Homemade Seed Starter

I grow almost all of my starter plants that I transplant into the garden from seed in my Homemade Seed Starter. Seeds are cheaper than buying plants, there is a wider variety of seeds available from the seed catalogs than there are plants from the local nursery and, growing from seed allows you to control the seedlings growing conditions. So, having a good growing space for germination and seedling growth really helps this process. One way I have found to help this along is to fashion a storage container into a seed starter kit or “incubator” that allows for more control over temperature, light and moisture conditions for the seedlings.

I start with a 66 quart Hefty Storage Container. I use a clear one with a solid lid. Using a hole saw, drill two 1 – 1/4 inch diameter holes in the lid. Space the holes evenly to allow for two lights to be installed. Insert the lamp sockets into the holes and re-attach the lamps reflectors. Add fluorescent 5000-6500k grow lights. Congrats, you now have a mini incubator that can be used as seed starter to germinate seeds and incubate seedlings.

Control the duration of light with a timer. You can also control the temps inside the seed starter by leaving a gap in the lid. For best results, place the seed starter in a space that is temperature controlled. If no temperature controlled space is available, say a greenhouse or a garage where the daytime and nighttime temps fluctuate significantly, you can leave the lights on all night. When the greenhouse or garage is cooler at night, the lights provide supplemental heat. Turn the lamps turn off midday when the temps are higher. This keep the seed starter from getting to hot. A little experimentation with the light timer and lid gaps will provide the desired consistent temperature. A nice addition is to add a heating pad under the container controlled by a soil temp thermostat to keep the seeds/soil temps at the optimum temperature for germination.