Stepping into Spring In my basement

These 'surprise' snowstorms just won't leave New England! After this last one, I became even more itchy for Spring to get here. So I took matters into my own hands, headed down to the basement workroom, got my Burpee seed growing trays out, got my seed packets, and started my first 'seed'lings of the Spring season.  

My husband set me up with a grow light to help the seedlings along and to make sure I had a basement 'environment' suitable for growing.

So, I began the process by adding the starter dirt disks to the tray compartments. Since this is a self-watering system, I also had to saturate a black cloth-like mat with water and lay it in the bottom of the container tray. I then added plastic risers to the trays and set the tray with the starter disks on top of the risers. Next, I poured warm water (a little over a gallon) evenly over the dirt disks to saturate them, and waited about 5 mins for them to expand. I then popped the expanded disks down into each tray compartment with my finger to fill the spaces.

Once all were filled, I setup the 'seedling map' of the tray to document the type of seedlings in each compartment. Since I was only planting a handful of seeds to start (Dill, Cilantro, Italian Parsley, Early Bird tomatoes, and threw in some Marigold seeds for good measure), I chose to plant in tray zones (9+ compartments per seed type).

Once complete, I put the plastic cover on the tray and setup my map as a guide. The plastic cover, water and grow light will provide the seeds with the warmth and moisture they need to germinate.

I'll be watching over these babies daily to make sure there's enough water and warmth.  In a few weeks, I'll start another new tray with more veggies, and (hopefully) move the seeds that germinated to larger containers for Spring plantings. 

Looking forward to positive results!

Happy growing!
Andrea