How to Start Squash Seeds Indoors

Buy peat pots or other plantable containers with attached watering trays or arrange them on old rimmed cookie sheets or other low, flat containers.

About four weeks before the last frost date for your area, fill the pots with moistened, sterile potting soil, packed firmly. Filling the pots all the way to the rim will allow airflow over the surface after seedlings have emerged and help prevent mold formation.

Plant seeds ¼ inch to ½ inch deep--three or four to a container--and cover them with soil, pressed firmly over seeds to ensure good contact for root growth.

Print the variety names on craft sticks with a waterproof marker and insert them into the pots.

Place the pots in plastic bags or cover them with plastic wrap to retain moisture until the seedlings come up.

Place the trays in a warm spot (about 70 degrees is ideal) and add water to the tray for bottom watering whenever the soil seems dry. Allow the plants to soak up water until the soil is damp but not wet to avoid damping off, a fungal problem that might kill your emerging seedlings. Pour off any excess water.

Snip out all but two seedlings per pot once seedlings have emerged and the leaves have opened.

Apply light within 12 inches of the emerging seedlings to prevent "legginess" and encourage strong stems. Raise the light as they grow taller, keeping it just above tops of the seedlings.

Harden off seedlings after three or four weeks by setting them outside in a protected spot for several hours each day when temperatures are mild. After about one week, if temperatures are consistently above freezing and the last frost date for your area is well past, transplant the seedlings to the garden, being sure not to disturb the roots.