Antknee's Aquaponics Blog

From Seed to Harvest 

Step one: taking the mystery out of seed starting

Starting your garden plants from seeds can be difficult if you don't use the right method, in this series I will follow the life of a seedling from seed to mature plant. I will use three different types of plants to show how it works best and outline what pitfalls to avoid. the seeds I've chosen were a selection my wife and I found at a local grocery store, these were advertised as all organic USDA approved seed making the choice easier was the fact that these seeds were only 99 cents, so three bucks and change and we were off to the races.

here are the seeds we picked.

Germination

Now some folks might argue this but starting seeds can be a chore, especially if you use the plastic bag method where you take a paper towel and place the seeds inside a fold and add water then place the seeds in a warm place and check daily for signs of sprouts. while this method works I find that taking the seeds out of the paper towel after they have sprouted and placing them in grow plugs, or rockwool cubes which are made of molten rock spun into cotton candy-like fibers and then compressed into cubes,then waiting for the seedling to develop tends to create a weaker seedling in my experience. Letting the seeds germinate and sprout in a grow plug or rockwool cube from the start seems to make a more healthy seedling.

You can start seeds in almost any type of container, as long as it's at least 2-3 " deep and has some drainage holes. If you are the DIY type, you might want to grow seedlings in yogurt cups, milk cartons or paper cups. I prefer the convenience of trays that are made especially for seed starting. It's easy to drop plugs into the trays, the watering system ensures consistent moisture and I can move them easily.I prefer to use grow plugs which are made up from organic substrates, micro nutrients and biological properties and have unique drainage properties to increase the success of seedlings. You can avoid plant disease by using a clean grow tray washed with warm soapy water (I run mine in the top rack of the dishwasher). and by providing good air circulation by using a fan.

After placing the seeds in the grow plug and watering them I add about 1 red solo cup of fish tank water from my main aquaponics system to boost seedling development, after the sprouts are up you can also feed them with a weak solution of fertilizer but in the interest of keeping it all totally organic I just use the water from the fish tank and that seems to work well. keeping the seeds under a plastic dome or even just stretching plastic wrap over your seedling tray keeps the plugs moist which is key for germination.


Some seeds are resistant to moisture so they can take longer to germinate but I find that with bigger seed like pumpkin or even watermelon or cantaloupe I use seed scarification, which is a method of sanding, or clipping off part of the seed's shell so water can get to the inside part to speed up germination. An interesting guide for this method can be found here .

here are the seeded grow plugs tucked in for some germination.

Heat and Light! Light! Light!

I also use a heat mat under my grow tray which warms the root area 10-20 degrees Fahrenheit over the ambient room temperature and also simulates warm spring days that heat the soil. This is a must have because if the seeds are moist but not warm they can mold or grow fungus and that will kill most seeds. You can buy a seedling heat mat from amazon for around 20 bucks and they are a solid investment, but I am a cheapo and so I use a old heat pad for your back, but it has 3 settings and the middle and the top two are too hot so I added a simple digital thermometer so I can monitor the heat the mat is producing I usually run it at about 105 degrees this might be a bit on the high side but I have had good success with this system so I'm sticking to it.

The next important thing is LIGHT! yes I said that loudly light is most important in seedling development, if you use a light that's too weak the seedlings will be tall and spindly and more prone to falling over when developing multiple leaves. use a strong light or a south facing window that gets plenty of sunlight also you can run a timer on the light an set it for about 14 to 16 hours of light, I also hook up the heat pad and a fan for circulation, so that I can closely mimic springs pattern of heating up and cooling off with sunrise and sunset. Keep in mind that seedlings need darkness, too, so they can rest.

It's not a good idea to move your seedlings directly from the protected environment of your home into the garden, indoor or outside. So I've been coddling these seedlings for weeks, so they need a gradual transition to their new environment. This is a process called hardening off. About a week before I plan to set the seedlings into my garden, I place them in a protected spot outdoors (partly shaded, out of the wind) for a few hours, bringing them in at night. Gradually, over the course of a week or 10 days, I expose them to more and more sunshine and wind. Then I transplant them into the garden either outside in a container or into the aquaponics systems that I have running.

Label your tray

I have found that labeling is a great way to avoid confusion, most seeds don't look very different form each other when they are first starting out so I label my trays when I start the seeds that way I can keep track of them easier. My wife likes to cut milk cartons down into plastic stakes then we mark them with a sharpie, you can get ready made stakes on amazon but I am working on a budget so the less I have to shell out for my projects the better it is for me, and the less flak I get when I have to buy a expensive part

So watch for more on this blog as the seedlings sprout and grow.