It's Never Too Early

Why Start Early? It's fun to experience the whole growing cycle as you watch baby seedlings grow into sturdy plants that bear delicious fruit. We often need to give plants a critical head start by germinating and growing seedlings in the warm indoors in early spring. Then when it warms up outdoors in late spring, we can plant out sturdy, well-established seedlings to bear fruit before cold weather sets in. Favorites like tomatoes and peppers are both plants that need a long warm growing period to set and ripen a good crop. Except in the most tropical areas, all U.S. summers are too short for them to complete their fruiting cycles before summers end if started directly in the ground, since seeds wont germinate until frosts have ended and weather warms up.
Seeds started indoors require the same basic conditions as those started outside. But since their environment must be artificially maintained, it takes a little more attentiveness. Just as for all plants, the three basic requirements are soil, light and water. But in each case there are special considerations.
When seedlings receive insufficient light they become tall and spindly or "leggy." Seedlings need a lot of light. Even if you have a window that receives full sun, you might need to supplement it with artificial light. Because our visual system is so sophisticated, people rarely realize the incredible quantitative difference between natural and artificial light. It would be all but impossible to recreate the intensity of direct sunlight. To compensate, you'll need much longer growing days. Use bulbs that are specifically made for growing plants and place them just a foot or so above your seedlings. You'll want to keep these lights on at least 14 hours a day. Fluorescent tubes are ideal because they won't produce as much heat which can quickly dry out your seedlings.
The third ingredient is moisture, and this is the one that will require the most attention. You want to keep the medium moist, but not let it become wet or soggy. In general, it is best to water from below, allowing the medium to soak up the water like a sponge. To promote germination, many gardeners cover the flats or pots with plastic wrap. This keeps the planting medium both warm and moist, but must be removed as soon as the plants sprout. Otherwise, you risk suffocating your young seedlings. I have already planted our tomato plants for this year and they are doing great under our CFL light.

I plan on starting some Swiss Chard the next few days along with some more tomato plants. The great thing about Swiss Chard is that it a cold resistant and it will live through a late frost. For right now this is all I have growing but I do plan on adding more within the next couple of weeks.