Start small and learn at your own pace. Take on as much as you can handle the first year. Gardening is all about trying new things and learning from your mistakes. Let nature do most of your work for you. Call or send questions to our support team when you run into a problem. Learn more about our Transformational Gardening Basics.
Deciding to plant seeds or seedlings
Ultimately, the decision to plant your crops from seeds or seedlings will depend on your personal preferences, growing conditions, goals, and gardening experience. If you have the time, space, resources and equipment to start seeds early indoors, it can be a rewarding and cost-effective option. If you want a faster harvest and are willing to pay a bit more, seedlings may be the way to go. Both seeds and seedlings each has its advantages and disadvantages.
Learning to grow easy crops from seed is a useful skill if you have the time to learn and monitor the progress. There are several factors each gardener needs to consider when deciding to plant a crop from seeds or from seedlings. In a large garden you can lower costs by growing from seed. Other factors are skill level, available time, garden size, budget, favorite foods and interests.
Some crops should not be transplanted and should be grown from seed directly in an outdoor bed or container. But know where and when to plant certain crops. Spinach is a food example. We get much larger spinach plants and harvests when we plant spinach seeds in the mid or late November in Zone 5 and 6. Learn the spinach details below under “Tips for growing from seed.”
Decide which crops to plant from seed and when to buy as seedlings. As a beginner your goal could be to buy only a few seedlings of the bigger plants like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and squash that may need months to mature in colder climates like Chicago (Zones 5 & 6) and should be started indoors.
Know WHEN to plant from seeds and WHEN to plant seedlings in your climate zone. Our Planting Calendar for Zone 5b and 6a will tell you which crops must grow from seed, which must grow from seedlings and which can grow either way. The calendar includes many other details about specific crops.
Ways to start crops: There are various methods available for starting crops in your garden.
buying and planting seedlings (young small plants also called “transplants”)
in spring plant seeds of cold tolerant plants (radishes, kale, swiss chard, lettuce) directly into your bed outdoors
grow seedlings from seeds in pots or growing trays outdoors when the temperature are appropriate. Know what temperature is best to germinate seeds of specific crops so a part of the crop seed will germinate.
growing seedlings from seed indoors using grow lights and other specialized equipment,
growing seedlings and cold tolerant plants outdoors in early spring under the protection of a ”cold frame.”
Buying seedlings at a garden center or other vendor is the easiest and fastest solution to growing great crops your first year. But it limits the scope of your plant selections. Also, most garden stores don’t sell organic seedlings. ”Conventional” seedlings (not grown from organic seeds) are fine as long as you grow them in organic soil and compost without any conventional (toxic) pesticides. It helps to find a top quality garden center or nursery nearby.
Which seedlings to buy. Buy the healthiest seedlings. The most affordable seedlings are in “six-packs” or “four-packs”. Some garden stores let their seedlings sit on the shelf too long in tiny posts.The seedlings get stressed from lack of root space and nutrients. Buy your seedlings as soon as they arrive at the store so they are healthy and fresh. Make sure that they have been well taken care of, appear healthy, have no flowers or fruits, and that the roots are not “root-bound” – knotted and circling the bottom of the pot. Reject spindly, elongated plants with weak stems with weird discolorations. Look for plants that are young and vigorous, with only green foliage.
Our compost is your new soil
We use 100% compost to fill beds and containers instead of conventional soil. Read our blog post Compost, Microbes and Soil Science to understand why 100% Microbe-Rich Compost grows much healthier larger plants than conventional soil in an organic garden. Conventional soil can be a mixture of many things like top soil, leaf mulch, compost, tree waste, etc. Our compost costs less than expensive commercial potting mixes purchased in bags, and gives better results. Our compost has several other uses in our innovative method. When a bed or container is filled with compost it is convenient to simply call it “THE SOIL.”
If you want to boost the growing power of your existing raised bed filled with conventional soil you can dig out about a 4” layer or more and refill with our compost.
Learn why microbe and nutrient rich “worm castings” (vermicompost) is a superior soil amendment for all our plants. We use it instead of commercial organic fertilizers except for fish emulsion made from fish waste.
Tips for planting seedlings
Level the soil as best you can. Removing low and high areas makes watering easier. Or try lowering the soil just a little just around the seedling so most water soaks in the root area.
Protect your seedlings from drying out. Don’t plant on a hot sunny day. Better to plant on a cloudy day or early evening, Water your seedlings before you plant them.
If there are many seedlings in one pot, divide them carefully with a knife. This step is not necessary if you have separate compartments for each seedling.
Mix a batch of half and half compost and worm castings. The more worm castings you add, the healthier and better your plants will grow. Use as much compost and worm castings mix as you like. Mix together in each hole or in a large bucket. Add 1 cup of planting mix for a medium-size plant like kale. Add 2 cups of planting mix for a large-size plant like tomatoes and squash.
Digging a seedling hole. If your raised bed or container is filled with our Microbe Rich Compost, make your seedling holes 2-3 times bigger than the seedling root.
If your raised bed or container is filled with conventional soil, make your seedling holes 4-6 times larger than the root to allow room for more of the planting mix.
Add the mixture to each hole and make space for the root ball.
Place the seedling into the hole, slightly lower than it was growing in the container. Gently firm the soil around the roots, but be careful not to compact it.
Water slowly and deeply. Read our post Deep Watering is Best. Water your seedlings daily for 2 weeks — mornings are best. On very hot days you may want to water twice. Don’t water lightly. Deep watering is best since it makes the roots grow deeper.
