Friday, June 30, 2023

DIY Outdoor Seed Starting



Hi there! If you saw my DIY Small Space Garden post last month, then you know I started a garden this year! I started most of my plants from seed, which was a little intimidating at first, but it turned out to be so easy that I have to share in case you are intimidated too!


I ordered a whole bunch of seeds online from a few different stores and picked up two of these seed starting tray from Walmart, as well as some seed starting mix.


I followed the instructions on the seed starting mix bag that said to add water to the soil first and mix.


I added the seed starting mix soil to the seed starting tray and then went through and pushed the soil down to pack it down a little and then added more soil.


I made sure to read each seed packet to see how deep to plant the seeds. I planted 2-3 seeds per cell unless a seed packet said to plant a pinch of seeds. I used popsicle sticks to label each cell. I also only planted seeds that said I could plant before my last frost date in the first batch of seeds I started. Once my last frost date had passed, I started the remaining seeds.


I set my seed starting trays outside on our patio shaded by the house, so they were not in direct sun. I also added about 1/4” of water in the bottom tray to allow the soil to bottom water for a few hours every few days.


Just 2.5 weeks after planting my seeds, I needed to thin my lettuce seedlings.


The popsicle sticks were super handy to scoop each seedling out of its cell, but I noticed they were starting to mold.


Once I noticed the mold, I ordered some plastic plant tags and pitched these.


For the lettuce I needed to thin, I used the grow pots I saved from my geraniums. I read it was important to clean them with bleach, but I didn’t have any, so I let them soak in a bucket of water with a little cleaning vinegar and then I rinsed them really well.


A little under 2 weeks went by and some seedlings were ready to plant out. I tried to wait until all seedlings had 4 leaves before, I planted them in the garden, but some seedlings were so tall that they need to be planted out sooner.


I planned out how I wanted to plant my garden by making a list of all my seedlings and researching companion plants for each one and then choosing which type of plant to put in each bed.


Here’s my garden the day I started planting on June 2.


And today on June 30! I have already harvested my lettuce once and I need to cut some more this weekend!

These beautiful garden beds are from VEGEGA, you can save 10% by using coupon code CRAFTINGUPCUTENESS, if you want to check them out!

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