Indoor Seed Starting Set-Up Extraordinaire

I save many of our vegetable seeds year to year, but give in to flower seed splurges.

Every year our indoor seed starting ritual seems to get just a little more elaborate. Years ago we planted a few seeds in egg cartons. Then we planted trays of seeds in repurposed tp tubes. Then we bought grow lights and warming mats. And this spring my husband built me a substantial seed starting set-up that will last for many decades.

It measures four-and-a-half feet tall, four feet wide, and nearly nine feet long. The whole contraption comes apart for easy storage.

The “roof” can be raised to move the grow lights up as plants get taller and the sides of the roof can be held open with hooks suspended from the ceiling to tend seedlings.

For a few weeks each spring, our basement eco-system is a fertile place indeed.

 

Cautionary reminder: I heard from many readers who had major difficulty or total failure starting seeds using NK products and Jiffy products including “peat” pots, soil mix, and dehydrated soil disks. (Jiffy has been bought out by NK.) Here’s more on this.