Seed starting rewards preparation far more than enthusiasm. The gardeners with strong transplants in May are the ones who spent one tidy afternoon in late winter getting the bench ready. Here is the checklist we run at our own greenhouse.
Clean trays before anything else
Last year’s trays carry last year’s problems. Wash cells and bases in warm soapy water, rinse well and let them dry in the sun. It is the least glamorous job of spring and the one that prevents the most disappointment later.
Sort seeds by sowing date, not alphabet
Lay packets out in the order they need to be sown, working back from your last expected frost. Slow starters like tomatoes and peppers go first; quick growers like squash wait until a few weeks before they can move outside. A blank wooden marker in each tray, written in pencil, survives watering where marker pen fades.
Water from below, always
A solid base tray under the cells lets you pour water into the base and let the soil drink upward. Seedlings stay upright, the soil surface stays intact, and damp-loving problems get less of the constant surface moisture they prefer.
Give them air before they leave
A week or two before planting out, start moving trays to a sheltered spot outdoors for a few hours a day, working up to full days. This gradual hardening off lets stems and leaves adjust to real sun and wind – the step most often skipped, and most often regretted.
