Garden Center

Spring is (hopefully) around the corner!

We still have to make it through February, but the warm days and winter thaw are fast approaching nonetheless! Whether you're in Peoria or Springfield, this article offers helpful advice for starting seeds indoors. While many varieties of vegetables and flowers are perfectly content to be sown directly into the ground, indoor seed starting can help increase the growing period of these plants, and give them a great head start before being transplanted outdoors. By starting tomato seeds indoors, for example, the harvest time will be earlier in the season; and perennial flowers, which often will not flower until their second year, can bloom in their first season thanks to the indoor head start. At Green View, we carry seeds from Botanical Interests, a family-owned company that specializes in high-quality seed and garden products. At the bottom of this post, see how you can purchase seeds directly through their website and have them shipped directly to your home! Click here to visit Botanical Interests' website.

Seeds are a great way to get an early start on your garden. Starting seeds indoors will give your plants some protection from the elements and pests until they're ready to go outside. Here's how:

Selecting Seeds, Containers, and a Happy Medium

The most important piece of advice for any novice gardener is to have a plan for your garden space. It's easy to get overwhelmed by the huge variety of seeds available on the market, but you can only plant (and water, and care for, and harvest) so much in a single season! While many seeds will keep for a year or two beyond their "use by" date if kept in an airtight container in a cool, dry place, you should do your best to buy only the seeds you're sure you'll plant; especially if you're new to gardening from seed!

Seeds

At Green View, we carry a carefully selected variety of seeds, from heirloom vegetables to pollinator mixes and colorful flowers and even more. Customer favorites include the 'Save the Bees' mix, Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins, and heirloom varieties of tomatoes, beans, and herbs. Do some research and find out which plants will do best in your yard based on space, light, and moisture. Some seeds and seedlings need to be planted in the ground because of their root systems while others are perfectly content in window boxes and larger planters. 

Containers

You'll need to select a container that's between 1-2" deep. You could opt to purchase peat-based pellets that can be transplanted directly into the garden, repurpose biodegradable egg cartons and fill them with the seed starting mix of your choice, or use one of many convenient tray-style seed starting planters that often include a dome to retain humidity.

Growing Medium

There are many ready-to-use seed starting mixes on the market, but they all share certain similarities: they have a uniform consistency, retain moisture well, are neither too fertile nor too acidic, and have good aeration. Actually, it's fairly simple to mix up a tub of your own seed-starting mix using common gardener's ingredients! 

An ideal seed starting medium follows this ratio:

• 1 part compost or pasteurized potting soil (to provide organic matter)
• 1 part sand, vermiculite, or perlite (for optimal drainage and structure)
• 1 part peat moss or coconut coir (for moisture retention)

Where to Start Seeds Indoors

While the windowsill may seem like an ideal place for starting seeds, the most important factor in ensuring germination is temperature. Often, a windowsill will be too cold overnight and too warm during the middle of the day.

The ideal temperature for seedlings is between 65'F and 75'F during the day, preferably closer to 70'F. It's important that you don't keep them in bright sunlight as this will cause them to become leggy and possibly burn. Grow lights are an easy way to ensure that your seeds receive enough light, with the secondary benefit of providing ambient heat to your seedlings, which can help with germination and encourage strong growth.

It is also important not to let your seedlings get too cold at night, as they will stop developing properly until they warm up again. If you live in a cooler climate, place a heating mat beneath your containers or use heated propagation trays.

When to Start Seeds

Depending on your region's last predicted frost date, you can start a variety of seeds as early as three months' prior! The Old Farmer's Almanac has a nifty schedule, separated into both calendar dates and moon dates, that details which seeds perform best when started indoors, as well as how early you can reliably start growing them.

Dunlap/Peoria (Zone 5b)

Click here for a handy chart detailing the seed-starting dates for more than 40 common garden crops, if you're located in the Dunlap/Greater Peoria area: 2023 Planting Calendar

Springfield (Zone 6)

And here is the same chart, adjusted for Springfield's climate region: 2023 Planting Calendar

Shipping Seeds to your Front Door!

Our garden centers in Dunlap and Springfield have each selected a wide variety of food crop, flower, and herb seeds currently available for purchase at each location. However, if you're in search of a variety of vegetable, fruit, or flower that we don't have in stock, fret not! We maintain a reciprocal relationship with Botanical Interests, and their products (including seeds and garden tools) can be ordered via their website and shipped directly to you. Simply follow this link for instructions and to order!

As always, we thank you for your continued support. As a family-owned company, Green View thrives because of the patronage of loyal customers in our communities, and we look forward to working with you in the coming season!