Grow Houseplants from Seed

Want to grow unusual houseplants that you can’t find in stores or even online? Try growing
houseplants from seed. A surprising number of houseplants can be easily grown from seed.
Houseplants that Grow From Seed
African violet
Asparagus fern
Cactus
Coleus
English ivy
Palm, ponytail palm
Peace lily (spathiphyllum)
Rubber tree
Succulents, including aloe vera, living stones and sansevieria
How to Grow Houseplants from Seed
The secret to growing houseplants from seed is keeping the seed moist when it’s
germinating and providing the seedlings with good lighting once they come up and begin to
grow.
Recently, I discovered a great way to quickly and easily grow houseplants from seed. The
AeroGarden Seed Starting System works like a dream when it comes to planting houseplant
seed. Using the system, I grew beautiful coleus plants from seed in just 37 days.
The AeroGarden system also works well for edibles, like strawberry plants, which also did
well in my first combined batch of plants. Just two months after planting little, bitty alpine
seeds I have plants that are fruiting!
Using the AeroGarden Seed Starting System is super easy. I have to admit that I was
shocked at just how easy. You simply fill the AeroGarden with water; insert grow sponges
into the seed starting tray; place the tray in the machine, and sprinkle seeds inside of the
sponges. Once that’s done, you add provided liquid fertilizer into the water and program

the system. The system will cycle water at certain intervals to keep the seeds moist. Lighting
turns on and off automatically. All you have to do is watch to see when it’s time to add
water and/or fertilizer. And of course enjoy the show!
Transplanting the baby houseplants when they’re ready is also a breeze. You just lift each
grow sponge with the plant out of the tray and plant. One word of caution—don’t wait too
long to transplant your houseplant seedlings. I did that with a few coleus and the roots
were intertwined quite a bit. I did manage to untangle them, but it was work that could
have been avoided had I transplanted a week earlier.
If you wish to plant seedlings in soil instead of an AeroGarden, keep the following tips in
mind.
Use a seed starting tray that contains drainage holes.
Fill the tray with damp, lightweight seed starting mix.
Sprinkle houseplant seed on the top of the seed starting mix. Cover with a fine layer of
more seed starting mix.
Spray the top of the soil with a fine mist of water to completely dampen the soil.
Cover the seed starting tray to keep in moisture and hasten germination.
Keep the soil moist but not soggy while the seeds germinate. If allowed to dry out, the little
seedlings may expire!
Once the seedlings emerge, place the seed starting tray in a location with bright light. An
unobstructed eastern or southern window will work well during the spring and summer
months, but it may not provide enough light in the fall and winter months. In that case,
you’ll want to provide them with supplemental LED or full-spectrum lighting. Keep young
houseplants moist at all times.
In the next blog post, we’ll discuss how to get baby houseplants to grow big and healthy!