Start Your New Garden From Seeds Or Seedlings?

 

When you start to grow your own vegetables the first decision has to be: Do I grow my plants from seeds or seedlings? This is often a puzzling question for new gardeners. It's tempting to go to the garden store and buy those beautifully displayed, healthy seedlings. On the other hand raising plants from seed is very satisfying and we begin to learn how the process works best for the time when we're ready to gather the seeds from our own crops.

Buying seedlings

Commercially produced seedlings have been grown from good seed stock and are standing up ready to plant. The plants are usually between four to eight weeks old and have survived the germination period to the point where they are ready to face the world alone. Seedlings are usually available from garden stores only when the time is right for replanting, so there's no need to worry about whether you've left your tomatoes too late in the season or are in danger of exposing your pumpkins to frosts.

On the negative side, you may find yourself restricted to a limited variety of plants depending on the season and the amount of stock the store is prepared to carry. Buying vegetable seeds come in packets of 50 to 1000, depending on the variety, so growing from seeds is obviously cheaper. Oberon Some seeds will germinate directly in your garden, while others will need to be carefully nursed in seed trays until ready for planting out. What will germinate in the garden? Root crops such as carrots and beetroot are best germinated directly in the garden bed. Once planted, these delicate roots don't like to be disturbed. Lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower can also be sown directly into the garden bed, but will need to be pricked out once they germinate.

Advantages of seed trays If your garden space is limited, starting seeds in trays allows you to use the space for other plants while the seedlings are reaching maturity. Also, while safely growing indoors or in a protected area, tender seeds are protected from pests such as slugs and snails.

A simple seed tray to make yourself

Seeds can be sprouted in just about any container that will allow root space. Cardboard egg cartons are a favourite because the egg cavity is just the right size for filling with seed raising mixture. namdhari seeds Make a hole for drainage at the bottom of each egg cup, add the seed raising mix, moisten the mix and plant a seed into each cup. Then cover the seed with more seed raising mix and press it down evenly. Cover the tray with a plastic bag to retain moisture.

When seeds are ready to plant out, soak the carton for about 24 hours, separate the cups and either plant them directly into the soil or gently tip out the soil and roots and remove them from the carton. Old milk cartons also make great seed pun nets. Cut the cartons in half, add drainage holes, fill with seed raising medium and moisten. nativo fungicide Plant up to four seeds if they are small, but restrict this to two if they are large and vigorous plants such as zucchini. Seed raising mix can be bought in, but if you have good garden soil or well rotted compost this will do just as well and save you money.