Starting Seeds on the Cheap

It’s March, and spring is amongst us, and well, it’s still cold and very snowy here in Northern Maine. A couple years ago, we would have already had plants in the ground because South Carolina sees pretty warm temperatures even as early as February. But this year, we will have to be somewhat creative. We do not have our greenhouse built yet and it’s too cold to start any cold frames. But that won’t stop me!
Because my hubby and I are quite frugal, we are reluctantly starting some grow lights. We don’t have the warm temperatures, even on our sun porch, to keep any seedlings warm enough to sprout. But, because we are so frugal, I think we can afford a couple florescent lights on for 8 hours a day( I say that until I get the next electric bill, right?). When it warms up enough though, out to the sunporch they go!
I am a firm believer in reusing EVERYTHING. So maybe I am a hoarder. When something is needed and we don’t have it, that’s even more frustrating to have to go and buy it then to look through some boxes of junk. So here are some cheap ways to start seeds this year if you haven’t already started doing so.

• Reuse egg cartons and plant seedlings in each of the little spaces
• Yogart cups work well- you can cut them down if they are too tall (this is what I used)
• Coffee containers, sour cream, any plastic containers (you get the idea)

I used the yogart cups and cut them down to about 3/4 of their full size. It still allows the plants to get pretty good sized before they have to be transplanted to larger pots or outdoors. I reused some of the trays that I had from previous years and poked holes in the bottom of the yogart cups for drainage. The seed starting mix runs $6 or $7 for a good- sized bag, but I mixed it with a little additional sphagnum peat moss because that is cheaper. You can make your own seed starting mix also (I read a good article on www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com) but because it is so cold outside, I opted for easy this time. Also, you can buy seeds really cheap in bulk off of Ebay from farmers that package the seeds themselves. I ordered a lot of “survival seeds” from one company and got a good selection of many seeds for around $20 shipped. There were somewhere around 30 different kinds of seeds and 25-50 seeds in each packet.

It’s not much but I think we have somewhere around 150 plants going. Some of them have sprouted so hopefully now that they are a bit warmer and have the lights, they will grow well. When you see your sprouts are spindly and thin/ weak looking, it’s because they aren’t getting enough light. Having the lights roughly 16″ from the plants gives them warmth and the light they need. I could probably keep the lights on 6 hours but I’m not real sure at this point how these plants will do. They went a little too long without enough sun and it was a bit too cold out there on the porch.
How did you start your seeds and how do you save money when you’re doing it?
Blessing,
From Away Farms