DIY Seed Starting From Your Window

When I was a little girl my grandmother started marigolds every winter in a little modified milk garden planter with her seeds from last year’s crop. I loved those marigolds in her brick planters and still think of her every time I see a marigold.

You really don’t need a grow light or other expensive equipment to start seeds. Seed starting from your window is relatively easy, but there are some limitations.

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tips for seed starting from a window

1. South-Facing Windows Are Best

First of all, you must have a south-facing window. Even better: a south-facing corner window. East-facing windows can work too, but they must be larger. It also helps if the wall colour of the room is white or light.

If you try to start seeds from other directions, they will get too stretched out or “leggy.” In our last home, we had one (two?) windows that faced south and east. You’ll also have to turn your plants every day, so they don’t lean too much in one direction.

2. Don’t Start Too Early

I live near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on the Canadian Prairies. There simply isn’t enough daylight in Zone 3 to sustain my seedlings until mid-February.

Wherever you live, don’t start your seeds until the Persephone days–the days generally between November and January when there are less than 10 hours of sunlight a day–are over. The easiest way to figure out when your Persephone days end is to go to the weather app on your phone and calculate how many hours there are from sunrise to sunset. When it reaches 10 hours of daylight, you’re good to plant!

3. Keep Your House Warm

Lastly, you must keep your house warm. This is not the time to be stingy with the thermostat! Many seeds require a temperature of around 21°C or 70°F to germinate. (That’s why you’ll see lots of ads for seedling heat mats in gardening magazines.)

Maximize your window’s growing space by making this DIY seed starting shelf.

You’re not the Greenhouse… yet.

Finally, don’t expect your seedlings to be just like the ones at the greenhouse. The gardeners at your local greenhouse are using grow lights, fertilizing, and watering correctly. That doesn’t mean you can’t succeed, just manage your expectations.

Organize Your Seeds by Week Needed to Seed Start

To start, read the directions on the seed packet to see when you can start those seedlings. Plants like artichokes, peppers, brussel sprouts, and flowers can be started as early as February. Tomatoes will need to be started in late March or early April.

Plants in our area typically go out on the May long weekend (around May 21st) as that is when the last frost has often passed. To figure out when to start your seeds, count the weeks backwards from that date. The Old Farmer’s Almanac has a handy tool to find your average frost dates, as well as your hardiness zone.

Resist the temptation to start your seeds earlier than recommended. It seems like such a good idea in February but it feels like a bad one in May when your seedlings have outgrown their containers and they’re difficult to harden off because they’re too big.

Then each week when it’s time to start a new batch of seeds, you won’t have to go searching for the right seeds, or worse yet, miss seed starting something altogether.

The Best Seed Starting Containers

Over the years, I’ve tried a lot of different containers to start my seeds. I’ve used egg cartons, reused the plastic containers seedlings come in from the store, Jiffy pods, random found objects like plastic yogurt containers, milk jugs, and clear plastic bakery containers, and made my own biodegradable newsprint containers.

Each type of container has its pros and cons.

1. Egg Cartons

Egg cartons are super cute and Pinterest-worthy, but they’re actually my least favourite method to seed start. (If you’ve come here from a pin with pictures of me starting seeds in egg cartons, I’m sorry!!)

They are not ideal to start seeds that require 6-8 weeks indoors. You’ll have to transplant your starters to larger containers as the roots become too long and start to grow into the egg carton itself. Only start vegetables that require 2-3 weeks indoors.

Learn how to start vegetable and flower seeds right from your window! I've compiled some easy seed starting tips for the beginner gardener to have you growing plants in your home using DIY containers. No need for fancy equipment! #gardening #seedstarting #seeds #vegetable #flower #fromyourwindow #diy #beginnergardener #easy

2. Jiffy Pods

Jiffy pods are so easy and fun to use–I love them! I also love that you can buy kits that are specifically made for windowsills. Save the plastic parts for reuse, and fill them with new Jiffy Pods each season.

Once the roots grow through the Jiffy pod (as pictured below), transfer to a larger container with more soil.

4. Repurposed Objects

You do not have to buy special flats to start your seeds! Use milk cartons and jugs or deeper plastic lids and plant away. You will either need to add drainage holes or be careful not to overwater your seedlings. I’ve made a list of 10 common household objects you can start saving in January and February so you’ll have lots of containers in March and April.

I also save the black plastic containers my annual flowers come in, so I can start my own annual flowers year after year in those same containers.

Check out this video for more details on how to use common household items.

5. Biodegradable Newspaper Containers

This is my favourite way to seed start. Follow this guide on how to make the containers, and start your seeds. If you need to move your seedlings, make sure that the containers have dried out. Otherwise, they will fall apart if you try to move them when wet.

The question I get asked most often about these containers is–do they really biodegrade? I’ll let this picture speak for itself…

Fun fact: apparently artichokes should be started 10-12 weeks before you intend to put them out in the garden. It’s a good thing I ordered my seeds so early. (New gardeners: most seeds require you to start them 8 weeks at the earliest, and more commonly 3-6 weeks.)

Hints for Beginner Vegetable and Flower Gardeners

If you’ve never started seeds before, here are a few things to remember:

Plants need time to germinate. This means your seeds won’t sprout for at least a week, sometimes more.
Water when the soil feels dry to the touch. If the ground is pulling away from the edges, you’ve waited too long.
Watering from the bottom of the tray, not the top of the plant, is best.
The ground won’t look wet at first, but it will once the water has a chance to soak up.
If you’re worried about overwatering or washing out your seeds, use a spray instead.
Do all the fertilizer directions on the seed packet sound confusing? Water with a fertilizer formulated for seed starting (it will be labelled as such) once every two weeks to give your plants an extra boost. You can follow the exact fertilizer directions once you gain more confidence as a gardener.
Start with new seeds. Some seeds can be viable for up to 10 years or more, but your germination rates decrease.
Stick to seed starting two or three types of plants the first year. It’s easy to get overwhelmed.

