Beginner Gardening: Starting seeds indoors - questions????, 1 by texasrockgarden

texasrockgarden wrote:
A good rule of thumb is to plant seeds 6-8 weeks before last frost date or whenever you intend to set plants in the ground (there are some exceptions) and some plants just don't like to be transplanted, i.e., sow those one directly into the garden.

The key to getting good transplants is to keep the plants from getting tall and spindly or leggy. This fact cannot be over emphasized.

Most people suggest having lights 2" above the seedlings, but with my old bulbs I had to keep the plants touching the bulbs. Also, on days of 60º or hotter the seedlings went outdoors.

Enclosed is a picture of a flat of tomatoes that were seeded 1/14/09.

Wow! Baby seedlings can be more demanding than a rug rat in diapers with diarrhea. Laughing....


Jerry