• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to footer navigation
  • Skip to header navigation
  • Skip to privacy navigation
  • Skip to recipes navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Blog
  • Contact

Brooklyn Farm Girl

Cooking And Gardening in NYC

PopularStewed Tomatoes
let's be friends
join my free recipe club!
  • New? Start Here
  • recipes
    • Course
      • Breakfast
      • Dessert
      • Dinner
      • Drinks
      • Snacks
    • Type
      • 30 Minute Meals
      • Breads
      • Budget
      • Canning
      • Casseroles
      • Cheesy
      • Cookies
      • Dips
      • Donuts
      • Holidays
      • Husband Favorites
      • Instant Pot
      • Keto
      • Kid Friendly
      • Muffins
      • Pasta
      • Potluck
      • Salads
      • Slow Cooker
      • Smoothies
      • Sneaky Vegetables
      • Soups
      • Sprinkles
    • Meat
      • Beef
      • Chicken
      • Pork
      • Seafood
      • Turkey
      • Vegetarian
    • Cuisine
      • Chinese
      • Italian
      • Mexican
      • Pennsylvania Dutch
      • Vegetarian
  • Vegetable Index
  • Urban Gardening
    • Let’s Harvest
    • Tutorials
    • Garden Recipes
    • General Updates
    • Storing & Freezing
    • Seed Calendar
    • Compost in Brooklyn
  • About Me
    • About Pamela
    • Our Garden
  • Life & motherhood
    • Journal
    • Motherhood
    • Our Upstate Adventure
    • Cats, Cats, Cats
    • Crafts
  • Videos
  • PopularStewed Tomatoes
Home » garden » How to Start Seeds Indoors

How to Start Seeds Indoors

Posted:2/7/22
Updated:3/2/23

Step by step instructions on how to start seeds indoors. You’ll see seeds sprout in 3 days! Stop buying plants and start growing from seed!

small plant in seedling tray grown from seed.

What is the easiest way to start seeds indoors?

We start almost everything from seed indoors to guarantee a high germination rate and strong plants. The more control we have over growing conditions, the stronger we can make the plants so they are optimized for when they move outdoors to the garden.

You’ll need seeds, potting mix, water and (ideally) a heating mat. Below I’m going to walk you through step by step, but here you can see a quick video of me planting our Spring seeds.

Step By Step Directions to Plant Seeds

Buy your seeds. Everyone has their favorite brand, and I’m not here to coax you to what we like. But for reference we buy our seeds from Johnny’s Seeds, Vermont Bean Company and Baker Creek.

Look at the Calendar. You’ll want to start your seeds indoors weeks/months before you move them outdoors. Knowing when to plant them is very important so you don’t prematurely start them indoors (or start them too late!). Here’s my Northeast growing dates.

Potting Mix. Add potting mix to a seedling tray (on top of a growing tray). DO NOT USE SOIL, I REPEAT DO NOT USE SOIL. Potting mix is very light in texture allowing seeds to germinate easier. Soil is much heavier and seedlings starting out won’t like it.

After I add potting mix to the tray, I like to press it down, and then fill up the top again to make sure they’re completely filled.

hand spreading potting mix over seed trays

Poke holes 1/2 inch deep in the potting mix for your seeds. There are tools you can buy for this, but are you kidding me, just use your finger (my preferred method) or a closed pen.

hand poking holes in potting mix for seeds.

Add seeds to holes. We are confident that our seeds will come up, so generally we only plant 1 seed per hole. If you have older seeds or perhaps you’re beginning your lifelong love of gardening, try 2 seeds to be super safe.

hand adding seeds to potting mix.

Cover up holes with surrounding potting mix and pat down lightly.

hand covering seed up with potting mix.

Water from the bottom. Instead of watering the seeds on top, we prefer watering from the bottom. We add water to the bottom tray (about 1/4 inch deep). This way the water will rise into the seedling trays, soaking up the seeds, preventing them from drying out.

water coming out of sprinkler can into tray.

Move to heat pad. If you want 100% germination mat, invest in a heat mat for the best growing results (more about that below). Close the lid and move tray on top of a heat mat.

Look at your babies! Your seeds will start to sprout in 2-3 days.

seedlings that are a few days old.

How do you germinate seeds quickly indoors?

To germinate seeds very quickly indoors I recommend using a heat mat. By using a heat mat we’re almost always seeing a 100% germination rate. This is the heat mat we’ve used for many years.

Here’s my post on how we use a heat mat and thermometer for all of our seeds.

Do you need a grow light to start seeds indoors?

At the very beginning (the first few days where they sprout up from the surface) you don’t need a grow light. After that I recommend grow lights to ensure the strongest seedlings possible.

Here’s my post on how to make your own DIY grow light cart.

More Garden Growing Tips

How to Grow Tomatoes from Seeds
How to Grow Broccoli From Seeds
Planting Seeds in Spring for Zone 7
How to Presprout and Grow Sugar Snap Peas
How To Make a Sub Irrigated Planter
How to Grow Onions in the Winter
Growing Fortex Beans

Pin for later:

Step by step instructions on how to start seeds indoors.  You'll see seeds sprout in 3 days!  Stop buying plants and start growing from seed!

Similar Recipes

  • Seeds Have Been Planted: Garden 2014
  • Cute Vegetable Garden Signs
  • We Planted our Tomato Seeds!
  • Spring Garden Update

Reader Interactions

join the free recipe club

Receive My Favorite Recipes Straight To Your Inbox!

Thank you for subscribing!

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

I love hearing from you! Submit your question or recipe review here. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Made this? Rate this recipe:




Primary Sidebar

welcome!

Hi! I'm Pamela, an artist Mom who shares family recipes. My farm is a 1,000 sq ft apartment in NYC. Let's make dinner together.

Read More

join the free
recipe club!

Receive My Favorite Recipes Straight to Your Inbox!

Thank you for subscribing!

TOP POSTS

Half Sour Pickles

The Best Stewed Tomatoes Ever

Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce

EASY Stuffed Pepper Casserole

Recipe Index
Vegetable Index
Follow On Facebook
Follow On Instagram
Free Recipe Club

fresh this week view all

Slow Cooker Sausage Barley Soup

Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Irish Potato Candy (Pennsylvania Dutch)

Spring Garden Planning for Zone 7B

As Featured On
free recipe club!
Get weekly recipes, videos, and gardening tips to your inbox!
join the club!
EST. 2013
let's be friends
  • Recipe Index
  • Veggie Index
  • Urban Gardening
  • Web Stories
Back To Top
© 2023 - All Rights Reserved
  • Privacy Policy & Terms
Site Credits Designed by Melissa Rose Design Developed by Once Coupled

join the recipe club!

Receive My Favorite Recipes Straight to Your Inbox!

Thank you for subscribing!

51 shares