Take some time to figure out what you and your family like to eat and what flowers you want to grow. Don't waste time or money buying seeds of plants you know you wont like.
You can go the cheap and easy route by planting your seeds directly in the ground once it's past your frost-free date. There are no extra materials to buy specifically for starting seeds this way. However, many gardeners like to get a jump on the season by starting their vegetable, perennial, and annual seeds indoors early. If that's the type of gardener you want to be then these next pages will be so helpful!
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Optional Items
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Seed Starting Soil
Seeds
Sunny Windows
Resuasable containers
Fertilizer
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As mentioned before you can start seeds as low cost or as expensive as your budget will allow. For seed starting pots you can use old yogurt cups, toilet paper rolls, milk jugs, basically anything that can hold water and you can put a drainage hole in. You don't have to have grow lights but you will need a very sunny window and you will need to rotate your seedlings daily.
Once you've gathered your seed starting materials you will want to follow the recommendations on the backs of your seed packets. The seed packets will tell you exactly how many weeks before your last frost date that you should start your seeds, how deep they should be planted, the maturity date, how many days till germination, how far apart to plant your seedlings once you get them in the garden, etc. There's so much information that you need to pay attention to. I know this can feel overwhelming at first but after your first year of seed starting you will be a pro!
Seedlings Need 14-16 hours of light a day
Keep your soil moist at all times
Plant two seeds per hole incase one doesn't germinate
Use heat mats where appropriate
Thin seedlings when needed
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