Zinnia Seedlings + Basement Plant Setup

Update on our Zinnia seedlings & a peek at my basement plant growing set up!

The Zinnia seeds Braxton & I planted are starting to sprout!  They're doing so well that I already had to level them up into cups!

I'm seed starting upstairs where it's super warm but I'm quickly running out of space!  I needed to get my plant setup going in the basement ASAP!

I'm so far behind on my seed starting this year.  I always think it's going to be tedious, so I just never start.  Then when I finally start a flat of seeds, I realize it doesn't take very long at all!

I've been buying tons of random seeds on my Sunday Walmart trips.  Now I just need to take a day & devote to seed starting everything I have!  

The weather is supposed to be warmer next week so I might be able to shuffle some plants to the greenhouse.

It's just been a slow & lazy start to gardening this year for me.

My "setup" this year is super simple & not fancy at all. I wasn't even going to post it because it's so plain!  But the thing is...it works!  I had plans for a beautiful setup, but the lazy setup works just as well! 

I always want to go all out in everything I do.  Over the past few months, I really had to learn how to scale back & do the best I can at the time.  With the plant setup, I just have to keep telling myself that the goal is to grow plants & not have a pretty setup!

So here it is:

It's just plastic shelving & lights!  But it works!  I took these pictures this morning & I can already tell the difference in the Zinnia seedlings.  Because of the lights, they are no longer leaning to get to the sunlight like they did upstairs.

I used some empty flats to put the cups in.  I had some lids left from over the years so I just gently placed them on top.  I don't know if they're doing anything for heat, but every little bit helps!  It's not super cold in the basement so the seedlings should be fine.

All I have right now for lighting is an LED shop light & an LED lamp on the side. It seems to be doing a good job.

I spent some time last week leveling the plants up & moving them to the basement.  I picked up some clear totes on my last Walmart trip to put the plants in.  The totes are so helpful when I have to transport the plants from inside to outside in the later growth stages.

We'll see how much I end up getting planted this year.  I planted Yellow Pear Tomatoes for my grandma this afternoon.  I also have peppers & Roma tomatoes going right now.  Burpee is having a 25% off sale right now so I'm still looking over there for a few more things!  I want to get some type of squash & corn to direct sow into the garden.

Are you seed starting this year?  What are you planting?