Growing Your Food - Why to Start Your Seeds Indoors

Published March 17, 2022
Updated July 28, 2025

Learn about extending the growing season by using an indoor seedling rack. This post is part I of a two part series. In part I, we’ll be discussing why you should use an indoor rack to start your seeds, what seeds to start indoors and how to read the seedling packet, and why you should consider building your own rack.

This post is all about starting seeds indoors.

Table of Contents

It’s time to start planting!

March is the month to start seedlings here in my area in New Jersey. We’re so excited to start planting in preparation for the upcoming growing season.

But wait, isn’t it too cold outside to start planting outside?

You’re right! In my area, it’s too cold outside for us to plant warm weather crops. So we can start growing indoors by using seedling racks. If you’re unsure of when to start sowing your seeds, or plant seedlings if you choose to get your starts from the store, check out these posts:

What is a Seed Starting Rack

A seed starting rack is used to start your seeds indoors. The rack can be made out of different types of material like wood or metal. Grow lights are attached to the rack to provide warmth and light to grow the plants indoors. It is also a way to vertically grow your plants, which saves space. So if you don’t have a ton of space – no worries! You only need a little bit of space for a seed starting rack.

Why start your seedlings indoors

Growing seeds indoors allows a gardener to extend their growing season. Plants get a head start indoors instead of waiting until the weather is warmer and then planting.

What seeds to start indoors and seed packets

There are a number of seeds are started inside. Pay close attention to the seed packet. It gives you all the seed starting know-how that you need. The packet bullets out whether you need to start the seeds indoors, or be directly sown. Direct sowing is when the seeds are planted right into the soil outside. These are plants that easily take off when they’re planted outside. For example, it’s not recommended that radishes are started indoors. Radishes are sensitive to having their roots disturbed. Plants like squash and cucumbers can also be grown right outside.

I put together a small list of plants that can be started indoors. However, this is not a full list of plants that are started indoors.

Tomatoes
Eggplants
Squash
Lettuce
Onions
Kale
Broccoli
Brussel sprouts

So far we planted: tomatoes (Roma, San Marzano, cherry and grape varieties, and beefsteak), onions, and lettuce.

Why you should consider building your own seed starting rack

In looking at the seed starting racks that are available on the market, a majority of them are quite expensive. There weren’t too many options that would suit our needs, the space we’re dedicating to seed starting, or fit what we wanted to spend. These are all things that need to be considered when seed starting.

Usually you’ll see people start their seeds near a window. While that may be a good option to germinate seeds, it can be challenging to make sure the seedlings are getting ample amounts of light. Without proper light, plants can become ‘leggy’. ‘Leggy’ means the stem becomes long but it’s not very strong. This happens when plants are “reaching” for the light. Even if the seedlings are kept in a south facing window, there is a shorter period of light in winter and early spring. Most seedlings enjoy 12 to 16 hours of light. Additionally, windows can have UV-blocking and reflective coatings.

This post was all about starting seeds indoors.

Are you going to be starting your seeds indoors? Comment below about your set up!