by Pamela Kay

Created on: March 17, 2009

The advantages of starting seeds indoors, regardless of where you live, are from the head start you get on the growing season, which will result in an earlier harvest and avoiding a host of other problems that destroy your seedlings. Transplanting shock can set the plant back to the point that you lose the advantage you had gained, but not if you try these tips.

*Advantage of Thinking Big

The larger the container you plant your seeds in, the less shock they will endure when you set them in the garden. Small paper cups or egg carton cups may seem ideal, but in truth, they aren't. Peat pots work well as the root system isn't disturbed by removing the seedling from the pot to plant it: the pot and all goes in the ground.

If you have a greenhouse, you should have room to use half-gallon milk cartons which can be cut at the corners and the plant removed quite easily without disturbing the fragile root system. Using these cartons, you are able to start the plants even earlier and will have a sturdy little plant instead of a weak seedling.

If you don't have a greenhouse, convert a window of your house into a temporary one by placing shelving or a table in front of it and pinning clear plastic to the top of the curtains and draping it over the shelves or table. Use a tray with gravel in the bottom and place the containers on this to allow for drainage from holes poked in the bottom.

*Advantage of Less Insects and Pests

Seems like birds get smarter every year and are just waiting on you to leave the garden so they can scratch up their dinner. The few seeds that remain will be at the mercy of other wildlife that will visit your garden in the early spring such as beetles, rabbits, deer, raccoons and even those pesky little squirrels.

*Advantage of Proper Light

In a garden, you seedlings would be at the mercy of Mother Nature and she can be downright ornery in early spring; hiding the sun behind clouds, which causes your seeds to sprout more slowly and your seedlings to have tall spindly stems. The seedlings will not be healthy without the proper amount of sunlight.

Starting seeds indoors will allow you to use grow lights on cloudy days, which give your seedlings another boost. Without the light, plants will grow pale and never be able to do what plants do: make food for animals, including humans, by photosynthesis. So, by starting seeds inside where you can control the amount of light they receive, you gain an advantage.

*Advantage of Watering Needs

Seeds need moisture to sprout and grow into seedlings, but they need just the right amount or they drown or rot. Seedlings don't like roots that are forced to sit in water nor do they like the constant fluctuation of wet and dry that spring often causes.

Torrential rains are often a part of early spring and these can beat or wash seeds from the ground or beat the very life from tender seedlings. So, another big advantage of starting seeds indoors is you control the water.

*Advantage of Easy Thinning

Starting seeds indoors makes thinning much easier as you plant less seeds to begin with. No more crawling the row and hand thinning the culls to keep from disturbing the roots of other seedlings. In a greenhouse or on a windowsill, it's just easier to get to them.

Planting twice because of a late frost, wildlife raiders or flooding is no fun and means it will be that much longer before you cut your first flowers or gather your first tomato. These are only some of the advantages of starting seeds indoors but they should be enough to convince even the most determined old timer to give it a try.

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