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Sutton Seeds Planting Tips |
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It's really a breeze to start plants from seed. If you've chosen any of Sutton's new Throw and Grow varieties of annuals, all you have to do is sprinkle the pelleted seeds over lightly-prepared ground outside, water in, and except for a little weeding while they get established, that's it. Nothing could be easier, and of course you have Sutton's good germination rate going for you as well. Starting perennials and half-hardy annuals takes a little bit more effort, but not much. You'll need: - clean small containers (commercial cell packs work well, but paper cups or small pots are fine too, as long as they have drainage holes in the bottoms), - sterile seed-starting mix (readily available at any garden centre), and - fluorescent lights or a sunny window. Moisten the seed-starting mix and fill the containers. Tamp the soil lightly to firm it a bit. Then sprinkle (or place, depending on the size of the seed) the seed, one to three in a small container. Most seeds can then be covered with a thin layer of seed-starting mix or fine vermiculite, but some seeds require light to germinate properly; the packet will usually give you this information. These should be gently pressed into the soil and left uncovered. Set the pot in a shallow container of water until the soil is quite moist. Until they germinate, the seeds do not need a lot of light, but sometimes bottom heat is advantageous, so somewhere like the top of the fridge is a good place to put them. Keep them lightly moist; bottom watering works best at this stage. As soon as the seeds have germinated they need light. Move the containers under fluorescent lights or into a sunny window. If you are using lights, keep the seedlings a few inches away from the light, adjusting as necessary; ordinary "cool white" fluorescent tubes work ok, or you can buy broad spectrum tubes made specifically for plant growing. Keep the soil just lightly moist, either by bottom watering, or by using a sprayer, so as not to knock over the tiny plant. If more than one of your seeds has germinated in each container, you should cut off all but one with scissors when they have developed two pairs of "true" leaves. Once your seedlings have reached the two-pairs-of true-leaves stage, they can be lightly fertilized every two weeks using a dilute fertilizer . Make sure they have good air circulation to deter fungus growth and rot. At about five weeks along, or when the roots start to just show through the drainage holes, the seedlings can be potted on onto a slightly larger container. Continue watering and feeding. About a week or two before planting the seedlings in the garden, they should be gradually exposed to the outdoor conditions, a process called "hardening off", by leaving them in a shady, sheltered spot outside. Bring them back indoors if the temperature goes below 5C. After a week or two the plants can be transferred from their pots to a new home in the garden. Dig a good-sized hole and add some compost or other good soil. Plant the little plants carefully, preferably on a shady day, spreading out the roots a bit, and watering in well. When the plants are established and growing well, mulch them around -- but not touching -- the stem, to conserve moisture and give them a cooler root run. If you are planning to grow your plants in containers, use a potting mix especially for containers (ordinary garden soil is too dense), or mix your own using 1 part potting soil, 1 part well-rotted maure, compost or leaf mould, and 1 part coarse sand. Add a slow-release fertilizer, or fertilize using a dilute fertilizer with a high middle number every two or three waterings. SWEET PEAS Here are some tricks we've learned from customers over the years. These are easy to grow in most
parts of Canada provided you start early. They like cool weather, preferring to be planted as soon as
your soil can be worked. Sweet Peas are heavy feeders and love a deeply dug rich soil with plenty of
manure. It's a good idea to pre-start your seed indoors by placing them on a
moistened paper towel in a poly bag for a day or two just before planting. |
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Click here to return to the Seeds main page. |
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© 2008
Gardenimport.com |
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