Planting Seeds

There is more too planting seeds than simply sticking a few seeds into the ground, and hoping for the best. Learning how to plant seeds properly can allow you to get an earlier start on your growing season, and even allow you the opportunity to grow your favorite plants year round. If you are interested in learning how to plant seeds, simply follow the directions below.

Materials needed:

• Seeds
• Potting mix
• Planting containers (pots, egg cartons, yogurt cups, etc.)
• Plastic bags
• Markers
• Masking tape
• Water
• Light

Procedure:

1. Prepare the soil. The first step in planting seeds is to prepare the soil that you will be placing the seeds into. Pour some of the potting mix into a large container, and loosen it up a bit. Add a little bit of water to the soil, but not a whole lot, and mix it all together. You want the soil to have the same dampness level of a well wrung-out sponge, so continue mixing the soil and water until you reach the desired consistency.
2. Fill the containers. Place a bit of the prepared soil into the container. Fill the container (whether you are using a pot, egg carton, yogurt cup, etc.) until it is 2/3 full. Once you have reached the desired level, make sure that you gently compact the soil, but do not make it too compact. You only want to firm the soil up a bit.
3. Plant your seeds. It is now time to begin planting your seeds. Before you begin planting, make sure that you carefully read the seed packet for any addition pre-planting instructions. Some seeds may require soaking, or even chilling before you can plant them. Smaller seeds can simply be sprinkled onto the soil, while larger seeds can be gently pressed into the soil. Be sure that you plant no more than three seeds to each container to increase chances of your yield. Cover the seeds with a little bit more soil to help ensure that they will grow properly. Once again, be sure that you know what you are planting since some plants have seeds that will require direct sunlight in order to grow. Mark what the seed is on the side of the container using a marker, and if necessary masking tape.
4. Water. Once you have the seeds planted, you need to water them again. Be sure that you only lightly water since you do not want to water log the soil, and potentially wash away any covering that you may have for the seed.
5. Creating atmosphere. Be sure that you create a proper growing atmosphere for them to grow. This essentially means that you need to place the newly planted seeds in a location that will allow them to get the light and warmth that they will need to grow properly. Keep in mind that not all plants will have the same requirements, so make sure that you can meet or provide all of the needs for each individual plant. You may end up needing to create several different areas, and even cover some of your plants with a plastic bag to provide the proper level of humidity and heat.
6. Maintain. Keep an eye on your seeds for the next few weeks. Make sure that the soil remains moist, but not soaking wet. In addition, you will want to make sure that the plants are receiving the proper amount of light and heat to ensure proper growth.
7. Get ready to transfer. Once the plants have started to sprout, it's time to start thinking of transferring them. You will need to wait until they are healthy enough to do this, but you can in the mean time make them as strong as possible. This type of action can include doing things like thinning out the number of plants you have in each container if necessary. If you are separating multiple plants from a container, make sure that you don't pull them out, but rather pull all the plants and the soil out, and then separate them into different pots.