Test for moisture before you water since over watering stresses plants.
Watering early in the day is best.
Water the soil, not the plant. Never water tomatoes and other plants that get fungal diseases late in the day. Fungus likes a humid environment.
We highly recommend you install drip-irrigation. Ask our support team about details (support[at]deep-roots-project.org).
Fish Emulsion is the one organic soil amendment we use. It’s made from fish waste. Its primary purpose is feeding the soil microbe, but it also replenishes the nitrogen. Follow the directions on the bottle and spray every one or two weeks.
Tips for planting seeds
Mixed baby veggies Densely plant seeds so you can harvest lots of baby veggies while you wait for some of the sprouts to grow bigger. Use this with carrots, beets, loose-leaf lettuce, and amaranth. Plant a mixture of seeds an inch apart between the transplanted seedlings all over a section of the bed or in a container. If you plant the seeds further than an inch apart you will do less “thinning” of baby plants. If you plant mixed baby greens seeds in 20 days you will get 2 to 4” tall baby plants to pick. Plant basil seeds 4“ apart anywhere around the bigger plants. If it gets less sun it won’t get as big. Keep the basil low by harvesting the top leaves.
Root crops (beets, onions, garlic, radish, carrots, parsnips, turnips) must be planted ONLY from seed because their roots can’t survive being disturbed. Plant garlic in later October with the pointy end of the clove facing upward.
Plant peas, beans, and spinach from seed. Some plants are healthier and bigger if they are planted from seeds but it’s not usually worth the extra time and trouble. But the extra effort to plant peas, beans and spinach from seed is well worth any extra effort because you get a healthy bigger plant and larger harvests.
Spinach is easier to grow from seed in fall than in spring in cold climate zones like Chicago with a shorter growing season. Plant spinach seeds 4” apart in mid-November. Many areas have enough rain in early spring so you don’t have to water the seeds. They over winter in the soil and germinate in the early spring. In March the spinach seedlings grow quickly into healthy large plants. You can also plant spinach seeds in spring as soon as the ground thaws. Spinach seeds planted in spring become smaller mature plants and produce a smaller harvest.
Garlic is best planted in mid-October in Zones 5 and 6. Garlic cloves are used instead of seeds. Harvest in July.
Crops with tiny seeds like lettuce and carrots need special tricks, time and skill because their seeds are hard to plant and water. Try covering tiny carrot seeds with a board (not treated wood) or a tile to save watering time and to protect them from heavy rains. Lift the board and check every day. Remove the board when the first seed germinates. Try planting a new row or cluster of leaf lettuce spaced 1” apart every week or two. During the warmer summer days plant lettuce seeds where they are shaded by a large plant or shrub. Or plant them in a pot you can move to a partial sun location on really hot days.
Plant seeds in ”furrows” or “clusters” It is your choice to plant your seeds in 6” to 8“ long narrow indentations (called “furrows”) or in 6” to 8“ round clusters. Place the furrows and clusters in spots that will get enough sun or less sun depending on the heat tolerance of the crop and the heat of the season. Fill your furrow or cluster with the same compost and worm casting mixture described above for planting seedlings. Check our Planting Calendar for Climate zone 5b and 6a for how deep to plant the seeds. Some seeds are planted on the surface with the compost/worm castings mixture sprinkled on top. Press down gently to firm up the soil after planting. Cover with straw to protect from heavy rains.
Watering seeds: Never let them dry out. Seeds must be kept moist at all times until germination. A light watering will moisten the soil sufficiently when it’s done frequently. Frequency depends on how hot, if the sun is shining, if it has rained recently, and so forth.
Set up a hose with a sprinkler nozzle to water on a timer. This saves time and makes sure the watering is done properly. Ask our support team (support[at]deep-roots-project.org) which timer to buy and for help setting it up. Support the hose nozzle about 2 feet from the ground and set to a gentle spray. It should spray an area 3 x 3 feet. Adjust the hose to best cover the area you need watered. Cover the seeds with straw to protect them from heavy spring rains. Once the seeds germinate keep moisture in the soil by covering it with straw.
A drip-irrigation system makes planting seeds at random spots in your bed much easier. There are narrow hoses that attach to the 1/2” hoses that allow you to direct water to any spot. Plus the narrow hose can have a tiny sprinkler attached that sprinkles your seeds. Ask our support team for details (support[at]deep-roots-project.org).
To intermediate or advanced gardeners
The universe of gardening information is virtually limitless. It is constantly expanding. Fortunately, the array of gardening techniques is accessible now on the web. Our purpose is to feature our compost based method of soil optimization with beneficial microbe populations and worm castings. We encourage you to use the web resources to explore an accessory technique that captures your imagination.
Don’t rely on single sources – University Ag Extensions, local botanic gardens, YouTube, articles and books. For example, if you want to build a trellis look at several techniques and pick the one that works for you, or even better integrate a combination of the techniques you discover.
As you learn a new technique, improve it. Deep Roots is learning all the time. We can also learn from the discoveries by our community of gardeners. If people decide to garden in ways that will not pollute, improve the environment, give us healthy food, optimize nature’s ability to provide plant nutrition, we all benefit.
Our Innovative Food Gardening Method
Learn more in our two recently revised blog posts.
Our online store
See our online store for details about prices, ordering and delivery of raised beds, compost, worm castings and more. Please contact our customer support team before placing an order online so we can assist you with the details and answer your gardening questions.
QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?
Contact us at (708) 655-5299 or support[at]deep-roots-project.org.
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