How To Plant Seeds

With spring approaching and so many new gardeners wanting to grow food, you need to learn how to plant seeds. There is a method to planting in small pots, regular sized pots, in raised garden beds, and direct sowing in the ground. We sell top quality, Non-GMO, heirloom seeds so you need to know exactly how they should be planted so you can grow delicious, nutritious food for your family.

How To Plant Seeds - 1/22-1/28/24

Monday, January 22, 2024

Matt watering my plants in the greenhouse today.

Good morning! Monday is here already! It is 7am and 46° Fahrenheit. It has been raining off and on all night. I think it started somewhere before midnight. I took Ethel out and it is cold. It feels much like it did yesterday morning. It is supposed to get warmer this week and then be in the 30s again by the weekend.

This week, we will talk about how to plant seeds. So many new gardeners are jumping in to grow food this spring that I thought talking about how to plant seeds would be quite helpful. For those of you who already know how to plant successfully, maybe you can share this page with friends of yours who have never gardened before. Gardening is really quite simple if you do it right.

We had a lot of orders come in over the weekend. I had a lot of help today and we still could not get all of the orders out. We had six good paying customers who came to the Farm Store and bought seeds, supplies, and eggs today. The day warmed up and it was quite nice to be outside with some of our customers looking at our garden beds. Matt watered a lot of plants in the greenhouse and gave a group tour. It was a very busy day.

Nacho and Seth were here working and we discovered more broken pipes. The asparagus ferns got cut down to make way for new asparagus shoots to grow in early spring.

This evening, we got a dense fog warning and it is supposed to rain tomorrow. I made chicken noodle soup for dinner and it was delicious. No, I did not open a can of Campbell's.

How To Plant Seeds - Good Quality Seeds

David's Garden Seeds® has been in business now for over 14 years. We are known for our quality heirloom seeds that germinate quickly.

First, in order to know how to plant seeds, you should buy top quality seeds from a reputable seed company and not from the dollar store. I have seen Facebook comments in so many gardening groups about people saying to buy seeds for 25¢ at the dollar store. Those seeds are that cheap because they are old, sitting around in warehouses for several years that did not sell. I have bought them before and never got any to germinate.

Sometimes you might get lucky because seeds don't expire. They do lose germination rate year by year. Make sure you are successful. Our company, David's Garden Seeds®, packs fresh seeds every day and then we sell them quickly. We have top quality, Non-GMO, heirloom seeds. We do sell a small amount of hybrid seeds that cost more because they are heat resistant and disease resistant.

You also need to buy seed varieties that do well in your area. We are in hot South Central Texas but we sell seeds for the entire country. You need to know what ones will do best where you live. You can Google seed varieties that do well in your area. Or you can ask your County Extension Agent which seed varieties do well.

Here in Texas, we have two growing seasons, early spring and fall. We always get our best garden in the fall because in the fall it cools off. In the spring, you never know when the heat will hit so you have to be ready. We start our tomato seeds indoors in December so they are ready to produce in March. If not, most years we just don't get tomatoes. Once the heat really hits and nights don't cool down under 75° Fahrenheit, tomatoes and many other plants will not produce fruit.

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

I couldn't see the grass farm at all in the fog this morning.

Today was a crazy busy day. We got up early and it was 61°, foggy, and raining. It rained on and off all day long. It was still foggy at noon. Nacho and Seth were here doing some outdoor things, but they mostly worked inside because of the rain.

Our long lost teen helpers were back today. We were very happy to see them.

David and I left the farm in the fog around 9:30am because David had a doctor's appointment in San Antonio. Of course, it was raining in the city a lot and it was a bit scary. We got there safely and in good time. We parked in the parking garage. I hate those things but there is no parking lot there.

Now we own the next 168 feet along the road for four acres going up to the top fence line. FM 2504 is shown here and it is roughly 1/3 of the field.

After we were done, we dropped some things off for the accountant who is also in San Antonio. By that time it was noon and I was hungry. However, we drove all the way back to the farm and had some of the chicken noodle soup that I made last night. Then we worked for about 30 minutes. We left again to go into Pleasanton to the title company. Yes, we finally closed on the land next to us that we were supposed to close on last month. The sellers had already signed so they were not there. We signed and paid our money. Now we are poor but we own eight acres of sand and snakes instead of four!

While we were buying the land, these boxes were delivered and put up in the store. I still have not opened them. Any guesses as to what is in them?

