Plant seeds to give your garden a head start

You can get a head start -- and grow exactly what you want -- by starting seeds indoors.

It's fairly easy to do. You don't need a lot of special equipment, just a bag of potting soil, a shallow container that drains well and fresh seed. It's a thrill to watch the green shoots sprout out of the soil. And, best of all, it gives you more control over what you can grow.

That's because you can choose from hundreds of kinds of flower and vegetable seeds, many of which won't be sold as plants in the garden centers. In addition to having access to unique plants, if you start from seed you're likely to have an abundance of plants. One packet of seed should yield more plants than you'll need, so you'll be able to share seedlings with relatives and friends.

This time of year, seeds are available just about everywhere, from catalogs and garden centers to big box, hardware and grocery stores. If you've never started from seed before, you'd be wise to shop at the garden centers. They'll have the supplies you need and you can ask about particular cultivars or find out which seeds are their best sellers.

General growing tips

• Use fresh seed, packaged for 2010. Old seed won't germinate as well as new.

• Use lightweight commercial potting soil designed for seed starting. These sterile soils help prevent diseases that can kill tiny seedlings.

• Start your seeds on top of a radiator or refrigerator or use a heating mat to speed germination, but don't allow the soil to dry out.

• Keep seeds out of direct sun until they've sprouted, then move into a bright sunny window or, better yet, place them under fluorescent lights.

• Once they've developed a few sets of leaves, feed once a week with a water-soluble fertilizer mixed at a quarter of the recommended strength.

• Water when the soil is dry to the touch. Be careful not to over-water. Soggy seeds are prone to disease.

• Thin seeds if they sprout too thickly to develop well.

• Gradually expose them to more sun and keep them outdoors overnight when the weather gets warmer.

Start right

Timing is important. If seeds are started too early, they can become spindly or end up being too large to make the transition to the garden easily. Read the seed packet to find out how long it takes to grow the plants to transplant size (often referred to as days to maturity), then count backward from when you expect to plant them outdoors. (The average last frost date for the Twin Cities area is May 15.)

Some seedlings (including pansies and alyssum) can be planted outside when the temperatures still dip into the low 30s overnight. But others (including tomatoes, peppers and most flowering annuals) should be planted once the soil has warmed and the threat of frost has passed.

Don't waste your time trying to start root crops. Carrots, beets and radishes don't transplant well. And there's no need to start leafy crops indoors. Spinach, lettuce and swiss chard do best when sown directly in the garden, as do corn, peas and beans.

Mary Hockenberry Meyer, a professor and extension horticulturist with the University of Minnesota, is interim director of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.

Petunias

Parsley

Cabbage

Broccoli

Tomatoes

Peppers

Asters

Bachelor buttons

Cornflowers

Nasturtiums

Zinnias

Squash

Cucumbers

Melon