5 Seed-Starting Supplies That Are Worth the Investment
If you want to start seeds at home, investing in high-quality supplies is worthwhile. Join farmer Briana Yablonski to learn a handful of essential items that simplify the seed-starting process.
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Over the years, I’ve sown thousands upon thousands of seeds. And the truth is, not all of these seeds turned into healthy seedlings. A lack of knowledge prevented some of these plants from thriving, but inadequate supplies hurt other crops’ health.
Fortunately, I learned from my mistakes and recognized what tools (and knowledge) make seed-starting easy. If you want to grow healthy seedlings at home, it is worth it to make the investment in these supplies for your seed-starting setup.
Sturdy Plug Trays
If you’re used to starting seeds in old yogurt containers or eggshells, it’s time to level up your game. While these items work great in a pinch (and help us find another use for otherwise discarded items), they are challenging to move around, only last a single season, and cause unnecessary frustrations when germinating seeds. If you know you’ll be gardening for years, it’s worth spending money on containers designed for starting seeds.
Whether you’re about to begin your first gardening season or want to add to your DIY seed-starting supplies, it’s worth the investment in an array of plugs. These products come in various sizes and are specially designed for starting seeds. They hold soil mix so it doesn’t end up all over your home or greenhouse, provide excellent drainage, and make it easy to remove the seedlings when it’s time to plant.
You can find these ranging from flimsy plastic options that break after one use to heavy-duty trays that last a lifetime. Although the durable items are more expensive upfront, you only have to buy them once!
I recommend having various cell sizes on hand to accommodate different crops. If you’re a home gardener, you can start seeds in small 16-cells to save space and then up-pot them into larger cells or individual pots.
If you don’t want to purchase a bundle, 6-cell plugs are a good place to start. Their cells are great sizes for growing seedlings, including lettuce, peppers, brassicas, herbs, and cut flowers. When you stack a dozen trays in a 1020 bottom tray, you can grow and water 72 plants at once!
Bottom Trays
If you’re starting seeds indoors, bottom trays are a must-have. These solid flats hold cell trays and make it easy to move potted seedlings around your house and into the garden. Since they’ll be holding up other soil-filled flats, a rigid and sturdy option is a must!
However, bottom trays really shine when you water your seedlings. These solid products make it easy to bottom water your plants—just set the flats on the solid plastic, add a half-inch of water, and watch the soil mix absorb the moisture. After an hour, remove any water that the soil mix didn’t uptake.
Even if you don’t want to bottom water, these trays are great for capturing water that drips out of seedling cells. That means you can top water your plants indoors without worrying about the water dripping all over your floors.
Heat Mats
Although not all seeds require warm soil to germinate, heat-loving plants like peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, and okra germinate best when the soil is above 70°F (21°C). You could place your seeds in a warm room or greenhouse, but cranking up the heat is often not worth the cost. A better option is placing your seedlings on a heat mat.
These water-resistant mats hold a constant temperature (often between 75-80°F or 24-27°C) and heat the soil mix to the same level, even if your seedlings are in a cool location like a basement or garage. This warm temperature allows seeds to germinate quickly and consistently.
It’s important to note that not all seeds require heat mats. In fact, using them can inhibit the germination of seeds like spinach, lettuce, larkspur, and phlox. Therefore, note each seed’s ideal germination temperature before placing it on a heat mat.
Grow Lights
One of the number one mistakes new seed-starters make is not providing their seedlings with enough light. While placing your tiny plants near a brightly lit window may seem okay, this low light often leads to spindly and weak plants. Fortunately, adding a grow light to your seed-starting setup makes it easy to provide consistent, bright light.
An investment in grow lights also allows you to place your seed-starting supplies anywhere that’s the right temperature. For example, you can save your kitchen window for your houseplants and place your seedlings in your basement or on that shelf in your spare bedroom.
When you begin searching for grow lights, the options can seem overwhelming. You can find fluorescent, LED, metal halide, plasma lights, and more! And that’s not even considering the light size, spectrum, or temperature.
If you don’t want to get into the nitty-gritty details of light science, you can purchase a grow light specifically designed for seed starting. The Epic grow light contains long-lasting, low-temperature LED bulbs that provide young plants with all the necessary light. It also includes a timer to select different light cycles for optimum plant growth.
Plant Tags or Garden Markers
If you’ve grown seedlings before, you know that it can be difficult to tell young plants apart. Brassica seedlings like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage look practically identical when young. And that’s not even mentioning trying to differentiate a ‘Cherokee Purple’ tomato seedling from a ‘Big Brandy’ seedling.
That’s why you need a way to mark your seedlings as soon as you sow the seeds. One option is plant tags. You can write the plant variety name and sowing date on the tag with UV-resistant markers, then place the tags into the cells. If you move your seedlings from one tray to another, just move the tag along with it.
Another option is to write directly on your seedling flats with a chalk marker. This option decreases the likelihood that kids or pets will pull out the tag, but the writing may also wash off over time.
