, kale chard to an edible level(with supplemental sunlight ) ? thx

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

Absolutely! Some argue about spectrum but the cheap LEDs have a perfect level for foliage growth and since those are all foliage it works great.

[@christophera-realone9834]

I don’t understand the potting up thing. I like getting them up and into the garden asap. Direct is best unless it’s delicate like a tomato plant

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

Agreed. Indoor starting should be more for getting a head start for plants that require a longer season than we have outside or delicate seedlings that have a tough time battling competition from weeds. Direct sowed plants will often catch up to transplants and do better and the volunteers from the compost seem to be the hardiest. Potting up is annoying! Not sure why a lot of people say its better to start in smaller cells than large ones. My tomatoes and peppers in solo cups grew better than the ones started in smaller cells and potted up to solo cups

[@Kelly-zf8oe]

I feel I need to start everything inside and early because Wyoming's gardening outside is very unforgiven.

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

Start inside, but start 2 weeks later than you think you should. Everyone thinks we need big healthy plants to transplant BUT a tiny seedling with 2 true sets of leaves will do better. They get to grow up in their forever home instead of getting root bound in a container. You can intentionally dwarf sunflowers starting them inside. Plants I can direct sow will catch up to any transplants and grow bigger and better. My climate sucks too. We've had frosts in June here! I'd say 100 day growing season to compensate for freak frosts and snow but I still grow plants that take 120 days because I plant at the right times. Luffa is a good example. Grows great when warm out. I planted Luffas in July and still got huge harvests. I planted Yukon Gold potatoes in July and my harvest was larger than any videos I've watched on KZbin. Take risks and plant stuff when you think it's too late. You may be surprised and worst case it fails BUT you may stumble upon something great. Happy growing!

[@richardliles4415]

I started my seedlings way too early last year, by the time I was able to plant my sweet peas outside, for instants they were 3 feet tall, it was a bad season.

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

Peas are always a direct sow! They actually enjoy cooler weather so they can be direct sowed early. They'll even tolerate frost.

[@Gintelligence]

I`d argue that with at least pepper`s , there is the advantage of topping them for bushier more productive peppers.

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

My growing season is short. The topped off peppers grew big and bushy, had loads of peppers, but only a few ripened before frost. Plants I didn't top went full term

[@Gintelligence]

@@FastGardeningMichigan Thanks for the reply, i live in Canada(winnipeg) and it seems to work well, mind you we get really good sunny days. thx , love the channel

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

@@Gintelligence mine were topped a little late. Maybe I'll start some now so I can top off earlier.

[@billcorbitt7642]

I’ve been growing pepper plants a long time. From my experience the topping vs not topping, I’ve found to just let the plant do it’s thing. If you’re into pruning, let the plant bush out, and pinch off a branch a few nodes back, this will create new growth and make them bushier. The more flowers you have you must be able to provide the calcium and phosphorus for fruit set and growth.

[@billystanzione6862]

Where did you get those tins and clear lids you showed? I have some pots that are in need of something just like that.

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

Dollar tree. They work great for germination and they are awesome for starting seeds outdoors as well. I sowed my fall brassicas on my back porch in cells within these. When torrential rain or wind was forecasted I'd just put the lid back on. That's how I plan on starting everything except tomatoes and peppers this year; sowed in cells about 2 or 3 weeks earlier than the suggested "sow outside" date on the packets. Ready to transplant directly from the small starter cells instead of potting up

[@dannyjohnston4550]

New to starting my own plants and was wondering if I should have the lights on in my seed starting kit or wait until the seeds germinate

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

I keep my lights on to heat up my domes and plastic wrap to keep the seeds moist and warm. I've also done it without lights on. As long as the light is on after they poke through it's good. I let my apple seeds grow in darkness and forgot about them and one was 3 inches tall. They're forgiving

[@jhh70]

I have an RO filter for my water.

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

I have used bottled water but now I use rain water for the nutrients. I've found it makes a huge difference

[@shawnkiesel5349]

I disagree, the bigger your plant is from starting them indoors the more time they have to vegetate and grow more foliage indoors the bigger they will be when they start growing outside which produces more fruiting and a bigger harvest..

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

It really depends on the climate and growing season. If I start something like a zucchini indoors I can transplant a nice healthy plant outside and plant a seed outside at the same time. The one direct sowed will always catch up to the one transplanted and every one I've direct sowed becomes a plant much healthier than one startdd indoors. Zucchini isn't the best example being such a short timeframe plant, but think of tomatoes that pop up in compost. That root development in the natural environment prepares that plant for the rest of it's life. When started indoors it takes time to adjust to the change. Just my opinion, not saying you're wrong. Just my thought on it. We usually start plants indoors because our growing season doesn't allow the weather we need to grow to maturity. Some of the fragile plants like brassicas we start inside because those tiny seedlings have to battle even the smallest weeds to take hold. My outdoor sowed lettuce had to fight weeds but they sure did great once they took control of the space. They bolted a month later than most around me even with the drought and heat of summer.

[@timothyrae9145]

Obligatory comment to entice the algorithm

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

The algos are forever evolving. I think 2023 algos want to pump the get rich quick videos over anything else

[@timothyrae9145]

@@FastGardeningMichigan better get on those get rich quick gardening videos then

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

@@timothyrae9145 "make $10,000 every night while sleeping". Boom, million views

[@IcannaHelp]

Again make not about the lights, ur not an indoor grower, only growing seeds. ** not all leds are "cool" like your saying it's their strength or intensity. Just make it clear expensive lights for seeds! Spring bottled water works just as well has all the natural minerals needed. Rain water is actually very acidic, and seedlings aren't uptaking nutrients until the energy stored in the cotyleons have been used up, then its starting to uptake nutrients from your medium, depending on if your in soil a soilless, or anything else as well as crop specific PH may need adjusting

[@FastGardeningMichigan]

Ive been growing inside since february. Greens, herbs, and beans. There is no plant that justifies the cost to grow insidez especially when higher wattage LEDs are used. The point of LEDs is to use less wattage, not high output LEDs. It's wasted electricity and plants can't use a fraction of that energy. Environmental conditions play a more important role. Tomatoes may seem like they grow poorly under cheap lights but humidity, temperature, and not being able to cram enough nutrients in their growing medium play a more important role. Unless someone is selling fruiting plants large scale the cost of maintenance is absurd to grow them inside.