When to Start Growing Seeds Indoors for Your Garden

When to Start Growing Seeds Indoors for Your Garden

February marks the halfway¹ point of winter in the northern part of the world. With spring arriving soon, many people are dreaming of working in their gardens on warm, sunny days.

Some gardeners like to start the growing season early. They can do this by growing plants from seed inside their home.

It is important to know when to start growing your seeds indoors. The answer depends on where you live. Gardeners use the average last frost date in their area to help them know when to begin growing seeds. Frost is a thin layer of ice that forms on the ground when the air is cold.

Some places have special groups that can provide such information. But there are also good online calculators that can tell you about frost dates, too.

The small packets that seeds come in usually advise you to start seeds a given number of weeks before the last frost. The recommendation will differ depending on the seed type.

After finding your start date, it is important to respect it. If you start too soon, plants likely will grow weak and struggle to do well. If you start too late, your harvest will be delayed.

While you are waiting, find and prepare your growing containers. You can use things like recycled yogurt or egg containers. Each container should have a hole in the bottom for water to flow through. If you still have containers you used last year, make sure to disinfect them with a strong cleaning solution.

Fill each container with a clean, moist, soilless seed-starting mix. Place one to four seeds in each cell, depending on the seed kind and size. Water the seeds as needed to keep the mix from drying out.

Cover the seed containers tightly. Put them in a warm place out of direct sunlight. Heating mats placed under the trays will help the seeds develop more quickly.

Be on the lookout² for "damping off," a fungal disease that happens in cool, wet, dark areas. If you see a white layer on the soil's surface, remove it carefully and let the soil dry completely between watering again.

One way to help avoid damping off is to direct the wind of a small fan toward the soil. The wind from the fan can help train young seedlings⁴ to withstand wind outside. The seedlings will become stronger as a result.

When seedlings first appear, remove the covering and put containers by a sunny window.

You can also put them under special lighting⁵ devices called grow lamps for 14 hours a day. Costly⁶ lamps are not necessary. Ordinary lights will work. Keep the light source no more than 5 to 10 centimeters above the plants, changing its height as the seedlings grow.

If several seedlings sprout⁷ in each container, cut the weakest at the soil line using small scissors. The aim is to keep only one strong-looking plant per container section. If you let more than one seedling³ remain, the roots may become mixed together. The young plants might not survive.

A week before the last frost date, begin to "harden off" plants by placing them outside for longer periods of time each day. Place them in a shady area protected from wind. Leave them there for one hour and then bring them back inside. Repeat the next day, but leave them out for two hours. Continue adding one hour of outdoor time each day for one week. By the end of the week, your plants will be prepared to survive and grow in your garden outside.

Words in This Story

garden - n. an area of ground where plants (such as flowers or vegetables) are grown

calculator - n. a small electronic device that is used for adding, subtracting, etc.

packet - n. a small, thin package

moist - adj. slightly or barely wet : not completely dry

damp - adj. somewhat or slightly wet

fungal - adj. relating to or caused by a fungus⁸ (fungus - n. any one of a group of living things (such as molds, mushrooms, or yeasts) that often look like plants but have no flowers and that live on dead or decaying things)

fan - n. a machine or device that is used to move the air and make people or things cooler:

sprout - v. to produce new leaves, buds, etc.

1 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

2 lookout   

n.注意，前途，瞭望台

参考例句：

• You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
• It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来，公司的前景可就不妙了。

3 seedling   

n.秧苗，树苗

参考例句：

• She cut down the seedling with one chop.她一刀就把小苗砍倒了。
• The seedling are coming up full and green.苗长得茁壮碧绿。

4 seedlings   

n.刚出芽的幼苗( seedling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Ninety-five per cent of the new seedlings have survived. 新栽的树苗95%都已成活。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• In such wet weather we must prevent the seedlings from rotting. 这样的阴雨天要防止烂秧。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

6 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

7 sprout   

n.芽，萌芽；vt.使发芽，摘去芽；vi.长芽，抽条

参考例句：

• When do deer first sprout horns?鹿在多大的时候开始长出角？
• It takes about a week for the seeds to sprout.这些种子大约要一周后才会发芽。

8 fungus   

n.真菌，真菌类植物

参考例句：

• Mushrooms are a type of fungus.蘑菇是一种真菌。
• This fungus can just be detected by the unaided eye.这种真菌只用肉眼就能检查出。