Show #127 - Indoor Seed Starting, Houseplants & Garden Upgrades

Now is the time to shift your gardening focus indoors, especially for seeds that are slow to germinate and mature. In this episode of Great Gardens Radio, we cover seed starting, houseplant care, winter bird support, and the OUT/IN upgrades that separate average gardens from great ones.

Indoor Seed Starting: Start With the Slow Growers

Begin with seeds that take the longest to germinate and mature:

• Leafy vegetables: kale, cabbage, broccoli
• Perennials (seed is their slowest reproduction method)
• Annual impatiens (twice as long as marigolds)

Leafy vegetables and many perennials prefer cooler weather and can be planted outdoors as early as March 20. Hot weather stresses them.

Step 1: Use the Right Equipment

• Always start with a seed flat and clear dome
• Flats may be open or cell-divided — the dome is essential
• The dome creates recycled moisture, heat, and humidity

Step 2: Choose Real Seed-Starting Soil

Do not use potting soil or peat moss alone.

Good options include:

• ProMix (mycorrhizae + light fertilizer)
• Fox Farm Light Warrior (mycorrhizae + humates)
  • $19.88 per cubic foot
• Most 8-quart seed soils cost ~$9.88

Seedlings need fresh, porous soil. Most soils lose porosity after one year.

Upgrade Old Soil the Smart Way

If you already have soil:

• Tru-Organics offers free mycorrhizae packs for Great Gardens Radio listeners
• Never reuse last year’s soil indoors — compost it or use it outside

A Great Gardens trick:

• Add the mycorrhizae pack to Kick-Start
• Water seedlings with humates + mycorrhizae together

Young seedlings should never be born into tired soil.

Read Your Seed Packets

• Tomatoes & peppers take about 8 weeks from seed
• Never plant outdoors before Mother’s Day (May 10)
• That means starting around March 10

If you only need a few plants:

• Buy 2½–3” starters in late April or early May

Seeds are best for:

• Large quantities (20–24 plants)
• Rare or unusual varieties

Seed Selection at Betty’s

• Burpee Organic Seeds — 30% off every day
• Lake Valley & Renee’s Garden Seeds — 20% off every day
• Last year’s seeds — 50% off and still fully viable

Seeds do not “go bad.” There are extinction seed vaults dating back to 1896 that do not rotate stock.

Light, Heat & Watering

• Seeds love warm soil
• Place flats in sun or 6” under LED lights
• Raise lights as plants grow
• Heat mats are only for difficult cuttings like Rhododendrons

Water carefully:

• On a scale of 1–10, moisture should be 6.5–7
• The dome recycles evaporated moisture back to soil

This Week in the Garden

Houseplants

• Rotate plants so all sides get light
• Fertilize with slow-release, high nitrogen fertilizer like Garden Trust
• Refresh top 1.5–2” of soil yearly
• Mulch and fertilize all houseplants

Yellow inner leaves = lack of water
Poor new growth color = lack of fertilizer, not iron

Winter Watering

• Always water lightly in winter
• Overwatering is worse than underwatering

Garage & Yard Organization

Now is a great time to clean out the garage — especially if you have the Catchy Can, a trash can with a built-in dustpan scoop.

Don’t Forget the Birds

Snow and ice cut birds off from food and water.

At Betty’s:

• Suet cakes: $1.37–$1.88
• Pine Tree Farms Hot Pepper Suet: $1.97–$2.44
• Large 2–3 lb suet cakes: $9–$14
• Black oil sunflower seed:
  • 20 lbs — $19.88
  • 40 lbs — $29.88
• Lyric Fine Tunes (small feeders):
  • 100% hulled, 15 lbs — $39.88

Birdbath heaters are also available at discount pricing.

Birds need food, water, and shelter — just like us.

OUT / IN: Modern Gardening Upgrades

OUT 10-10-10, 10-6-4 → IN Plant Trust, Start-n-Grow
OUT Peat moss → IN Coir, mycorrhizae, humates
OUT Fluorescent lights → IN LED lights
OUT Single-bloom azaleas → IN Repeat bloomers
OUT Dethatching bluegrass → IN Core aeration, tall fescue
OUT Round-Up → IN Fertilome Decimate
OUT Dormant oil → IN Merit systemic
OUT Preen (10 weeks) → IN Gallery (6–9 months)
OUT Annuals from seed → IN Rooted cuttings
OUT Dracaena spikes → IN Mandeville vines
OUT Mulch grindings → IN Bark mulch
OUT Knockout roses → IN Fragrant roses
OUT Tropical gardenias → IN Hardy rebloomers
OUT Spider mites → IN Wilt-Pruf
OUT Bad lawns → IN Turf Trust
OUT Crabgrass → IN Dimension & Gallery
OUT Oscillating sprinklers → IN Pulsating sprinklers
OUT Guessing water amounts → IN Rain gauge
OUT Liquid fertilizers → IN Slow-release granular fertilizers