Starting your own garden is an activity the whole family can be involved in. In order to grow vegetables, fruits, plants or flowers, you will need to know how to plant seeds since many of these start off as seeds. Growing your own garden can also save you some money because you won't have to purchase fruits or vegetables from the store; you can just harvest them yourself.

There are many seed varieties available at your local garden center or nursery. To make things easier, you can even purchase seeds online. Each seed variety comes with it's own set of instruction which you can usually find on the package the seeds come in. However, the basic steps for planting and growing seeds are all the same.

Certain seed varieties do fine when planted outdoors from the very beginning. However, many vegetables and flower seeds are started indoors. Starting your seeds indoors has many benefits. You control the climate conditions that the seeds are exposed to making it so that you can even grow varieties that are not commonly grown in your area. Besides this, some seeds need longer to grow than the length of the growing season. Indoors, you can start seeds off earlier, making it so that they have enough time to fully develop. Indoor grown seeds, grown under controlled conditions, grow healthier seedling and also make stronger plants. http://www.gardenersnet.com/atoz/germinat.htm

This page contains the basic steps you need to take to successfully plant seeds.

What you will need: Before starting to plant your seeds, it's important to make sure that you have all the required items you will need. The items you will need include:

• Seeds
• Water
• Containers
• Waterproof labels
• Journal
• Seed growing soil
• Heating mat (if desired)
• Growing lamps (if needed)
• Plastic bags
• Fungicide

When To Start: You would think that because you start your seeds off indoors and you control the growing conditions, that you can start them off at any time of the year. This is only sort of true. If you are dealing with seeds that need to be transplanted outdoors it's important to know the best outdoor weather and soil conditions for your seedlings. Frost is known to be harmful to many seedlings. Therefore the best time to start seeds off indoors ranges from 6-12 weeks before the last frost date in your area. It really depends on which kind of seed you plant. Make sure to consult the seed packaging for more information on this. If you are new at growing seeds, consider starting with annuals or vegetables since these germinate in a short period of time and are easy to grow. Germinating is basically when the seedling emerges from the seed. To achieve germination there are also many requirements. http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-8703.html

As mentioned before, there are several requirements to get seeds to germinate. These requirements include temperature and water, both of which influence the seed greatly. Different seeds germinate at different rates. Again, check the packaging of your seeds to determine how long it will take for a seedling to start growing.

Seed Quality: When purchasing seeds, make sure your seeds are healthy. You don't want hollow seeds that have been stored improperly. If your seeds are of bad quality your success rate to get them to germinate will be quite low. If stored properly the seeds should last throughout the season.

Soil: Grow your seeds in seed growing soil. This is loose soil that drains well and allows air to penetrate. You can purchase this at your garden center or nursery. You don't want to use just regular garden soil because this is too heavy and doesn't drain well. You want your soil to be free of insects, weeds and weed seeds. http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-8703.html

Temperature: For seeds to germinate, certain temperatures are needed. Even though temperatures vary depending on the variety of seeds planted, most germinate exposed to a temperature of 70 to 85 degrees F. Seeds usually have a minimum, maximum and ideal temperature under which they will germinate. Some seeds have a wider temperature range than others. http://www.gardenersnet.com/atoz/germinat.htm http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-8703.html

Water: Another requirement to reach germination is water. Make sure that you keep the soil most before and after germination. It should not be soaked though.

Now that you are aware of all the requirements for planting seeds, you can actually start.

Planting seeds:

1. Read the complete instructions on the back of your seed packaging. Some seeds have various requirements before being sown. For instance, some need to be soaked for some period of time and others might need to be frozen. Make sure to do this.
2. Use containers that drain well and provide enough space for your seedling to grow. If you don't want to transplant the seedling to a larger pot half way through the process, start off in a larger container right away.
3. Fill containers with store bought seed growing soil mix up until 1/4 inch off the rim. http://www.thegardenhelper.com/growingseeds.html
4. Moisten the soil in the containers with water.
5. Use a store bought fungicide on your soil to prevent fungi. (follow packaging instructions)
6. How deep to plant your seeds depends on what kind of seeds you are using. (Check the packaging of the seeds) You can also plant seeds less deep than recommended and later top it off with soil.
7. Make sure to provide your seeds with heat. This can be in the form of a heating mat or just by putting them in a sunny window sill or near the fireplace.
8. Make a greenhouse effect. Doing this is as easy as placing your container in a plastic bag.
9. Wait for your seeds to germinate. This can take several days to a month depending on what you are growing.
10. Water frequently.
11. Make sure to provide plenty of light for your seedling (after germination). You can even use growing lamps if sunlight is not much available.
12. If you plant various different kind of seed, make sure to label the containers, so you know what they contain. It's also handy to start a gardening journal so you know exactly what is going on with each individual container.

After your seeds have sprouted and the weather outside starts getting warmer, you can transplant your seedlings outdoors.

Transplanting Seedling: The first thing you have to do when transplanting the seeds outdoors is let them acclimate. Do this by putting them outside in a shady location during the day and take them back inside at night when it gets colder. Extend the period of time you leave them outside over a period of 2 weeks gradually switching to a location with some sunlight. You eventually want to leave them outside overnight. This process is called hardening. Once the plants are used to the outside, you can plant them outside. Make sure to use healthy soil that drains well. Your garden center can give you instruction on how to test soil pH and can provide you with a test kit. Follow planting instructions that are geared towards the plants you are planting.http://www.thegardenhelper.com/growingseeds.html