Seed Starting 101 Series: Seed Starting Equipment Set Up (2024)

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
You can read my full disclosure statement here.

(updated November 7, 2023) Today I am excited to share with you, all the tools, tips and equipment that I use when starting seeds indoors. To grow seeds successfully indoors, this is the seed starting equipment set up and supplies list you need to grow strong healthy seedlings!

Thank you for following along with me on my Seed Starting 101 series. Today we will be going over the essential seed starting equipment set up and supplies, that you need to successfully plant your seed indoors. I will also be sharing many of my tips for successfully starting your seeds indoors.

Things to Think About Before Starting Seeds Indoors:

First, please remember as we go along, that I grow a LOT of stuff. My goal here on our homestead, is to grow most of the fruits and veggies that we eat.

I also grow extra seed starts to sell, see how here: How to Make Money Selling Plants at Home. So please don't be overwhelmed by my set up. You can start with one tray of seeds, or 5 or 10, or more. That is all up to you.

IMPORTANT: Please also think about the space you have to dedicate to seed starting before you begin. It can easily take an entire room, or not.

But you have to plan for where it is going to go. If you have cats, inquisitive dogs or toddlers, you may want to put your seed starting project in a room with a door so you can keep them out.

It is horrible to have put in all the time and effort and then come find your cat has dug up your baby plants, or your dog or toddler has knocked a tray over. This happens far more often than you would believe, so I HIGHLY recommend starting seeds in a room with a door, so that you can keep inquisitive pets and toddlers out!

How to Grow Seedlings

In order to grow seedlings, you really need to have the proper set up of equipment if you are growing them indoors. They need heat, light, air movement, and these all require special equipment that I will outline below.

If you are not interested in using equipment, I highly suggest growing seedlings using the Winter Sowing method, and you can check that article out for more tips and a planting schedule that is available as a print out.

Different plants, have different growing requirements however, so how you grow a seedling, really depends on that plants particular needs. You can see more of my seed starting articles here for more tips on specific plants.

OK, now onto the big seed growing supplies list!

To see all of my seed starting supplies on Amazon, check out my Seed Starting Equipment Supply List in my Amazon store!

The essential seed starting equipment and supplies I use to start seeds indoors are:

• Basic 10x20 plant trays without drainage holes, to hold your seedlings.
• Humidity dome covers for your plant trays
• A spray mister to keep your seeds damp until germination.
• Inserts for the trays to plant your seeds in, such as 6-packs or a soil blocking tool.
• Seed starting mix or potting mix as well as your seeds.
• Heat mats for warm season crops such as tomatoes and peppers.
• Grow lights for strong healthy seedlings plus a timer for your lights.
• Plug strips for your heat mats, lights and fan(s), or a plug strip/timer combo for your lights.
• A 24” x 48” wire shelving rack to hang your grow lights from and for all your flats of seedlings to call home until they move outside. If you are just growing one flat of seedlings, a table top grow light system may be all you need.

Seed Starting Equipment List:

Now I will share a little bit more info on how things work and go over in more detail why I consider all of these items to be essential in your seed starting set up.

10x20 Plant trays:

-

-

These plant trays are the first essential thing you need in your seed germination equipment. Baby plants to not like to be watered from over head.

They want to be watered from the bottom. So trays allow you to do that.

Make sure that you get trays WITHOUT drainage holes. If there are drainage holes, that defeats the purpose of watering from the bottom, as you want to fill the tray with water, and let the plants absorb the water from the bottom.

These trays are rather flimsy, but the price is good.

Heavy duty 10x20 plant trays:

-

-

I get a lot of folks asking me about my trays that they see in my photos. They are these heavy duty Perma-Nest plastic trays.

They are a bit more expensive than the traditional black ones you see, but they will last a really really long time and I highly recommend them!

Seed tray covers/domes:

-

-

Keeping the seeds moist is super important to get the seeds to germinate.Seeds require a moist, yet not soggy wet environment to germinate. These plant tray covers/humidity domes keep just the right amount of humidity in until the seeds germinate.

When most of the seeds in the flat have germinated, you remove the covers. You could get away with just covering the trays with Saran Wrap but watering becomes a bit tricky.

These covers make it all a bit easier and I highly recommend them. Make sure you get ones that work with your seed trays.

Spray Mister:

-

-

A spray mister is all you need to water the seeds with and keep them moist until they germinate. After the seeds have started germinating, remove the dome covers, and begin watering the plants from the bottom only.