Want to learn more about seed starting without grow lights? Here’s everything you need to know all in one place!

Seed Starting Results

I think it’s important for you to see what kind of results you can get from seed starting for your window. Here are my peppers from spring 2019 which were started from seed in front of my South-facing window. If you look closely, you can see that my seven-year-old son is crouched and hiding behind them–that’s how big they are!

It took me about 5 years to perfect my pepper growing process, but you can grab all my secrets here and get your peppers looking like this a lot faster.

If you liked this blog post, find me on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram for more cold-climate vegetable gardening tips, delicious recipes, and cut flower goodness! I also make weekly videos over on my YouTube channel. I hope to see you there!

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HAVE YOU TRIED SEED STARTING, ONLY TO BE LEFT WITH STRETCHED-OUT SEEDLINGS AND DEAD PLANTS?

You’re not a bad gardener–you just need a little know-how. For the price of a few seed packets, you can stop wasting time and money and start growing seedlings that actually live, and you get to harvest. Don’t miss out on another growing season. Get your copy of Seed Starting Success now (videos included)!

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CdnErin

I have a really difficult time throwing seeds away. I found a stash of seeds this past August in a toolbox in my unheated garage... the spinach & cauliflower & a packet of romaine had to be at least 18 years old, so I just dumped them in an empty raised bed so that I could recycle the paper packets... then the spinach sprouted! I was shocked. It grew quite well, too! I used to grow "off the rack" corn but it was always such a risk, because "Early Canada" is still a fairly long-season crop for the Edmonton, AB area. Then a few years ago I ordered a synergistic variety from Vesey's. They all sprouted & grew beautifully! But I had 140 leftover seeds... I've always been told that corn seed MUST be fresh or you're get terrible germination, but the following summer I was laid off so couldn't fit a seed order into my budget. SO I double-sowed the corn seeds to make up for the fact that they were over a year old. Yeah, every single one sprouted. Then the third year, I figured I might as well use the seeds up. My garden was too dry at first to do the soil amending, then it was too wet, so I sowed the (3-year-old) corn seeds in little peat pots w ith potting soil just to give them a bit of a head start, so I wouldn't be planting too late. Wouldn't you know every single one sprouted! That would NEVER have happened with off the rack seeds! I've tried starting tomatoes, peppers & basil in a south window, and they just gt leggy because the light, south or not, isn't strong enough for them. I use a proper grow light now, but I have also used just a plain old compact flourescent bulb stuck in my stove hood fan then the plants sit on my stove... I was amazed at how much better they did under that compared to the ones in the south window. I've tried starting seeds in egg cartons, but they always go moldy on me :( And I wasn't keeping them too wet or anything, just having the moist paper pulp was enough. I've often saved the lids from bakery cakes as my "tray" to hold pots, they work really well. Great blog, I'm going to go read some more of it!

Comments

CdnErin

I have a really difficult time throwing seeds away. I found a stash of seeds this past August in a toolbox in my unheated garage... the spinach & cauliflower & a packet of romaine had to be at least 18 years old, so I just dumped them in an empty raised bed so that I could recycle the paper packets... then the spinach sprouted! I was shocked. It grew quite well, too! I used to grow "off the rack" corn but it was always such a risk, because "Early Canada" is still a fairly long-season crop for the Edmonton, AB area. Then a few years ago I ordered a synergistic variety from Vesey's. They all sprouted & grew beautifully! But I had 140 leftover seeds... I've always been told that corn seed MUST be fresh or you're get terrible germination, but the following summer I was laid off so couldn't fit a seed order into my budget. SO I double-sowed the corn seeds to make up for the fact that they were over a year old. Yeah, every single one sprouted. Then the third year, I figured I might as well use the seeds up. My garden was too dry at first to do the soil amending, then it was too wet, so I sowed the (3-year-old) corn seeds in little peat pots w ith potting soil just to give them a bit of a head start, so I wouldn't be planting too late. Wouldn't you know every single one sprouted! That would NEVER have happened with off the rack seeds! I've tried starting tomatoes, peppers & basil in a south window, and they just gt leggy because the light, south or not, isn't strong enough for them. I use a proper grow light now, but I have also used just a plain old compact flourescent bulb stuck in my stove hood fan then the plants sit on my stove... I was amazed at how much better they did under that compared to the ones in the south window. I've tried starting seeds in egg cartons, but they always go moldy on me :( And I wasn't keeping them too wet or anything, just having the moist paper pulp was enough. I've often saved the lids from bakery cakes as my "tray" to hold pots, they work really well. Great blog, I'm going to go read some more of it!

Debbie Jespersen

I start my seeds in 4" pots instead of egg cartons, just because it saves me transplanting, and also I don't go overboard with the amount of south light I can provide. I used to transplant into pots and then didn't have enough good windows for the increased size of the containers. I have added a grow light above my plants, even though they are in a south bay window. My tomatoes especially like this. They don't stretch out as much. If tomato plants get leggy, just lay them in a "trench-shaped" hole, and gently bend up the top 3' inches to be above ground. The buried stem will root really well and give the plant the advantage of a strong nutrient delivery system.

Sarah

Awesome