Heirloom Seedlings

My husband got me a collection of heirloom seeds for Christmas from Thomas Jefferson's gardens at Monticello.  Most of the seeds can be directly planted in the garden beds, but you just can't do that with tomato seeds around here.  Lured by the promise of Yellow Pear and Cherokee Purple heirloom tomatoes (eaten warm with a pinch of Himalayan pink salt), I decided to start my own seedlings for the first time.

Since Gardener's Supply is a go-to vendor for me, I chose items from their selection of seed starting equipment:
- Organic GrowEase Seed Starting Success Kit (that's a mouthful of a name!), which contains two 24-cell seed starters, self watering trays with lids, a bag of seed starting mix, and markers;
- Compact Tabletop SunLite Garden, which is the adjustable-height light rig you see in the photo plus the large tray; and
- 2" Square Biodegradable Pots (pack of 36), which I chose to reduce transplant shock when the seedlings move to their homes in the garden.

I also bought a timer for the lights so the plants would be assured of staying on a light schedule in spite of my crazy schedule.

In a nutshell, so far, so good!  I kept the trays covered with the clear, plastic lids until the seeds germinated (as instructed), and germination took place within a week.  The light hood will get adjusted upwards as the seedlings grow.  A friend with experience in growing seedlings stressed that artificial light instead of window light will reduce the chance of leggy seedlings, so I will stick with her advice.  They should be ready to transplant outdoors in 3-5 weeks.