Seed starting indoors vs. direct sowing: I've flipped sides twice

I used to be team direct sow no question. Toss seeds in the ground in mid April and hope for the best. But after losing 3 straight batches of tomatoes to late frosts in 2019, I bought a $40 grow light setup and started everything in my basement. Now I'm back to direct sowing for beans and squash because the indoor seedlings got leggy and weak under my cheap lights. What's your method for something like peppers or basil? Do you bother with the indoor setup or just wait for the soil to warm up?

2 comments

2 Comments

mila_campbell2513d ago

Wait, three straight batches of tomatoes to late frosts? That's brutal. I lost one batch of peppers once and was ready to throw my hands up. You really went through all that before buying a $40 light setup? I started with a $20 lamp from the hardware store and my seedlings came out looking like they were reaching for the sun. Leggy and weak is exactly what happens with cheap lights, I learned that the hard way too. For peppers and basil I do a happy medium now. I start peppers indoors under a proper light around early March because they take forever to get going. But basil I just scatter seeds in the ground once the soil hits 70 degrees and they always pop up like weeds.

dianaanderson13d ago

@mila_campbell25 same, cheaper lights just make them super leggy.