I went to Walmart after we bought the land to get a birthday card and some gifts for Matt because tomorrow is his birthday. We will be closed tomorrow from around 10:30am to 1:30pm or so because we are all taking him out to eat lunch for his birthday. It is supposed to rain again all day. At least it is warmer than last week, in the 60s.

Once we got back, I got back on the orders and worked on them until 7:30pm. David was out there with me until then. Nacho and Seth left at 6:30pm and they are planning to be back at 6am tomorrow. Matt and Angelica left around 7pm.

I came in the house, emptied the dishwasher, refilled it with the breakfast dishes, washed a whole lot of eggs and put them away. Then I pulled some chicken pieces from the freezer along with broccoli, cauliflower, and corn. I air fried the chicken in the oven and cooked the veggies. I added some sweet and spicy sauce and the chicken and the meal was very tasty. After that, we watched Kojak while we worked in the den. Now it is almost 10pm and time to go to bed since people will be here very early tomorrow.

How To Plant Seeds - Depth Of Soil

In this photo, Linda is testing some of our raised bed garden soil.

Before learning how to plant seeds, let's look at what a seed is. The seed is a living embryo that contains enough energy to germinate and break the surface of the soil. If planted too deep, the seed will run out of energy and die before it breaks the surface. Once it breaks the surface, it produces the energy it needs through photosynthesis to keep growing.

So how deep should a seed be planted? We recommend that in regular soil, whether in a pot, a raised bed, or directly in the ground, a seed should be planted between 1/4 and 1/2 of an inch. The smaller the seed, the shallower you want to plant it.

This is our special 4 inch ruler that we had made up to give to our customers showing that 1/4 of an inch is very shallow.

David says this:

When starting seeds, one of the most important things to remember is not to plant them too deep in regular soil. Placing the seeds in 1/4 inch of soil will do. Larger seeds like beans and squash can be buried at 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch.

When we first built the hoop houses, we filled them with sand and planted in them. Each one in the back has 20 raised beds.

Now, once we moved out to the farm, we found that there is an exception to this rule. We have 100% beach sand without the ocean. If you have sand, you must plant the seed a bit deeper or it will not take root. Plant the seed in sand 1/2 to one inch. We found this out through trial and error by growing in the ground.

Most of our planting is done in raised beds with good garden soil that we have brought in but some of our beds in the back are filled with our soil which, as mentioned above, is sand.

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

Here is a shot of Matt in the fish pond cleaning it out. He helps out in so many ways around the farm and in the business. Thank you, Matt!

Happy birthday to our son, Matt! Matt helps us so much here at David's Garden Seeds®. We are blessed to have him working for us. Everybody be sure to wish Matt a happy birthday on Facebook and Instagram today!

Matt with a beard and me laughing at Farm to Familia in Poteet.

Nacho got here at 6am. David woke me up at 5:30am asking for my building keys. I told him last night they were hanging on the state of Texas in the kitchen but, apparently, he has no idea what is in the kitchen. On the wall, there is a key holder in the shape of Texas that our friend, Judge Willie Leal, former mayor of Poteet, made. We won it at a small business meeting a few years ago so it is not like it is new. Anyway, I could not get back to sleep so I took my thyroid pill and got up 30 minutes later.

It is pouring rain and it rained all through the night. At 1:05am, I woke up to heavy rain and then the golf ball sized hail started. I thought it was coming through the roof to hit me in bed. No, I did not get up to see it. I looked on Facebook and some of our neighbors actually did go out and take photos of the hail in their hands and with an egg for comparison. It hit hard and heavy for quite a while.

About five minutes after David woke me, there was a flash and then the power was gone. A few seconds later, all of the power in our home and work buildings came on because our generator kicked in. As of the writing of this at 7:30am, Rossville and most of Poteet do not have power. However, I read on Facebook that the schools in Poteet do have power.

I discovered a lovely pile of poo that Ethel made sometime in the night, right in my living room. After I cleaned it up a little while ago, I found more in my office. I did not notice it while I was working. Now I have to drag the cleaner back out here and run it again. Ethel peed at 10pm last night but she did not do anything else because it was raining. She hates rain.

Nacho brought breakfast tacos this morning so that was nice.

Well, the generator ran just fine until 7:40am. Then it abruptly stopped. David could not get it fixed. He called the generator company. The electricity came back on at 9:20am. Finally, the generator guy came by at 10am and he is still out there working.

