Starting plants from seed is a rewarding experience for many gardeners. Seed starting indoors gives you the opportunity to nurse and care for your plants from the moment you plant the seed into the soil. Watching it grow provides a gratification that is unmatched for gardeners. To learn how to start your plants from seed, visit our seed starting guide.
Here at Merrifield Garden Center, we carry many different products to help with your seed starting journey. Here are some of our tried and true products for seed starting.
We carry potting mixes specifically blended for seed starting. Unlike regular potting soil, products like Fertilome Seed & Cutting and Jiffy Seed Starting Mix are composed of finer medium, allowing the delicate seedling roots to stabilize and grow. Seed starting mixes contain sphagnum peat moss and perlite to help retain water, improve drainage and help with aerating the soil. Fertilome’s Seed & Cutting seed starting blend also includes black peat, dolomitic limestone, calcitic limestone, fertilizer charge and a wetting agent. Jiffy’s starter mix also includes wood pulp, vermiculite and lime.
If you’re looking for a peat-free option, we also carry coco coir, a type of planting medium made from the husks of coconuts, which is known to help with water retention. Coco coir does not provide nutrients to the soil, so you can amend it with fertilizers or perlite if you wish to increase your nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium levels.
One of the most important supplies needed for seed starting is an insert to initially plant your seeds and soil into, and a durable tray to support and transport the seeds. A seed starting insert is a collection of small cells (openings) where you will place your soil and seeds. We recommend placing that insert on top of a seed starting tray to provide structural support. We carry 10 by 20” plastic trays with and without drainage holes. We recommend placing a tray with drainage holes under your seed starting insert and using the trays without drainage holes for transportation purposes–or if you’re keeping your seeds inside the house on a windowsill.
Our seed trays are made out of heavy plastic to ensure they don’t bend, break or split during transport. Seed trays and inserts are reusable each season. Simply discard any excess soil, wash, dry and store your tray and insert for future use at the end of each planting season.
We carry plastic humidity domes that fit perfectly over top of the 10 by 20” trays. These covers help to increase the moisture inside of the tray and protect the delicate seedlings. It is possible to grow seeds without one, but using a humidity dome will significantly speed up the process. We recommend keeping the dome over top of the seeds until they sprout. Then remove the tray, wash, dry and store it for future use.
Jiffy 7 pellets are an alternative seed-starting medium made from compressed peat moss and coco fibers, encased in gauze that expand when watered. They have a small opening on the top where you place your seeds. No soil is needed for these products to work. These are a popular choice because they’re convenient, low mess and especially entertaining for kids. Once you plant the seed, all you need to do is apply water to keep the seed hydrated. Place the pellets on a tray and cover them with a humidity dome. When you see the seeds sprouting, take the cover off and transplant your seedlings to a more permanent vessel, or directly in the ground.
Peat pots and coco coir pots are biodegradable seed starting pots made from peat moss and coconut husks/fibers that you can plant directly into the ground when transplanting your seedlings. Simply fill these pots with seed starting mix to get started planting. We recommend placing these pots on top of one of our seed starting trays so that the moisture won’t damage your windowsill or surface. When it’s time to transplant your seedlings, plant the entire vessel into the ground–it will decompose over time.
It can be hard to tell the plant varieties apart when they are placed together on a tray as seedlings do not have distinctive features when their leaves emerge. A great way to discern which plant is which is to purchase inexpensive plant labels. We carry wooden and plastic plant labels at Merrifield Garden Center that stick right into the soil and have a space where you can write down the seed variety.
Spray mist bottles are great for supplying moisture to seed trays as they provide a gentle mist, without disturbing the soil and seeds. We carry plastic spray bottles that are reliable and inexpensive. If you’re looking for a more decorative option, we also carry colorful glass spray bottles that will be a beautiful addition to your plant tool collection and look great on a shelf.
We recommend mixing Osmocote into your seed starting medium at the time of planting. Osmocote is a slow release, granular fertilizer that will help get your seeds off to a strong start. You won’t need much, only a few granules per plug. You only need to apply it once as it has a 4 month release time.
If you didn’t mix Osmocote into your seed starting media, we recommend feeding with Jack’s Classic once your seeds sprout. Jack’s Classic is a water soluble fertilizer that must be mixed in water before applying. It needs to be reapplied every two weeks until the seeds are transplanted in the garden.
For the best results, seedlings need at least 12 hours of light per day. If seedlings don’t get enough sun, they can grow leggy and weak. Insufficient light is one of the most challenging problems for gardeners and is often misdiagnosed as a lack of nutrients. If you’re using a grow light, place it a few inches above the seeds and raise it as they mature.
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