Polk County Master Gardeners
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Starting Seeds
If you have the time to start your plants from seeds, you can have the
pure pleasure of seeing them sprout. It just takes a little extra work and a bit
of knowledge.
First, you need a sterile planting medium, so commercial potting soil is the
best choice. The next is something to put it in, and last week’s Mena Star
will do the trick. Cut strips about five inches wide and long enough to wrap
around a small juice can (or whatever can fits the diameter you want your pots
to be). Two sheets thick will do it. Write the name of the seed and planting
date along one long side of the paper. Roll around the can leaving a couple of
inches overhang at one end. Fold this under and press in place for the bottom of
the pot, slide your pot off the can, and staple at the top. Fill with potting
soil, moisten, set aside, and make another pot.
The next decision is when to plant them. The average last day of frost
in Mena is April 15. Add 21 to 28 days to the number of days the seed packet
says will be needed for the seeds to germinate. Count back this number from
April 15 to find the date to start the seeds. For instance, if your packet
specifies 12 days for germination, add the 21 to 28 days and get 33 to 40 days.
Counting back from April 15, you would start those seeds sometime between March
7 and March 14.
Usually a seed packet will have many more seeds in it than the number of
plants you want. To push your luck a little, start on the early end, say late
February, and then start another batch each week for three or four weeks. When
you put your first batch out early, they may well get frost nipped, but you’ll
have replacements waiting in the wings. And if the frost doesn’t come, you have
plants to give away. Makes you very popular with your gardening friends.
Planting depth is particularly important. If you plant them too deeply, you
will have poor germination. Best to follow the instructions on the seed packet,
but if that is not available, plant them about the depth of the diameter of the
seed. For very tiny seeds, just sprinkle a very few on top of the potting soil
and dust a bit of the potting soil over the seeds.
You will need to keep the planting medium moist and give them as much light
as possible. Misting with a spray bottle will avoid washing away tiny seeds. If
all your light comes from one side, turn the pot ¼ turn each day so the plants
will grow straight.
If you have managed to get too many seeds in the pot, the easiest way to thin
them is by snipping off the extras with scissors. That way you won’t damage the
ones you want to keep if their roots are tangled together.
When you are ready to transplant, you can put the entire pot in the garden.
The paper will decompose and the roots won’t be damaged. And you might have the
earliest tomatoes in town.
By Barbara M. Tobias
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