We are leaving the farm at 10:45am to take Matt to lunch for his birthday. We will be closed until around 1:30, possibly 2pm so plant your visit for after 2pm.

Chocolate chip cookie cake for the birthday boy. It was good.

We went to a Chinese buffet in Pleasanton for lunch and it was very good. We came back to the farm and missed the mailman so tomorrow he will have lots of mail to take. We already have two full bags and five big boxes.

I filled orders until 3pm. Then we had a chocolate chip cookie cake for Matthew. After that, we bought a new male bunny from someone in Pleasanton.

We got back and got the bunny all settled. It rained more. I made Chinese food for dinner. No, it was not leftovers, just frozen Chinese that was so tasty. Matt stayed for dinner and then we watched the latest Equalizer movie. It was very good but bloody.

How To Plant Seeds - Temperature Of Soil

Matt is planting seeds out in the sand in a hoop house in spring.

For many years I have said that planting the seeds no more than 1/4 inch was the most important thing. I have come to realize that this is not exactly true. Soil temperature is probably the most important thing. You have to know at what temperature your specific seed will germinate.

Each variety has its special temperature where it will start to germinate. They are not all the same by variety or family. For instance, lettuces--some like it chilly, some like it warm and some even like the temperature to be hot.

You have to know where the seed packages are produced in order to get the right plant date. For instance if you buy one of our seed packs, which are from the deep south, and it says, "Plant after danger of frost and the soil is warm," then we can plant shortly after the last frost. You can find your first and final frost dates for the year by looking it up on Almanac.com.

We will have our last frost and then it warms up quickly. In the north, after the last frost is different because they will still have night time temps in the high 30's and 40s. For most seeds this is not warm enough.

A lot of gardeners think that they can plant after the last frost but they do not pay attention to the second part of this which is, "and the soil is warm." Warm being at least 70 degrees, constant. Day or night, the soil needs to be at 70 degrees.

Don't be fooled by warm days. If the nights still get cold, the soil may not be warm enough. When the days warm up, we start to get the itch to plant. But wait. Buy a soil temperature thermometer (same as you use in the kitchen) and actually see what it is.

Thursday, January 25, 2023

Tonight, you can see the Full Wolf Moon. I got up early and got ready for work. Then I cleaned up for Michelle who arrived here at 9:30am, just as I went into Fulfillment to work. I filled orders and I was interrupted by welcome customers four times throughout the day. One of our teen helpers was here for a half day of work.

It amazes me that we still have garden plants that are alive and growing. True, most everything is dead after that 9° temperature last week.

The day was beautiful. All rain was gone and it got up to 72° Fahrenheit. I unpacked the three boxes that came a few days ago. They were filled with whole bean coffee which was supposed to be ground coffee and lots of pecan treats. I priced them all and put them up on display. Four treat bags were broken open from the bottom so I could not sell them.

At 5:55pm, I was still doing orders. David asked who was doing the chickens today as the sun was going down right then. It hit me...Matt left a few hours ago for a dental appointment. I had to get the eggs. I packed up, rushed to the house, grabbed my boots and pail and headed out. I took care of the bunnies. The new bunny is doing fine. Then I gave the chickens snacks and collected the eggs, four of which were under the nesting boxes. I got nasty getting them. I washed out the waterers and gave them new water.

Then I noticed the Wolf Moon coming up. I stayed out for a while taking photos. It was so bright. When I got inside, I had to jump in the shower and wash my hair because I got it nasty in the chicken coop. I heated up last night's leftovers and we sat down to watch two hours of Hell's Kitchen. It was the finale.

How To Plant Seeds - Starting Tomatoes

Here in South Central Texas, we start our tomato seeds at the end of December so the plants are ready to be planted in March. They will be big enough to start putting out fruit soon, before the temperature gets too hot. Once the daytime temperatures hit the 90s and the nighttime does not cool below 75°, no fruit will be produced.

Here are some of our tomato seedlings started in our germination pots.

So we have to start our tomatoes indoors or in greenhouses. Here is how to plant seeds for tomatoes. Get planting trays, mini pots, germination mix, and our tomato seeds. The best way is to purchase one of our germination kits that has everything you need for planting success.

Our germination kit has everything-2 trays, 18 pots, a clear lid, germination mix, plant markers.

