It's time to get seeds planted indoors

Starting Your Seeds Think clean if you plan to raise your own garden plants from seed. The dreaded damping-off fungus disease lurks in containers that haven't been thoroughly disinfected and in used potting media. In you are using last year's flats and cell packs, wash them with hot water and some bleach. Be sure to buy sterilized seed started. Fill your containers to about a half-inch from the top, then moisten the mix. If using a community pot, sprinkle the seeds on top, spacing them evenly, then cover as directed on the seed packet and spray them with tepid water to bring the seeds into good contact with the medium. Cover the container with a clear cover. Keep the medium moist but not soggy. If you are planting in 1 inch cells, use one or two seeds per cell, then remove the weakest one after germination. If using 3 inch cells, sow three seeds per cell, keeping the strongest one. Follow the directions on the seed packet for light exposure and temperature. Tender seedlings can be set outdoors in the sun, then brought indoors at night. Before the seedlings are to be planted in the garden, harden them off, whether you grew them or they came from a nursery. A cold frame is the ideal place, where they are covered and protected at night. Prepare your garden beds using fertilizer as shown by a soil test, plus lime, to bring the pH to that mandated by the plant, and compost or peat moss for organic matter. Seeds marked to plant out as early in the spring as the ground can be worked can be planted when the soil is no longer soggy and won't clump when worked. Be sure that danger of frost is past. Don't rush the season, If plants are chilled, time is wasted before they regain their vigor.