How To Sprout Your Own Seeds

Sprouting seeds is an easy way to start growing plants indoors in the springtime, then you can plant them in soil once the roots appear. If it is warm enough to plant outside, you can plant seeds directly into the garden soil.

What you’ll need:

• Ruler, small shovel or garden trowel
• Garden gloves
• Vegetable seeds
• Compost or garden soil
• Paper towels
• Plastic baggie
• Water marker

Planting Indoors:

1. Lay 1 to 3 seeds on a square paper towel.
2. Fold one side of the towel over the seeds and dampen the paper towel. Use a spray bottle if you have one—you don’t want it to soak it!
3. Put the paper towel in a clear plastic baggie and seal it.
4. Write the name of the plant and the date on the front of the bag. Put it in a warm, sunny spot.
5. Keep an eye on it! Once roots appear, you can plant it in the garden or a pot in a sunny window.

Planting Outdoors:

1. Find a space in the garden to plant your seeds. If it’s still too cold to plant outdoors, you can plant them directly into the soil in a pot kept in a sunny spot in your house.
2. Look at the back of the seed packet to see how much room each plant will need. Use your ruler to see how many seeds you can plant in your area.
3. Put on your gloves and mix some compost or bagged garden soil in with the soil in the ground.
4. Dig a shallow line in the soil, then drop in the seeds. Gently cover with dirt and water the row.
5. It may take a few weeks before you see any growth, but don’t forget to water and weed the planting area!

Be sure to write down when you first see roots, when the first leaves appear, which plants seem to be growing faster, and more as this will help you with future garden planting!

Sources: Sprout Your Own Seeds | Miracle-Gro Canada (miraclegro.com)