It’s time! Time to get those seeds started for the long growing or cold season veggies. We have tomatoes, peppers and eggplant started inside and will be planted outside after the the last frost date (around Mother’s Day for us).
We also started some of the cold weather seeds inside which we will probably be putting outside this week since they can handle the cold weather. I started red and green cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts in styrofoam cups which I will tear off the bottom half before putting them in the garden so their roots can grow down into the soil. In the bright white cups, I’m less likely to hoe them over when the spring weeds start popping up.
I poke drainage holes in the cups before filling with dirt.
Label, label, label the pots. I always think that I’ll remember what I planted and where, but I inevitably forget, even a few days later. I used popsicle sticks this year, but writing right on the cup works too!
After making sure the dirt is plenty moist, I cover the tray with cling wrap. The deep trays that I use are actually restaurant busboy trays that I found in the foodservice aisle at Sams Club. The cling wrap helps prevents evaporation and works as a mini greenhouse.
In previous years, I’ve tried just setting my plants in a sunny window and end up with weak, spindly plants. Instead, I use a 4 foot fluorescent workshop light hanging from thin chains from tiny hooks in my ceiling. Using chains, I can start with the lights low over the trays and move up as needed. When the lights are too far way from the plants, the stems tend to grow long and thin. I want thick stocky stems, so I keep the light just out of reach of the plants. When the plants get tall enough to almost touch the lights, I simply adjust the hooks on the chain to raise the light a bit. I leave the hooks in my ceiling all year, and just hang the light on the chains when I’m growing seedlings.
I make room for the plants to grow on my hutch right in my dining room because, for me, the farther out of sight they are, the farther they are from my mind, and I NEED to make sure they get spritzed with water each day. In my next post I’ll show what I do when the plants outgrow their cling wrap or “greenhouse” cover.
Sable Creek Farm 
Interesting that you plan to leave the styro cups around the root ball. Doesn’t that keep them from spreading out their roots? I know some plants have a deep, narrow root system (carrots) but some (like tomatoes and broccoli) have wide-spreading roots to support their tall top growth. Have you done this successfully before? Happy growing.
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Good point! I’m planning to grow most of the plants inside until they are established enough to remove the cup and plant right in the ground. The cold weather (broc, cabbage, and Brussels) plants are ones I usually get at the nursery, but I never see them until the rest of the plants are in stock and by then, it’s getting kind of warm for them. So this year is a trial year for starting my own. I’ll probably tear off almost half of the bottom of the styrofoam cup so it’ll just be a couple inches in the ground with a bit showing above the soil. Hopefully it’ll work to mark them, because whenever I just put the seeds in the ground, I lose them in the weeds and end up hoeing them 🤦🏼♀️. Maybe I’ll end taking the rest of the cup out when they get big enough to identify 👍🏼. Thanks for the tip!
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