My seed comes from different sources - gardening friends, theft, Diggers (no longer a member as I wasn't buying enough to warrant paying the membership fee), eBay (will keep this to a minium as didn't feel I had good results, but to be fair, that might have been other influences like the weather), Green Harvest and even an American company Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Seedlings I buy from Caboolture Markets mostly - there are quite a few particularly good outlets selling quality product at a great price. No doubt there are other farmers markets around doing the same in your area, but the Cab. Mkts are well worth a visit at least once. Huge and with great variety of plants, produce and lots more. Come early for a good park - no later than 7.30am. I've never had trouble.
I found when I was growing my own seedlings in the beginning that I had a hard time keeping them looking healthy. None looked like the beauties I bought commercially.
They need watering every morning, without fail. I water all of my plants in the morning if possible as it helps to avoid fungal infections and I think it just sets them up for the heat of the day. Water is vital - if you don't have time to water in the morning then do it later in the day as any water is better than none. DO NOT let them dry out for any length of time.
They need to be placed in a position which gets good light but not too much direct sunlight during the day. If you grow them in a shady spot and then try to plant them out into direct sunlight they may burn and die. You will need to harden them off. Best to just grow them in good light from the beginning.
They need nutrient. They're only growing in tiny amounts of soil with limited nutrient added. I find I'm not particularly fond of commercial seed raising mix but haven't had enough experience to suggest alternatives. The weed tea seems to give it the boost it needs.
I treat all of my seedlings like babies...you wouldn't leave your baby lying in the sun all day with no shelter, water or food. Don't do it to your seedlings!
I did heaps of research trying to find a stand to grow them on - most were hugely expensive or too hard to bring home - and ended up with this from Deals Direct for about $30 on special delivered. It's lasted for well over a year but will need replacing soon. Good enough for the outlay, but I keep my eyes open for something more permanent.
I was at a compost workshop yesterday and the speaker was talking about non-aerobic compost made in a similar way, but with the air excluded. Noone there seemed to have success with this method - may as well just do this.
Ingredients for the tea....water and then I add whatever is to hand, usually: a handful of Organic Xtra (love the stuff and it's made locally), about a cup each of molasses, seaweed extract, some epsom salts, perhaps some potash if I have it and then of course some "weed" - whatever is to hand but usually stuff which is leafy (Comfrey is great) along with any fallen fruit which has caterpillars etc in it (give me great pleasure to drown these and use them as nutrient for my plants) .
I do not get all technical about these things - I don't measure anything out.
In the beginning I asked many people how they went about their weed teas and many had firm beliefs about what should and shouldn't be done. For instance, "use it all up in a week". It's true, it can go smelly if you keep it too long but I don't believe it loses any of it's nutrient value if you do . I often refill the bucket with water if there is still plenty of organic matter going on.
Occassionally I will get complaints from visitors about the smell when I tip out the contents into the garden ready to start again. I am blessed (?) with a poor sense of smell and can't appreciate the aroma ;) I leave that to others. Maybe I should be feeling sorry for my neighbours...nah.
Use this concoction to water your seedlings each morning, making sure that you give to each little plant and each is thoroughly drenched.
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