Small-Space Seed Starting: How to Inexpensively Grow All Your Garden Plants at Home with Limited Space and Light - Paperback

by Mary Ellen Ward (Author)

Ready to get growing? Not sure where to begin? Pressed for space but have big garden goals? This is the book for you!No matter how big or small your garden plans, no matter how small your indoor space may be, you can grow all the vegetables, herbs, and flowers you need for any outdoor garden, big or small. Can you spare eight square feet of space in your home? That's a matter of just two by four feet of floor space; but in it, you can grow literally hundreds of individual plants. This book will walk you through the entire process from start to finish-from seed germination through potting up, setting up a cheap and easy grow light shelf, and on through maintaining those plants to hardening off and getting them ready to grow outdoors. Whether you are an experienced seed-starter looking for economical space-saving seedling solutions or you are new to growing and gardening, this start-to-finish process will get you up and running, on your way to growing delicious, nutritious homegrown goodness. Even if you've struggled with weak and leggy transplants in the past, this method will solve those problems and help you finally achieve your dream of a garden grown 100% from scratch by you. It works for most every type of plant including vegetables, herbs, perennials, annuals, flowers, and some small fruits and berries. It's a small investment and a level of self-sustainability that will serve you well for many years to come! Anyone with a few feet of usable space, a hardware store, and an outlet can grow all of their outside plants. And with that ability, comes control. Control over growing methods, seed selection, planting time, and more. What is important to you? Organic? GMO/GE-free? Conventional growing? Open pollinated and seed saving? Heirlooms? Yield-maximizing hybrids?Whatever your growing goals, whatever your priorities, the best way to reach them (and the most affordable, too), is to start seeds yourself and grow your garden transplants. All you need is a reliable method and the right tools. It's all inside.When you grow your garden plants yourself, you have that complete control. You can choose the exact seed type and variety, select for traits such as disease resistance, nutritional profile, flavor, and adaptability to your location and soils (among others). You are no longer limited by local availability and the choices the greenhouse made for you. You do not need to settle for the few commercially-focused plants on offer. You can plant on your own timeline, start plants for succession planting, and play with plants that the locals have never offered you before. You CAN grow your own food and plants from seed. Learn: - Why you should grow your own plants from seed- When to start your own seeds, with the help of noted resources and local plant timing- How to germinate seeds intensively in small pots- How to "pot up" your seedlings for continued strong growth and individual transplanting- How to correct early growing issues like legginess and weak stems- How to make a grow light setup that is inexpensive, effective, and requires no special space or tools (for much less than the cost of expensive grow lights)- How to build that setup from everyday hardware store items- How to fit more plants in a small-space footprint by going up and creating a shelf system-still with easily accessed, locally-available items!- How to maintain your plants as they gain size and strength for life outdoors-including how to fertilize indoors seedlings, managing your vegetables and flowers under grow lights, watering, and disease prevention- How to "harden off" your vegetables, herbs, and flower plants to get them ready for the rigors of outdoor living- How to know when it's safe for your plants to live full-time outdoors in your garden or patio container gardenPlus money-saving and cost-sharing tips. It's all inside and it's all here to make you a more independent, inspired, confident grower.