Tomatoes and peppers are grown in greenhouses, so technically you can grow them indoors if all the conditions (heat, light, fertilization, pollination, and watering) are right. We depend on bees to pollinate the tomato and pepper blossoms and a warm, sunny location with compost in our soil. I start seeds near a west facing window and hope for enough sun for my seedlings. Woe is me! Seattle has had a long, cold, grey spring and some of my seedlings, stretching for light, developed long, weak stems and aren’t viable to transplant outside. My sugar snap peas, sweet peas, and zuchini look good and are now in the garden. The leafy greens, spinach and lettuce, and broccoli and cauliflower failed. Just yesterday I seeded them, along with carrots and beets, in the garden. The jury is still out on my tomato seedlings. They are pretty small, but I don’t usually plant them in the garden until after Mothers Day.

On your question about soil: Garden soil often has a lot of clay in it which tends to compact when watered in pots. Seeds don’t need sterile soil, but they do tend to germinate better in a lighter soil mix. I also use potting soil in my big flower pots outside.

Jan Rodda