Seed Starting

On the farm, we tried many ways to start seeds over the years. Sometimes the old ways are best, and sometimes new ways can help when conditions are less than ideal. These posts cover the fundamentals: what seeds actually need, when to start them, and how to get transplant-ready plants consistently.

The Fundamentals

The Honest Difference Between Heirloom, Open-Pollinated, and Hybrid Seeds What the terms actually mean, when the difference matters, and why most of the debate around them misses the practical point. Start here if you’re choosing varieties.

What Temperature Do Seeds Actually Need to Germinate? Soil temperature (not air temperature) is what determines whether a seed germinates in five days or rots in three weeks. Four ways to hit the right range without a heat mat.

How to Harden Off Seedlings (Without Losing Half of Them) Hardening off is the step most gardeners rush or skip, and it’s why seedlings die after transplant. Here’s the right way to do it, and how long it actually takes.

Crop-Specific Guides

Starting Tomatoes Indoors: A Week-by-Week Schedule Six weeks before your last frost date, worked backward into a week-by-week schedule. What to do, what to watch for, and the four mistakes that cost entire trays.

Starting Peppers Indoors: Why They’re Not Like Tomatoes Peppers need more heat, more time, and more patience than tomatoes at every stage. Here’s what that means in practice, and a schedule that accounts for it.