SEEDY STARTS –PART 2

Gay Craig

University of California Cooperative Extension/ El Dorado Master Gardener

HOW DO I SET THE SEED?

OK, you are now ready to set the seeds in your seed containers. Fill your containers with the moistened soil and press down evenly over the surface. You want the soil firm but not packed. The depth the seed is planted is usually directly dependent upon the size of the seed. A good rule of thing is to plant the seed 2-3 times deeper than the diameter of the seed. Always read the seed packet for specific recommendations.

For smaller seeds, like onions, lettuce, or parsley, you sprinkle the seeds over the top of the soil, using several to lots of seeds per container. Then lightly sprinkle some soil from your soil tray over the top to create a covering up to ¼-inch of depth.

For small seeds that are going to become large plants (like tomatoes and peppers), poke a hole in the soil with a pencil or chopstick to the depth indicated on the seed packet. Then, with dry hands, select the seed and drop it over the hole. Push soil in over the top of the seed and pack it firmly.

Be sure and mark your seed containers so you will know what it is and which variety. It’s a good idea to mark how many days it takes for the seed to germinate (look on your seed packet), so you will have an expectation of when the seeds should emerge.

HOW DEEPLY SHOULD I COVER THE SEEDS?

It is very important to cover the seeds with some sort of plastic cover to keep the moisture in. The soil is nicely moist, and the covering should keep the seeds properly moist until they sprout. Ideally the cover should be 2-3 inches above the seed bed to allow some air circulation and room for the emerging seed. Ways to keep this moisture in: plastic grocery bags, plastic wrap coverings with popsicle sticks propping up the plastic. Nurseries sell plastic plant covers for this purpose at a low cost.

WHERE SHOULD I PUT THE SEEDS WHILE THEY ARE GERMINATING?

Put your seed trays in the house in a place where they receive an abundance of light, but not direct sun. Southeast, southern, and some southwestern exposures work very well. The indoor temperatures of 68° are ideal for seed germination.

WHAT CAN GO WRONG?

Look at your plants every day to make sure that nothing goes wrong. You probably don’t need to add any water to the plants, but be watchful to ensure that they are still moist. If they need some water, drizzle a little bit into the tray so that there is no more than 1/8 to ¼-inch of water in the bottom of the tray.

Excess moisture plus the warmth can cause “damping off”, which is a growth of a pathogen on the surface of the soil. It will appear as a fuzzy whitish-looking, like a small cobweb. These pathogens attack the seed and seedling, killing it before it can emerge. Should you see this occurring, you should first open up the plastic so that more fresh air is available. Then you can prepare a dilute solution of antifungal herbicide (available at your nursery - read the labels to find a fungicide which is ok to use on small emerging vegetable plants). Using a small hand-held sprayer, lightly spray the surface of the soil, and the fungus will disappear. Check back every two-to three days to make sure that no more fungus is growing.

If you have lots of moist plants in your plant room, you may start to see a lot of small flies, less than ¼-in, flying around the surface of the soil. These are fungus gnats, and they are using the moist soil to reproduce. The flies lay eggs on the soil, which become small larvae in the soil for 4-7 days, emerging as flies to start the cycle again. These are easily controlled by a substance called BT-I, or Bacillus thurengensis israelis. This substance is not readily available in California, but is can be found in many seed catalogs or on the Internet (just key in BT in your search engine, and you should be able to find it). BT is completely harmless to you, animals, or the soil. It is a natural substance which effectively gives the larvae “a tummy ache” from which they don’t recover. Mix the dosage indicated on the package, and use it to water the plant from the top (on small seedlings or before they emerge, use the sprayer method).

WHEN DO I TRANSPLANT?

Keep an eye on the bottom of your containers. On the very small containers, when the first root hairs appear, it is time to transplant the seedlings to a larger container. On the larger containers, you may get by without transplanting, but check them as well, and move up to a larger container if needed. In about six to eight weeks, your seedlings will be ready for transplanting to your outdoor garden.

WHAT ELSE MIGHT HELP ME BE SUCCESSFUL?

If you are really getting into seeds, do consider getting a small indoor greenhouse, which is ideal for starting seeds (you can keep your orchids, ferns and tender plants in here the rest of the year).

A real boon for seed sprouting is a heat mat specifically used for putting your seed trays on. The heat tray keeps the soil at a perfect temperature, speeding up the germination time appreciably. This heat is especially effective for seeds requiring warmer soils, such as pepper plants.