6-pack Seed Starting Containers:

-

-

Next, you will need to decide what type of containers to start your seeds in. I usually go with six packs and I keep them from year to year.

I find that the little jiffy pellets that you add water too and they swell up, dry out too fast because they are only peat moss usually and have no actual soil in them, and the plastic surrounding the soil helps keep the moisture in.

So I don't recommend those jiffy pellets.

Or go Container Free and use a Soil Blocking tool:

-

-

Or you could go without a container and use a soil blocking tool, which is of course the more earth friendly way to go. This takes a bit of practice to perfect, with getting the soil to water ratio just right, and packing it hard enough, but once you get it down, it's quite easy.

Seed Starting Medium:

There are so many opinions and recipes on how to make your own seed starting medium online, if that is something that you are interested in doing. Or you can purchase a seed starting mix.

Instead of mixing my own as many people will suggest, I go the easy route and buy large bags of potting mix at Costco.

They now carry an organic potting soil with moisture control by Miracle Grow and that is what I use. I did not see the exact same product on Amazon, it is similar to this potting mix, but a white bag and it is organic and of course much larger, if you buy it at Costco.

It is usually a 55 quart bag and sells for around $8-10 each at Costco. Costco usually has it in stock starting in February through May.

-

-

It has worked very well for me, but you do you and make your own if you like. There are a million recipes for making your own seed starting mix online.

I usually buy 10 of these bags at a time, dragging a reluctant teenager or husband with me to help manage the heavy cart and loading and unloading. I also use this to refresh my potting soil in all of my container plants, including tomatoes and peppers.

Heating Mats:

-

-

For many plants, such as tomatoes and peppers, you will need a heat mat under the plant tray to raise the temperature of the soil for germination to take place quickly. Consult your seed packet for recommended growing conditions and preferred soil temperatures for seeds to germinate.

If you keep your house cool, or are starting your seeds in a cool basem*nt or garage, I highly recommend getting a bunch of these to warm up those baby plants and to help the seed germinate faster.

But a reminder, if you are using heating mats, the seedlings will dry out a bit faster, so be sure to not let them dry up completely!

Grow Lights:

Lights are really an essential item also especially in the winter with such short daylight hours. They need enough consistent light to be equivalent to a long summer day.

Placing your seedlings by a window will not provide enough light. You will get leggy plants as they search out the light from the moving sun, and leggy plants equal unhealthy weak plants.

-

-

I have always just used inexpensive fluorescent shop lights, but these are nearly impossible to find these days as LED fixtures are now what is available. But if you have some available to you, by all means, give them a try.

But if you are looking for new light fixtures, these lights are the best that I have found. I hang them on a chain from an "S" hook on my grow rack, so that it is very easy to move the lights up as needed.

Timer:

To get the lights to be on the correct amount of time each day, using a timer makes life easier.

-

-

Plug Strips:

Plug the timer directly into the wall and then plug aplug strip into the timer, and then the lights into the plug strip. If you are growing more than one flat of seedlings, you will more than likely need at least one plug strip, I have one for all my lights, and one for all my heating mats.

-

-

Plug Strip/Timer Combo:

Or consider getting this plug strip/timer combo which would work great for lights. You may need a seperate plugstrip for your heat mats though as you will want them on all the time.

-

-

Plant Grow Rack - Wire Shelving:

I prefer to start my seedlings on a shelving unit, where I can fit 3-4 flats on each shelf. I actually use two of these units, but I don't use all of the shelves, I only leave 3 shelves between the top and bottom spacing the shelves evenly to allow a little more height between the shelves for the seedlings to grow.

I then hang the lights from the shelf above, and as the plants grow, move the lights up using s-hooks and chains.

Ideally, keeping the lights only an inch or so above the plants, so moving the lights often. I use it this way from New Years Day until spring, and then I keep my house plants on it, so it really makes the perfect plant growing rack!

If you have the space to put this at ground level, the wheels on the rack make it so easy to harden off your seedlings simply by rolling the entire rack outside as needed!

-

-

If you are only doing a flat or two of seeds, a simple light rack system will be adequate placed on a table top.

-

-

Fans:

Fans are a good idea to increase air circulation and it helps build stronger seedlings. The air movement helps simulate wind in the real world, and helps the plants grow stronger stems.

Having a couple of small fans also prevent mold and other fungus from growing with better air circulation. Ideally you want a small fan that oscillates.

If your fan doesn't oscillate, be sure to move the fan around from day to day, so the plants get wind from different directions to help them build the strongest stem possible.