Fill each pot with germination mix. Put all 18 pots in the double tray. One tray alone is too flimsy to lift when it is full of the pots. You need two to be able to lift the tray. Using tweezers, plant one tomato seed at a time in the middle of the pot, about 1/4 of an inch deep. Once all 18 pots are planted, it is time to water.

No, do not top water these seeds. Bottom watering will prevent the seeds from washing away. Lift one of the pots out of the tray and pour the water into the bottom of the tray. Replace the pot. The first and second waterings will be soaked up very quickly as the soil is completely dry. Check every little while the first and second days. When all the water is gone from the bottom of the tray, add more.

Keep the soil moist, but not wet with a soil temperature of at least 70 degrees. Over-watering will drown the seed. A good rule to follow is the dirt should be moist so it feels like brown sugar up to your first knuckle. If it feels dry like salt, it is too dry. If it feels like wet flour then it is too wet.

This method is how we start all of our seeds in the greenhouse including strawberries, pepper plants, eggplant, lettuce, cucumbers, herbs, and more. Strawberries and some peppers can take up to as many as 30 days to germinate. Most other garden seeds usually take from seven to ten days to come up.

Once seedlings are big enough to go outside, you cannot just take them out and plant them. They must be hardened off or they will die.

Friday, January 26, 2023

Good morning. It is foggy and 54°. Ethel threw up on the new slipcover I had on "her" loveseat so I had to take that off to be washed. I took her to do her thing and it is cold out there. I have a bunch of new seed orders. Thank you to everyone who is ordering and to those who come by to purchase seeds.

I feel so tired this morning. I had an awful dream just before I heard the puppies barking. It involved a family reunion and a female family member hanging around with some druggie who just kept using. It was horrible. Anyway, the puppies were barking and woke me up.

The day was filled with lots of orders and more customers than we have seen in one day since last spring. It stayed overcast and chilly all day long but the customers came. We did a working lunch with pizza from a place in Somerset and we got a lot done. The store had to be restocked at the end of the day. After closing, I printed out the rest of the orders that were there and pulled them. They are waiting to be closed until tomorrow.

How To Plant Seeds - Lighting Is Important

If starting indoors, seeds need 14 to 16 hours of daylight a day. A grow light will be needed. A regular florescent or lamp light will not do the job. If you are going to start indoors, you will need to make a small investment. Putting pots on a window sill will not work in most cases. If the seeds do not get enough light, they will grow tall and thin. Then they will die.

Also a window will act as a magnifier of the sun. It can get too hot for seeds to germinate and cook the new seedlings to death.

If using a planter with a cover, do not use a heat pad. The cover and heat pad combination will create too much heat and humidity. One or the other is enough.

Saturday, January 27, 2023

Good morning. It is already Saturday. Where on earth did the week go? I have no help today so I have to go out and take care of all of the animals myself. Matt did get the plastic taken off of the coops now that it is not freezing. The animals are happy to have fresh air coming through again.

It is 49° and I am having a cup of coffee before heading out to take care of our animals. The store is stocked with seeds, germination mix, germination kits for early spring seed starting, eggs, coffee, and some pecan treats. I already sold two of the brand new treats yesterday. They are expensive but pecans are expensive as most of you already know. The way prices have gone up since Covid is just ridiculous but they keep on climbing.

Last Saturday, a man came for some tomato seeds and did not like our prices. We do not have excessive prices. It costs us money to buy those specialized hybrid seeds that he wanted and the price has gone up significantly. In turn, the bags we put the seeds in, the seed envelopes, and the ink to print the envelopes have also gone up in price, plus we do need to actually make some money. We are in the business to make a living for ourselves and our team. None of us will work for free. Anyway, he never came back which is good. We know the prices have gone up. They have gone up on everything for everyone, not just for him.

Right now, most of our seeds start at $3.95. Some are more. Our sale is that if you spend $50 or more, you get 10% off. We started this two weeks ago and it is getting a very good response.

We will be open today from 10am to 2pm so come on by and get what you need to start your tomatoes. By the way, we will have beautiful tomato plants ready soon for you to purchase. We started thousands of them in our high tunnel back in December. Yesterday, David started strawberry seeds which will be for sale soon as well. Last spring, we sold out of our strawberry plants pretty quickly. We don't order plants. We start them from our seeds.

