What To Do When Your Indoor Seeds Are Growing Much Faster Than Advertised?

This is my first year of growing seeds indoors, and I must admit I covered every angle of this process to perfection. I bought the right seeds, grow lights, heating mat etc... and have religiously followed many expert bloggers advice. In fact I did too good of a job -- my seedlings are growing way too fast! After 10 days, they are where I thought they would be after one month. Growth has been phenomenal and has exceeded my expectations. My seedlings began emerging: Cauliflower-2 days Broccoli- 3 days Tomato- 3 days Lettuce- 3 days Pepper- 4 days After about 2 months, I was told I would need to transplant into bigger (3 X 3", or 4 X 4") pots, at which point I would be ready to place them outside in my greenhouse. According to plan, this would have occurred in late March. However, it's looking like many of my seedlings will be ready for this process before the end of February. Closer view of a variety of peppers and tomatoes. A Chilling Thought The thought of putting these plants outside in a greenhouse in late February is a little troublesome for me. In Virginia the average temperature still dips below freezing on most nights. Even in a greenhouse, this might put too much stress on the little fellas. My Cauliflower's were the first to emerge, after just two days! They are already several inches high. Thinking Ahead For several weeks, my new plants will need a "half-way" house -- between the time they graduate from the seed tray to when they get a new temporary home in the greenhouse. So I am already starting to plan in advance. Despite living in a small, crowded house with very little extra room, I have identified 6 spaces next to windows where I can place trays. Each tray fits 18 3X3" pots, which will cover 108 plants. 72 plants can go back under my grow lights. This still leaves several dozen plants unaccounted for. Oh well, I'll have to cross that bridge when I get there. Next year I will start my indoor seeds one month later ... you live and you learn.