Indoor Seeds

Seed displays came out at the Christmas Tree Shop which discounts them by half.  I got a packet each of tomato, eggplant, and bell pepper.  From previous years I had cardboard starter containers, both little squares and truncated cones with flat bottoms.  And potting soil always sits in a plastic bag with torn open top outside my front door.  Thus started eight tomatoes and six each of eggplants and peppers with the intent of half of them making it to my backyard garden once outdoor planting season for Zone 7a arrives.

I've always found potting soil hard to work with, which may be why that Square Foot Gardening guy advocates vermiculite, though it is easier to transplant later with potting soil.  It's just a bit water repellant, leaving the position of the seeds in each compartment uncertain.  It  also dries out a bit, so I check it every few days.

Once planted, finding a place for them to sprout took some ingenuity.  For now, since they need no light yet but could use some warmth, they each got inserted into empty plastic bread loaf bags, sorted by type of vegetable, and placed on an isolated flat surface not intended for that purpose in the family room, just far enough off the path of the door to be easily retrievable but not likely to be knocked off.

Prior attempts at this have resulted in spindly shoots with internet advice not helpful on successful remedy.  That comes later.  I need germination first.  Keep checking.