Seed Starting: a New Year’s Guide!
With the New Year comes new crops! Learn which plants to grow from seed and the best time to start them for Spring time! Information in this post can be sourced from the Farmer’s Almanac, specifically for the Kirkwood, or St. Louis County, area.
In order to start your seeds, you’ll need a couple supplies; thankfully, O.K. Hatchery has you covered!
A general list of supplies includes:
An indoor location to keep your plants nice and warm. This can be a green house or any room with temperature control.
Seeds! We’ll later discuss what plants thrive in our Missouri climate.
Seed-Starting Potting Mix. Typically a mixture of peat moss, vermiculite, perlite, or other material depending on the company. We offer a couple different varieties of mixes to help you out!
Containers. Seedlings are usually started in small cell pots, either made of out plastic or a bio-degradable material like peat moss.
Light. People often use Grow Lights, a special light that contains the full color spectrum. At our store, we have a wide variety of different models and sizes to choose from!
Water. Having a good humidity level when starting seeds is very important. Be sure to keep the soil damp and perhaps even covered with a lid in order to help germination!
Labels are very useful, especially when you’re starting many different seeds! This can help you tell them apart from one another throughout the growing process!
Now that we have the basic supplies out of the way, lets move on to the good stuff! Many seeds are able to grow in the Missouri area, starting as early as the end of January. But which seeds work best and when should you start them? The Farmer’s Almanac offers two different ways on determining the best time to start your seeds, based off frost dates or off moon dates! This year, the average last spring frost is April 7th.
Starting as Soon as January, these plants are ready to begin:
Starting as soon as the end of December, our vegetable and herb seeds should be readily available for you to come grab! Be sure to check out our other supplies: grow lights, containers, soil, raised beds, or anything else you could need!
