When I first bought my seeds from Hawthorn Farm back in December, I was so excited! Mostly because each package had about 150-300 seeds in them for about 3$ each. I thought to myself, what a steal!
As a first year gardener, I've heard over and over again that it's better to start with seedlings rather than seeds. Simply because sewing seeds are much more demanding to care for. I believe that there's no better way to learn than to jump right in so that's exactly what I've been doing! Determined to find the biggest bang out of my hard-earned cash, these are some of the experiments I've played with.
A few methods trialed to germinate:
cardboard seed starter trays
cardboard single starter cups
plastic seed starter tray
plastic single starter cups/small pots
regular sized plastic pots
A few methods trialed for sewing seeds in seed starters:
Filled seed starters 3/4 full with soil
filled seed starters with soil up to rim
played with alternate seed planting depths (and not always what the package recommends)
filled with soil, then sew in seed
filled 3/4 with soil, add seeds, then top off with more soil
Filled cups with very packed, semi-packed and loosely packed soil
I've tried so many methods because I haven't been able to find one that works consistently well for my 6a environment as of yet. My main issue is the lack of sun in a consistent location. That means, there's A LOT of plant tetris over here. I refuse to give up until I find a suitable option! I'm determined to eat fresh lettuce almost all year long.
The method in which I'm sinking my teeth in next, is starting the lettuce seeds in regular sized plastic pots, approx 4 inches diameter.
The thought behind this is to hopefully not need to transplant them multiple times and space them out a bit better within the same pot. Also, it would be great to have some versatility by choosing between microgreens, baby greens and full blown lettuces when they grow.
OK - so we have the environment and location of our greens picked. Now, how many seeds should I sew?
At first, I was planting one itty bitty seed at a time, like the little oblivious gardener I am. So excited to see every seed sprout. After a while, I began to notice that not all seeds sprout (gasp!). Especially some of the older ones I had found sitting in an old cupboard. I think most of those old seeds have a 70% chance of germination, and when they finally sprouted, they looked somewhat scattered and unevenly dispersed. To my obsessive-compulsive self, this was not sitting well with me at all.
The next time I seeded, I placed a few within the same spot. I was not going to be fooled again by some rookie mistake! A few days later, to my pleasure, there were MANY seeds that sprouted. A few more days followed, and to my demise, they all died.
WHAT. THE. HELL.
This is when I started to learn about thinning.
As I continue to familiarize myself to the world of gardening, I started to hear of this term called thinning. Thinning is the process of trimming down the amount of seedlings that pop through, making enough space between each to be able to grow within that space. Thinning didn't make much sense to me at first, because the point of gardening from seed is to grow as much as possible, for less! So why would I want to purposely thin and kill off seedlings? 🤷
Turns out, there's a logical reason to thin seedlings after all.
Here's why:
1. Roots will compete for space
2. Seedlings will struggle to mature
3. Seedlings will die from leaf overcrowding and lack of nutrients
Each one of these issues are somewhat overlapping one another. Once sprouts begin to emerge, they all look super great and healthy. Things begin to take a turn once the first set of leaves (or leaflets) are well established and getting ready for the next set. The following leaves are called the first "true leaves". These are the very first distinguishable leaves of your plant that will begin to appear. At this stage, the seedlings are (1) competing for space and (2) trying to mature. Roots are starting to establish, and the strongest of the bunch grows bigger, towering and shadowing the rest, (3) overcrowding from leaves and a lack of sufficient nutrients.
The perfect medium, *based purely on my experience of trial and error*, is to sew 2-3 seeds per hole or spot. So instead of just planting one seed at a time, try planting 2 or 3 seeds within the same spot of that row (e.g., 3 seeds, 4 inch space, 2 seeds, 4 inch space, etc...). When sprouts begin to emerge, pinch off the weakest looking seedling. The strongest one will flourish and take up the space where it was planted.
I'm still learning what method is the best way to stretch out the seeds, get plenty of green thumb practice and bountiful harvests within the same season!
I would love to learn about your methods and techniques if you've found something different to be successful. One for sure thing I've learned out in the garden, is that there is more than one way to achieve the same result. That lesson can be applied to literally everything in life, right?!
Happy experimenting, avid botanists 🌱🌸
- Liv
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