We have some indoor plants in the store right now--Snake Plants aka Mother-In-Law's Tongue and Aloe Vera. These make good air filters in your home. Come pick some up today. Small are $5 and $10 and we have some big ones for $19.95. I have about 20 in the store this morning.

Some Tomato Plants Are Ready Today!

This is the back of our high tunnel where all of the plants are grown.

It is now 7:25am and David just told me that the first tomato plants are ready to be sold today. The price is $7.95 per plant. Just tell me that you would like to see our tomato plants and David will take you out to the greenhouse to pick out your plants. We have a good variety for you to choose from.

Again, I know it is high but everything has gone up including the cost of the seeds, the germination mix, the pots, the water, and the heat to keep them alive in the greenhouse. Plus, our plants were grown by us by hand, not by a machine like you get at the garden centers and big box stores. Of course, you will definitely not be planting these out in the garden yet. Wait until the danger of frost is past and they will have to be hardened off. Also, you should read about how to grow and deal with tomato plants so here is a page that I wrote about tomatoes. At the bottom of the page, you will find links to other articles that I wrote about tomatoes. It pays to know how to plant seeds yourself.

Snapdragons did not die during the cold. They are doing well while the zinnias are all brown.

It ended up being a good but chilly day. We had several customers but no where near what we had yesterday. I did a lot of orders. Shortly before 2pm, Matt came and David and I went grocery shopping. A circuit in my greenhouse is no longer working so David called the electric fixers we used. They showed up before we got home so Matt showed them the problem. He also pulled more seed orders.

For dinner, I made cheeseburgers, eggs, and jalapeno poppers. The jalapenos were from our garden. I have cut jalapenos up many times in the past without gloves. Holy cow! I cut these up without gloves and my hands burned for hours.

The Svengoolie movie was Willard from 1971. It was disgusting. I had never seen it before. Matt said he saw the remake from the 1990s. There were a lot of rats and strange people in the movie. Let's just say the rats won and Willard was just plain stupid.

Around 11:20pm, I saw a text that Matt had sent earlier. He said to put my hands in vinegar so I did because they were still burning. The vinegar calmed the burn down so I could sleep.

How To Plant Seeds - Additional Info

Keep in mind that most store bought planters have holes pre-drilled from 3/4 to 1 inch deep, which is too deep for many seeds. You may have to put a bit of filler in them so that the seeds are not buried more then 1/4 inch deep.

I would not use potting soil/garden soil from Home Depot/Walmart/Lowes as these contain more organic material (lighter than soil so cheaper to ship) than they do soil which is okay for mature plants but not seedlings. Go to a nursery and see what they recommend. Some nurseries have a germination/garden mix which works really great. Of course, if you learn how to plant seeds, you can use our own germination mix sold in our store. We ship it by the gallon.

Also, know that in the garden, birds, ants, and other insects like seeds for dinner. It is possible to plant them and have them stolen, especially smaller seeds. Even worms will eat the seeds.

Sunday, January 28, 2023

Happy Sunday!

Hello and welcome to Sunday. We did not go to church today. David's voice is scratchy and we did not want to get our friends at church sick. I took care of the animals and have been doing laundry and washing containers to make some pantry mixes. I have some beef in the slow cooker for tonight.

My fingers are still burning from last night's jalapenos, despite the vinegar. I used it again a little while ago, but there is still some discomfort. Time to go soak them again. I did not sleep that well. I did not dream about the rats but I did think about them in the night. I woke up about four times and then did not wake up until 6:50am to take my thyroid pill. I had to wait 30 minutes to drink some coffee.

I suggest that you learn how to plant seeds this afternoon for the upcoming planting season.

How To Plant Seeds - Fertilizer

When learning how to plant seeds, new gardeners always ask about fertilizer. Do I put it on as soon as I plant the seeds? How about when the plant starts to come up? Should I fertilize once a week, once a day? No, No, No, and No!

Do not use any fertilizer until plants are six inches tall. Then only use half of what is recommended until plants are a foot tall (12 inches). Use an organic fertilizer. Most chemically made fertilizers have salt in them. Too much salt in the soil and the plant roots will not absorb water like they should which will result in wilted plants.

Tomato seedlings need to be 6 inches tall before you fertilize them.

In closing, learning how to plant seeds will save you from having to buy plants. Instead, you can buy seeds and plant them yourself.

Return from How To Plant Seeds to Year Five On The Farm

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