Usually I am itching to start my seeds in December and start planting things in early January, but this year I held off (partly due to some travel, partly due to improving self-restraint). But today was the day!
A few years ago my husband and I converted our basement closet bathroom into a ‘grow room’. We wedged a utility shelf against the wall, hung some fluorescent and LED grow lights, and forbade the kids from using that toilet anymore (it’s now really hard to reach, and therefore really hard to clean!). It’s makeshift and cramped and often dirty, but in the cold early dark evenings of winter it is often my hygge sanctuary.
Today I started 3 kinds of bulb onions from seed and several slow-germination flower types. I hugely overplanted my onions, knowing that space is going to be a premium in that room come March. In one 4 inch round container I have about 50 onion seeds – if they all come up, they will look like a little disc of grass!
I usually grow 1-2 seeds per pellet or pot, but this year I’m going to try growing several of my crops in a more cramped space and separate them out when I pot up or transplant. I think it will save me space, seed starting mix and time, and for the ones that are truly crowded, likely they will lose less soil moisture to surface evaporation and be easier to evenly water.
