Third year novice gardener from MO. I decided to start a project, the goal of which is to start my own seeds, early, and grow them (or at least SOME of them) to large healthy plants. In other words, much better and stronger plants going into my garden than the seedlings I usually acquire at the local hardware store. I have plenty of seed starting cells/trays, larger plastic plant containers, including a bunch of 3 gallon pots. I also have a couple of heat mats and one cheap 1' x '1 LED growlight, with another one the same size on the way. I've never really grown anything indoors before, and I knew LED lights are more recent to come on the scene, so a lot of people don't have much experience with them. But I loaned the one I have to a friend for a while, who was trying to bring a houseplant back to life last month, and the light worked wonders. I have lots of good veggie seeds to plant, but various tomatoes and peppers are always my priority. What do you think of this? Is there anything else I really need besides the soil and water? Is it too early to start some? Any advice on the matter at all would be greatly appreciated.
You don't want specific veggie plant advice from me, but I'm happy to share an introduction to "good dirt." 15 mins that should change your gardening life, whether trying to grow edibles or ornamentals! http://permaculturenews.org/2013/09/20/soil-not-dirt-dr-elaine-ingham-talks-soil-microbiology/
@MOFishin you will be very happy with starting your own seeds, the box stores only sell a limited selection. lots of great seed catalogs out there some all hybrid, others all heirloom, some a little of each. first off you need to know your ldf "last day of frost" use this as a general guideline. depending on what you like to grow. basically you want to start your long term plants like eggplant, peppers,tomatoes 6-8 weeks before. cucumber,melons 4-6 weeks. do not want to hijack your thread so going to make a new thread...
