When do you plant your garden seeds indoors?

[Dumbo]

When you start seeds indoors how many weeks before planting do you start them?

A lot of the seed packets I have say start indoors 8-10 weeks before last frost. But everyone I know only plant their gardens about 3 weeks after the last frost, around the 1st of June (zone 5a).

What do you do? Or, how long do you start them indoors for? Do you follow what is stated on the seed package?

[Eeyore]

Use the planting out date and count back from there. Personally I go with the longer time to giver myself plenty of time to harden off.

[Dumbo]

Oh, that's right. I forgot about the hardening off time. So you give yourself about an extra couple of weeks?

[Eeyore]

Yes. I live in Edmonton and we can never be sure of the weather so I don't plant out until about June 5th but I start hardening off around May 20th.

[Lulu]

Depending on how stir crazy I am, how long or hard the winter was, and what I intend on growing, and how big the plant(s) will be, I usually start planting seeds mid February, then every week or two, for the next month or two. Right now, I have 3 1/2 flats started, but they are all slow growing stuff.

This being said, I am perfectly set up for this entire process, with a lot of south facing windows, heat mats, a small portable greenhouse, and an outside green house (6' x 8'). Oh, and two regular ovens, that I also use to get seeds started!

I am nearly worn out, by the time it's safe to plant outside! But,,it's all part of the fun and I love it!