Planning a Summer Garden Day #4: Starting with Seeds...Advantages and Disadvantages

I totally have mixed feeling about starting with seeds. There are advantages and disadvantages that I want to share with you. In the end I am doing a combination of seed starting and outdoor sowing as well as buying transplants. I see the positives of both ways to begin so I can't say that I am exclusively doing one or the other. Instead I'll just share what I have learned.

Amazing that something so small gets so big!

Advantages of starting with seeds:

1. It's inexpensive and you can store seeds for up to 3 years. So you can get a lot from such small things! 
2. They are easy to plant and take less time to do so, unless your starting a whole bunch.
3. You can get an early start if you have a place such as a green house or very sunny room.
4. If you plant them directly outdoors, you don't have to transplant later.

Disadvantages of starting from seeds (especially indoors):

1. Without a greenhouse your seeds won't thrive maybe even not survive. Even if you water well. This is because without sun for food they just can't produce enough food for themselves to do well. *This is what happened to me! We started tons of seeds indoors but lost about 75% due to a lack of light. Our survivors are tomatoes, cabbages, and peppers. Lettuce, onions, and about everything else did poorly. Now it is late enough to simply sow our cool weather crops directly outdoors. (Check on what planting zone you are in.)  
2. Your transplants may be fragile. I am worried about this. What will happen to the seedlings that I have kept going indoors since march?  Will changing them from indoors to harsher elements be hard for them to adjust to?I know that the more mature transplants from a good greenhouse will fair well so I will probably be adding some of those in the mix too. 
3. Thinning. You will have to do this unless you know exactly how many seeds to plant where, as in the square foot method. I hate thinning and find it better to snip extra sprouting plants with scissors than to tug on them.

Below are some of the seeds we started indoor which have survived. They are tomatoes and peppers. These plants can't go out just yet. They like it warm so we will wait till things get warmer first and till there is absolutely no danger of frost.

Coming Tomorrow: Choosing what you will plant.

This 10 day series includes:

1. Getting Inspired
2. How to Start Box Gardening
3. Prepare Your Soil
4. Starting Seeds
5. Choose Plants You Will Use and Enjoy!
6. Planning Out Your Plant Placement
7. Tomatoes, Peppers, and Cucumbers
8. Favorite Flowers and Herbs
9. Tools and Maintenance
10. When to Begin Planting

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