my seed-starting lights & sowing timeline
Simpler is better for my gardening style.
Over the years I’ve had several seed-starting setups. Big light setups in the garage or basement with heat mats underneath, adjustable heights on the lights, spray bottle for lightly watering seedlings, etc. I’ve also had big racks that take up a ton of space in the living room. Over the years I’ve simplified my method to a much simpler setup.
Also, I do not have a greenhouse. Though I did try setting up a hoop house at one time. I didn’t know until that time that watering is one of my least favorite gardening chores, and hoop/greenhouses require A LOT of watering to keep the ground moist. I abandoned it pretty quickly and in the end I felt like I wasted a lot of plastic to make the structure (but I did use the framing for trellising grapes, raspberries, and beans).
For now, my preferred seed-starting regimen uses just a couple of counter-top height light sources. I found them on Amazon several years ago, and no, sorry, I don’t have a link. I think they are no longer available. If these were to stop working I would look for something similar that would fit on my counters.
The fact that they are inside means that I don’t need heat mats under my seeds. The indoor temp of roughly 65-70 germinates all of my vegetable seedlings well.
They are close to my water source, which makes watering quick and simple. I just turn the faucet onto a slow trickle so to not dislodge the seed.
Once the seedlings grow too big to fit inside the structure, or I need more space for other seedlings, I start putting them outside in the bright sunshine for the day. If it is raining heavily I will pop them under an eave rather than have them drown. I set an alarm on my phone to make sure to remember to bring them in for the night.
My rough vegetable seed-starting schedule looks like this:
January: peas & favas
February: kales & leeks
March: lettuce, beets, chard, spinach,
April: tomatoes and other solanums, cauliflower,
May: beans, parsley, corn
June: cucumber, squash, melon, purple sprouting broccoli
Nearly all of my vegetables are started indoors, as I find that they just grow better for me. Mostly this is due to slugs eating my seedlings. Parsnip is one exception. I generally put some seed out in winter, and they germinate when the time is right for them. The seed does not rot if the soil is too cold unlike other species.
Many of these vegetables can be grown later than the date I choose to start them. This just happens to be the best timing, so that I have something occupying my lights nearly all of the six months that I have my lights out on my counter.
I don’t grow my tomatoes earlier than April because I don’t want them getting too big. I find that setting them out mid-May from a 4” pot works just fine for me. I’m not in a rush to get tomatoes.
Lastly, I have tried many times to grow vegetables late in summer for overwintering. In late summer 2024 I grew peas, favas, spinach, arugula and lettuce. ALL of them succumbed to those big fat red slugs, of which there were too many to try and trap or bait. I wonder what other Willamette Valley gardeners have experienced.
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