-

-

Plant Labels:

Labels are a really good idea so you know what is what, especially when you plant multiple varieties of the same type of plant. I like these plastic labels and keep them and reuse them year to year.

-

-

Fade proof Garden Plant Markers:

I use these weatherproof marking pens and they DO NOT FADE like many others do such as Sharpies.

-

-

Up Potting to Solo Cups or 4" pots:

Some things will likely need to be repotted into larger pots, before they go out into the garden. Usually it is tomatoes and peppers for me as night time temperatures are still too cold for them to go right into the ground.

I like using the Solo cups because you can plant the tomatoes deeper in them. See more tips on transplanting tomatoes seedlings. Be sure to cut drainage holes in them if you choose to use them!

You can see if you can find free pots and reuse them from local nursery's or on craigslist or local facebook buy/sell/trade or buy nothing groups.

Be sure to disinfect them well, see how to disinfect all your seed starting supplies and containers.

-

-

-

Greenhouses:

Usually in early April, I am able to move my tomato and pepper starts out into one of my two greenhouses.

Last year I bought a second one of these greenhouses, mostly for using for selling my extra plant starts, but after that season was done in the spring, it allowed me to house even more tomato plants for the summer!

-

-

It is much more lightweight than the older greenhouse I had. It was also way easier to set up as the entire plastic shell was one piece and not as tall as my other one. Both of these greenhouse come in many different sizes, but I had the 10' x 20' in each.

-

-

This greenhouse is probably my most favorite gardening purchase I have ever made since we have such a short growing season here in the PNW. Cold frames are another great way to extend the growing season, see my article on How to Build a Straw Bale Cold Frame.

Final Transplant - Larger Pots:

Before you move your seedlings outside, be sure to harden them off correctly! This is a CRITICAL step!!! See my article here about How to Harden Off Seedlings. If you don't harden them off, they will go into shock and die, and that would be such a shame!

Eventually the baby plants get up-potted again, or put out into the garden. I like to grow my tomatoes in pots that are about the size of 5 gallon buckets, similar to these.

They do better in pots in a shorter cooler growing climate like here in the Pacific Northwest, because the roots stay warmer above ground, than below. I like to have them grow up on a cattle panel that is mounted onto t-posts and I tie the plants to the panel as they grow.

-

-

If you too like to plant your veggies in pots, ask around at your local nurseries and see if they have any old tree pots you can have. Check on Craigslist or your local Freecycle for folks who are trying to get rid of them.

Be sure to wash them out well and disinfect properly, before using. After all the hard work you have done starting these seedlings, you don't want to give them a fungus or bacterial infection from used pots.

I then keep about half of my tomatoes, and all of my peppers in the greenhouse for the rest of the growing season. Of course you can always transplant into the ground as well.

Fertilizer:

Once the seeds have germinated, I begin adding Fish Emulsion Fertilizer to the water. I dilute it to about 1 TBSN per gallon.

-

-

Watering:

Watering with a long spout by using a watering can like this, makes watering the seed starts that are still in the trays much easier. You can just lift one corner of the seed pack and pour in until the tray is about halfway full.

Be sure to let the seedlings dry out completely before watering. It is ok to even let them begin wilting just slightly before watering.

Over watering seedlings is a common problem that causes damping off and unhealthy seedlings as well as fungus and gnats and a whole host of problems.

-

-

Final Thoughts On Seed Starting Equipment

To see all of my seed starting supplies on Amazon, check out my Seed Starting Set Up and Supply List in my Amazon store!

OK, now that you know what I consider to be essential seed starting equipment, please follow along in my series, Seed Starting 101 . In this series I will teach you how to plant and take care of many types of seed starts over the next few months.

Don't forget to harden off those baby plants, exposing them just a little bit outside at a time in a sheltered area, and letting them stay out there a little bit longer each day. Hardening them off, and remembering to feed and water them, are really all you need to do after planting to keep them thriving.

Is there anything else you would add to my seed starting equipment set up and supplies list? I hope you found this list of plant growing equipment helpful. Sign up for my helpful Seed Starting Checklist below!

Don't forget to check out my Seed Starting 101: Winter Sowing article which shows you how to start seeds outdoors without using all the equipment listed above.

Also, see how I store my seeds in my article How to Keep Your Seed Stash Organized !

And lastly, don't forget to Harden Off Your Seedlings!!!!

Happy Planting!

Want to Remember This?

Get your seed starting equipment set up and supplies list organized now, for healthy seedlings this spring!

Please Save my "Seed Starting 101 Series: Essential Seed Starting Equipment" article to your favorite gardening board on Pinterest!