5 Expert Tips for Starting Your Own Organic Seedlings

It doesn’t matter if you have acres of space to plant your herbs, vegetables, and fruit, or if you are starting with a few small pots in a window sill; beginning your own organic gardening is a cinch when you know how to get your seeds growing right from their first stages.

Here are 5 unknown gardening tips to start and grow your own organic seedlings.

• 1. If you are using topsoil from your garden to start your seedlings, put some in muffin tins and warm up your oven to 350 degrees. Bake the soil for about 25-30 minutes and let it cool. This will sanitize your soil and make sure that no weeds or grass come up when you transfer it to a larger pot in which you will grow your seedlings.

• 2. If you don’t want to start your seedling indoors, which is highly recommended (some people can’t if they have pets that might dig in the soil and ruin new plants, etc.) try starting them on a covered porch or otherwise protected area to keep excess sun and wind from ruining your new seedlings. You can also use a plastic cup with a few holes poked in the bottom, turned upside down and placed over your seedlings to keep them protected.

• 3. Sprinkle ground cinnamon over newly planted seedlings to make sure that no fungus develops in your soil and causes your seedlings to become sickly.

Take a look: The Simple Vegetable Gardening Cheat Sheet

• 4. To root a cutting or plant in just water, add an aspirin or two. This will help with absorption and encourage the cutting to start roots. You can often use this method to start cuttings that would not ordinarily grow roots.

• 5. When planting slightly older seedlings outdoors, sprinkle flavored powdered gelatin in the soil along with your seeds. The gelatin will feed beneficial bacteria and provide needed nitrogen to your plants so they are stronger and can better fend off predators like insects, mold, and fungus.

A cabbage plant I started from seed last year has gone full cycle and is now producing its own seeds. I’ll have so many that I’m going to have more than I could ever plant this coming season, so I’ll give some to friends and tell them some of these seedling secrets so they can share organic seeds too.