Usually, when we start sowing our seedlings we sow as much as we can keep indoors. But, when our needs start going beyond the necessary space do we stop growing? Or can we find a way to sow hundreds of seedlings in a small space?

When window sills aren’t enough

When I was younger, I used my window sills to grow my seedlings. The windows in my parents’ part of the house were huge enough to welcome all of my little cups and pots. When the sill wasn’t enough, we made a bunch of small detachable shelves which were placed in front of the window, to have more growing space. I was able to grow all my vegetables on just a couple of windows. The pots that didn’t have enough room on the sill were placed in mobile greenhouses made out of boxes and nylon. But usually, these were used only for flowers.

All of this changed when I moved to the upper flat with my hubby. Our windows were just too tiny to grow enough seedlings. I could maybe grow 20-30 containers on my windows. But they are already crowded with my house plants and flowers, so there is clearly no room for them. This is when we decided to grow our seedlings under LED lights. But even with the light and special wardrobes made for my seedlings, my needs are much too big. I don’t have enough room to grow all my seedlings at once, especially since the forest is getting bigger, and I have to start almost everything indoors now. So how do I do it now? With a lot of careful planning and transplanting.

Do a lot of planning

We all plan our sowing dates and our transplanting time. The only difference in growing so many seedlings is that I have to start earlier and plan with a lot more details. Knowing which vegetables can be started earlier and how much time each variety needs to grow is essential. You can’t start zucchinis in January or they will grow too quickly, but also starting tomatoes in late March could be too late. Starting them at the exactly planned time eventually gives me more space to grow more seedlings.

January is perfect to start brassicas, onions, leeks, garlic, and slow-growing flowers. The reason is simple. Brassicas and alliums tolerate much lower temperatures than the rest of the seedlings. This is why they can be moved outside much sooner than the warm-loving seedlings. If we start them in January they can be moved outside during the day in February. This means we’ll get some extra space for other vegetables. Peppers and tomatoes will go in the space that was once occupied by brassicas and alliums, and we already have hundreds of seedlings growing in a small space. Zucchinis and cucumbers can wait for April to be sown, when usually tomatoes and peppers are big enough to be sunbathed. So again we’ll have enough room for them too. If we don’t sow everything at the same time a small space will be enough for everything.

Choosing the right container

When it comes to the right containers I always say that anything can be a container. There are plenty of seedling containers available. But, after trying dozens of options I can say that one big container full of seedlings will always beat special seedling containers. The big trays are great, but they really take up a lot of space. When you calculate all the empty space on the tray, you can see that you could have grown twice as many seedlings, if instead of a tray you had one big box. Round pots are also a struggle when you have a small space. Their shape limits your available space and you will end up with a bunch of empty space between the pots.

So what was my solution? Meat, yogurt, and cheese containers.

I actually started growing my seedlings this way years ago, then quit and started using seedling trays, and now I’m back to using these containers. First of all, they are always around the house and they are free. I get all my groceries delivered, so I always get a bunch of containers. Instead of throwing them, I started collecting them. In just a couple of months, I have enough for hundreds of seedlings. Instead of using separate containers for every seed, I use big meat containers and save huge space. Once the seedlings get big enough I start transplanting them to bigger separate containers, and when they are ready to go to the garden they are already big, strong, and in separate containers.

The right container order

This year I went with sowing dozens of seeds into meat containers. I’ve even sown different varieties, as long as they are in a row. Then when they get big enough they go into a first smaller container, then a bigger one, and I finish with a cheese container that is 500gr(17.6oz). Once I transplant my seedlings from these big containers, there will be no waiting period. Plants will continue growing immediately in the garden. This way is also great because of the multiple uses of the same containers. The meat containers that first grew brassicas are now growing tomatoes. Brassicas are now in yogurt cups, and when the time comes for the tomatoes to be moved to yogurt cups, brassicas will already be big enough for cheese containers.

The only vegetables that will not be grown this way are the April sown vegetables. I reserve April seedling shelves for fast-growing vegetables. This is why I will not be transplanting them multiple times. They will most likely be planted into non-woven seedling bags and transplanted with them directly to the garden, or I will use milk carton boxes. If I manage to collect enough of them.

Sunbathe as soon as you can

In order for this scheme to work you need to start sunbathing your seedlings as soon as possible. The January sown brassicas and alliums can spend their days outside from late February, or as soon as daily temperatures reach 10°C(50°F). Just bring them indoors during the night. The rest of the seedlings can sunbathe from early April.

Seedlings will not stop growing if the temperature doesn’t drop drastically, so bringing them indoors during the night is a perfect solution to the lack of space problem. During the day they will get enough light and warmth and they won’t mind spending the evenings on the bathroom floor or basement.

Growing seedlings this way will allow anyone to grow hundreds of seedlings in a small space. I’m planning to grow thousands this year in hundreds of different varieties(40 of them are only tomatoes). This will be a great help for an early garden start, which is very much needed, especially in a forest garden, which is cooler and has a germination problem.