Starting Seeds

I purchased the "Seed Kit" a "complete garden in a can" on Amazon last month.  The site on the can is seedskit.com and the seller was "Poole and Son".  I was going to buy Heirloom seeds on Amazon but I figured that this can would be roughly 3 times cheaper than buying the packets individually.  It cost $40. Contains 50 non-hybrid non-GMO open pollinated seed varieties.

So what is the difference between non-hybrid open pollinated seeds and Heirloom? Both will produce viable seed year after year but from the limited research that I did it looks like Heirloom seeds are varieties that are from the 1940's and older. The difference also ties into the GMO debate but I got really lost when I started digging into that mess.

I'm starting my seeds in my garage under two shop lights with 40 watt florescent bulbs and one 60 watt incendecnt bulb for heat.  With just the lights I can get the temperature to about 85 degrees. Visit this blog for a nice chart on temperature and germination:
http://naturalgardening.blogspot.com/2009/03/vegetable-seed-germination-temperatures.html

I'm using seedling trays I bought years ago at a nursery supply store - they hold 200 to 800 seedlings per tray
(I have 4 sizes) and I can fit 4 of them under the 2 shop lights. The lights should be about 2 - 4 inches from the plants. Be sure to fertilize the plants soon after they sprout with a weak fertilizer solution. I planted my seeds in peat moss because it is sterile and that helps reduce the chance of damping off. Peat also hold the moisture well which is nice because the seed trays can dry up fast after the seeds have sprouted.