Seed Starting Demystified, Part 2 (Everyone Can Grow a Garden - 2023 #5)

[@roserizzo3094]

Nature is amazing!

[@markgoodsmith7229]

Excellent and very thorough tutorial Susan. You are the explainer in chief! I am in the process of slowly phasing out my florescent shop lights in favor of LEDs. Saves me buying new tubes and lowers our electrical bills.

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Thanks, Mark!

[@donnamullins2089]

Thank you Susan. Good information.

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Glad it was helpful, Donna!

[@amynelsongreen3243]

Thanks, Susan! I love the detail you provide. I'm not new to seed starting but always learning new tips. So excited that we're back in the season again. I look forward to hearing your talks at the NW Flower and Garden Festival in a couple of weeks.

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Hi, Amy. Oh, I'm glad to hear that you'll be at the festival! Yes, I'm excited that spring will be here soon. And it's always good for us to learn new things.

[@jillrodriguez9597]

Thank you so much! Have you ever started Lisianthus flowers seeds in seed trays? If so, were you successful? Another question. When you test for viability, can you plant the sprouted seeds or will they not survive?

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Hi, Jill. I've only tried to grow Lisianthus from seed once and I failed miserably at it! It is notoriously difficult to grow. If you handle sprouted seeds carefully, you can certainly plant them but it's easy to break off the stem or roots.

[@marilynm8812]

I have to test 2 yr lettuce seeds that did not germinate, as I did not cover them, may have over watered then underwater then gave up. I watch another grower who germinates most seeds with the paper towel method, some requiring a heat mat and plants the sprouted ones, pretty successfully.

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Well, gardening is a learning process so don't be too hard on yourself! We only use a heat mat for starting things like peppers, eggplants and tomatoes. Also, regarding not covering lettuce seeds, that's the method I used this year and it has worked well. In theory, lettuce seeds have a shelf life (with good germination) of 6 years, so that is frustrating. I haven't use the paper towel method for germinating seeds because I worry that I might actually damage the roots or the sprouts in the process.

[@joycearthur5244]

Can you give the Amazon link for the SucSeed, I have searched and can’t seem to find it. Also is the seed viability of pelleted seeds less? I have seeded pelleted Skyphos lettuce seed twice and they still have come up. Thanks.

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Here's you go, Joyce: www.amazon.com/Mosser-Lee-ML0003-SucSeed-Premium/dp/B0BGWYPDB7. Or www.mosserlee.com/product/sucseed-organic-seed-starting-medium/.

[@dustyflats3832]

Why are there so many ways to grow artichokes and celery? If it wasn’t for your video I wouldn’t have known about vernalization of artichokes and probably would have never seen any and just gave up. There was no instructions on seed pkt. Just normal planting. And I hope I see the celery. After I planted and barely covered with soil I seen many variations. Some say don’t cover, some say light or diffused light. I have them on heat mat and with light and dome. Last year I had ok success in winter sowing celery. This year I was hoping for thicker stalks and thought earlier start would help. After watching and reading about celery I’m not sure if I will succeed. I followed info on Jung’s Tango Celery, but not sure about diffused light and should I use heat? I am following your instructions on artichokes-Thank you. What is your conclusion with all the different ways to grow celery? Have you had success growing celery? I’m Z5a, WI. Thank you and enjoy your videos and nice info to print out from your website.

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Hi there. I agree that the information on seed packets varies widely. Some seed companies are fantastic about providing all of the information you need (some examples are Renee's Garden Seeds and Botanical Interests), while others barely give you any information at all. It's really frustrating. I've successfully grown celery for quite a few years now. While they are slow to start and slow to get going, I haven't found that they need any extra heat or special light. I'm going to start mine on about March 7th and hope to transplant them out into the garden the first week of May. The 2 varieties of celery that do well in Northern gardens are 'Tango' and 'Utah Improved'. Thanks so much for your nice comments.

[@annmoy8932]

Thank you for your video, Susan! I've never done a germination testing with 10 seeds before. Thanks for the tip. By the way, did you plant those beans that germinated after testing them?

[@SusansInTheGarden]

I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I actually didn't plant the beans, which I know sounds like a crime, but I did that germination test waaaaay before it would have been safe to plant them outdoors. Fortunately, I had saved a ton of seeds from our plants in recent years, so I could spare 10 of them!

[@lilycardoso4679]

I have a question regarding the Sucseed. In one of your older videos I thought you said you used vermiculite for damping off. I may have remembered wrong. Does vermiculite work or does Sucseed work better?

[@SusansInTheGarden]

Hi, Lily. No, I haven't recommended vermiculite for that. You want milled sphagnum moss for this purpose.

[@lilycardoso4679]

@@SusansInTheGarden thank you so much. My mistake.

[@SusansInTheGarden]

@@lilycardoso4679 No worries!