A Gardener's Glossary to Buying SeedsWhether you buy seeds from a catalog or purchase them from a store, understanding seed terms will help you make more informed decisions when buying garden seeds.
Soil Mixes for Starting SeedsA good seed starting mix is a necessity if you want to produce healthy seedlings and transplants. To make your own soil mix, experiment using a combination of the ingredients listed here to get your seeds and seedlings off to the best possible start.
12 Steps To Sowing Seeds IndoorsSowing seeds indoors is a great way to get a jump on the growing season - especially for vegetables and flowers that take a long time to reach maturity.
Pre-treating Seeds to Speed GerminationMost vegetable and flower seeds will freely germinate when given water, the ideal temperature, and a loose, well-aerated growing medium. Other seeds, however, need special treatment before they can be coaxed into germinating.
Tips for Drying and Storing SeedsIt is true that garden seeds germinate best when they are fresh. If dried and stored properly, some vegetable and flower seeds can remain viable for several years. Here are some tips for keeping them for as long as possible.
Ten Tips for Buying SeedsSpring planting has a way of sneaking up on you when you least expect it. Shopping for seeds in mid-winter a great way to spend the day, and gives you plenty of time to sort out the details of the next growing season.
Why Seeds Fail To GerminateAlthough horticultural vegetable and flower seeds have been developed to germinate as easily and reliably as possible, things don't always go as planned. If some of your seeds failed to germinate this year, here are some clues to what might have gone wrong.
Heirloom Seeds: Just Like Grandma and...One of the greatest days of my life is opening up that mailbox on a cold winter day in January and finding my seed catalogs. I spend hours trying to figure out what to grow and what space I will have available as I love to grow flowers too.
What You Need To Start Seeds IndoorsStarting seeds indoors is relatively easy, provided you have access to a few basic tools. Here's a list of what you will need to get started.
Learning the "Lingo" - Making Sense of Seed...Starting plants from seed is an economical and rewarding way to garden. However, if you don't understand the meanings behind garden-specific terms like "hardy" and "tender" or "resistant" and "tolerant".
8 Signs Your Seedlings Are In TroubleIn many ways, nurturing seedlings is a lot like parenting. It requires love, attentiveness, and lots of patience (a good sense of humor doesn't hurt either). To keep your seedlings healthy, you need to learn to recognize when they are sick.
4 Steps To Figuring Out When To Start Seeds...For slow maturing plants and gardeners with short growing seasons, starting seeds indoors can be a crucial element to achieving success. To figure out the optimal time to start your seeds indoors, all you really need is a bit of backwards thinking.
Tips for Saving SeedsCollecting and saving your own seeds is easy and rewarding. It's a great way to save money, preserve and perpetuate scarce varieties and cultivate the best plants suited to your particular growing conditions.
Saving Vegetable SeedsCollecting seeds from vegetables is all a matter of timing. If you pick your seeds too early, before they've had time to mature, they'll be thin and unsubstantial and lack the necessary food stores to survive winter storage, let alone start healthy new seedlings.
Surfing for SeedsSeed Exchanges have planted themselves on the Internet, allowing gardeners to find, offer, and swap seeds. If you're in the pre-spring gardening mode - it's the perfect time to start.
Homemade Seed TapesOnce winter turns the corner toward spring, it seems like garden tasks can stack up quickly. One technique that is a real time (and money) saver during planting is using seeds tapes.
Collecting and Using Geranium Flower SeedsGeranium flower seeds are so expensive to purchase, and since I have some geraniums in bloom right now, (soon to get a frost, up here in canada) I would appreciate if any one could tell me what to look for in collecting the seed, when is it ready for picking, and when the seed should be started for plants for the following year.
Sprouting SeedsStarting your own seedlings is an easy and economical way to get a jump on the growing season. It gives you the opportunity to experiment with hundreds of different plant varieties and gives you the satisfaction of knowing that your garden will be organic right from the very start.
