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Ep. 8 – Common Mistakes When Starting from Seeds

Many newbie gardeners think that starting plants from seeds is easy……until they realise it isn’t always like that.

This time, Zahra made a lot of mistakes on her starting-from-seeds journey. But those mistakes made her learn so much about gardening. Do you want to know what are those mistakes too? We know you do!

Common Mistakes When Starting from Seeds
Zahra: Alfaaa…! Why do my seeds don’t come ouuutt? Alfa: Reaaalllyyy?! My tips are anti failing, though... Padma: Calm down, Zahra… Tell us what happened to your seedlings? Alfa: You can ask Padma! I must go do some chores. Zahra: Stay here and listen, so you don’t give half-hearted tips again in the future!
Common Mistakes When Starting from Seeds Not Letting Enough Light to Seedlings Seedlings need plenty of light to grow, generally 12-16 hours per day after budding. Some people say that the light from window sills is enough, but in reality, it is not. You can add LED growing lights or TFT lights to meet the seedlings’ needs of light, and keep them from growing sideways and becoming leggy.
Common Mistakes When Starting from Seeds Over or Under Watering The amount of water given to your seedlings will determine the output’s quality. Keep in mind, the soil or growing medium only needs to be moist, not flooded. If you're worried about watering too much, put the seedling tray on a regular tray and do the bottom watering by filling up that regular tray with water.
Common Mistakes When Starting from Seeds Burying Seeds Too Deep Some seeds need total darkness to germinate, but others might need a lot of light and be exposed. Seed packages from well-known distributors usually include information on how deep you can bury the seeds. In the absence of that information, the rule of thumb you can follow is to bury as deep as 2-3x the width of the seed. For seeds that need extra light, make sure they are in contact with a moist growing medium.
Common Mistakes When Starting from Seeds Sowing Too Many Seeds When sowing, it is best to start with a small number of seeds. Pay attention to the size of the seeds you’re going to sow. Spinach seed size is certainly different from Cucumber or Tomato. When you use a seedling tray with 3x3 cm in size per block, it will be too narrow to sow 3 Cucumber seeds at once. But you can sow up to 10 Brassicas seeds, and divide them later.
Common Mistakes When Starting from Seeds Not Giving Seed Labels Each plant has its own needs. That’s why, to make it easy to identify them later before you move them to a growing area, don't forget to label them. You can use special plant labels, or DIY using ice cream sticks. Write down the name of the plant and the sowing date, so you can keep track of their growing phases.
Common Mistakes When Starting from Seeds Give Up Easily Sowing seeds is quite a tiring process, and sometimes, they’re difficult for beginners. You’re going to face several failures, but you’ll learn so much from your mistakes. Growing plants from seed take dedication, attention and time. Even if you fail, don't give up right away, okay? Your efforts will definitely pay off!
Alfa: On those 6 mistakes, which are yours, Ra? Zahra: Hmmm, 4 out of 6… HA HA HA HA~ Padma: It’s okaaayy! Failures are good, and you can always try again. Go, Zahra!
Epilogue Zahra: Starting from seeds is hard, for sure... Padma: ...as long as you’re not giving up easily, you’ll be an expert on it! Follow our gardening journeys, and let’s grow some plants together!

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