Seed Starting in a City Apartment
Yes, I know I could just go and buy starts, but it's fun!
This is our first garden with a view, though sadly it’s a temporary one. Highrise apartment buildings keep going up around us, and soon that little ugly-pretty patch of downtown Brooklyn skyline will be covered up by something gigantic. But we didn’t rent the apartment for the view, anyhow, and as long as the new building doesn’t block out all the sunlight it’s not so bad. When we were looking for a place we knew that having some sort of outdoor space was key, both for us and for our dog Peep, who is three years old but still as wild as a puppy and also pretty nervous. We were mostly drawn to this apartment because it has a terrace, which is a good size and bigger than the living/dining room area. We don’t need a lot of indoor room since it’s just the three of us (the poodle is small), and I’d gladly trade some extra closet space or a bigger kitchen for a garden.
As you can see there’s not a lot going on in the garden yet. The raised beds were already here, as was the outdoor storage bin, which is so useful to have, and one of those things I didn’t think about at all when I was packing up the gardening stuff before we moved. Where does everything go? Definitely not inside, where closet space is way too valuable for trays and pots and tools. I did consider storing bags of compost on the floor beneath my dresses and by my shoes, but it’s probably a bad idea. I’m still used to just throwing everything into a messy but roomy shed, so I’m going to have to figure out how to tetris everything into that bin come spring.
Fortunately I left a lot of things behind in storage, and I don’t really think you need a lot of fancy equipment to grow a pretty garden, anyway. Especially if you’re in a small space and not growing a lot. When I was in Portland and growing flowers for the first time I went by the book, literally. I followed Floret Farm’s Cut Flower Garden (which is very good) and grew trays of seedlings on a grow light shelving system that Drew gave me for Christmas. I followed each instruction as precisely as I could. I’m not much of a rule follower in general, but for some reason I thought that if I let the light settings vary too much or if I missed one watering the plants would all flop over and die. I think I even used to measure the temperature of the water, which is overkill.
But then last year when I was growing seedlings while living with family or in ever-changing monthly rentals I had to make do with what I already had or what I could buy that didn’t cost a lot or take up too much space. All of my gardening things were in storage, so I bought a starter tray and a bag of seed starting mix and just went for it. And it worked!
So this year I’m growing with the same mindset. The aim is to use what I brought with me, reuse what’s already here, and to think outside the box. If I had a flower farm or a large garden to fill I would absolutely still go by the book. But in my case the stakes are low—ours is a small garden with limited room. And as I mentioned in the last post, if I kill any seedlings I can always go buy some starts.
Below are some tips and plans for growing a flower garden from seed while living in a city apartment or small space with limited sowing, growing, and storage space. Are they proven tips? Not yet! But I’m really hoping to have good results this season.
Sowing:
I have cell trays, but this year I wanted to try out the seed tray method I’m always seeing on Gardener’s World. In this case I used a takeout container with holes poked in the bottom and a clamshell container I bought cherry tomatoes in at Trader Joe’s. I filled them about a quarter or third-way up with slightly wetted seed starting mix, planted the seeds, and took off the lids as soon as half the seeds showed little bits of stem and root. Once the plants grow on a bit I’ll prick them out into cells or possibly their own small pots.
You know those nice potting trays that you can buy to help keep your seed sowing station (or kitchen counter) clean? A few years ago I bought a litter pan from Target and it was cheap and works great, and the best thing about it is that it’s easy to clean and also useful for other tasks, like washing up plant pots.
I’ve been using ziplock bags as humidity domes, too, and since I can rinse them out when I’m done I can use them over and over again (for plant purposes).
I have a heat mat that I bought while in Portland, but I didn’t have it with me last year and all my seeds came up just fine without it. Since I brought it here I’ll use it when I sow some of the more tender annuals that like it on the cozy side. So far I’ve sown sweet peas, silene, and snapdragons here without it, and they germinated in around a week. And I didn’t cold stratify or soak any seeds, either. Do you really need to do all of that stuff? I’m not so sure.
Growing (Indoors):
I’m trying to make my grow station as unobtrusive as possible, so I have the plants in the corner of the bedroom on a little Ikea shelf that by some stroke of luck can hold my old seed trays perfectly.
I don’t have my old light setup with me, sadly, and last year I really thought I could grow seedlings in a bright windowsill. But it didn’t work for me. The plants stretched up and struggled. I panicked and bought a simple and very bendable grow light off of Amazon (I know). But it worked very well, and I got another one from my parents for Christmas this year, so maybe two will do the trick?
When it comes to fertilizing indoor seedlings you need to make sure you find a fertilizer that won’t smell up the place and make your family/roomates mad at you. I use Fox Farm Grow Big for indoor fertilizing, and it doesn’t smell at all.
Last year when I panicked I also went to Lowe’s and bought a small fan so that the seedlings could get some air. Right now the fan is propped up on boxes and books, and whenever I leave the apartment I have to turn it off because Peep barks at it.
Growing (Outdoors):
My very favorite tip, as mentioned in the last post, is the plastic storage bin all-in-one greenhouse and cold frame. Benjamin Ranyard of Higgledy Garden sows seeds on a narrow boat, which is a little like sowing seeds in a Brooklyn apartment.
I have two plastic storage bins in two different sizes to be used either as greenhouses or cold frames for hardening off. Right now I have the sweet peas growing in the bin, where they’ll stay until it’s warm enough for them to be planted out in a pot or wherever they decide to live.
I’m planning on sowing some hardy annuals indoors and gradually putting them in the bin greenhouse early so that I can reserve the lights for dahlias, zinnias, cosmos, etc.
I had plans to direct sow as many seeds as I could, but I guess I’m much too risk-averse a person for that, so it looks like it’s just nasturtiums and verbena going straight into outdoor soil after the last frost date. But we’ll see.
Garden Notes:
I sowed snapdragons (Chantilly Light salmon) and Blushing Lanterns silene two weeks ago, and they’re growing out under lights for a bit. I read that I should let them grow until they’re two inches tall or so, and then individually prick them out and plant them in cells and then put them outside in the cold frame.
The sweet peas are up and doing well! 20 out of 21 seeds germinated, which is happily unexpected, and I’m definitely still coddling them. I hear that mice love sweet pea seeds (and maybe young sweet peas plants as well? Does anyone know?) so I bought this little mesh basket from Ikea for protection. When it’s in the 50s or warmer outside (and it already has been, amazingly enough) I take the lid off the bin and put the mesh basket upside down over the plants to keep the mice out, at least until the shoots start looking more plant-like. I wonder if rats like sweet pea seeds as much as mice do? Because that’s what I really worry about here.
The excitement of having outdoor space of your own!!!
What great tips on having a garden in the city!