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Seedling Maintenance

Posted on February 20, 2011 at 10:35 PM

We enjoyed some rather beautiful days this weekend, but while the sun was indeed shining, it was also quite cold.   The ground was frozen on both Saturday and Sunday so it was not possible to do any early bed prep other than spreading some compost in the afternoons once the temps warmed up a bit (which I did).   As a result, the garden activities were mostly confined to the maintenance of the trays of seedlings.   The items planted last weekend are largely all up – including the celery and peppers, which usually take more than a week to make an appearance.   The seeds started in earlier batches are all in various stages of growth with the oldest being the onions and the super early tomatoes.   Some of the greens planted on February 5th were far enough along by Saturday that they were ready for some thinning.                            

  

    

 

While they look lush in this before picture, there are multiple plants in each cell and as they grow on (if not thinned) the competition would just result in multiple weak seedlings.   So I took the time to carefully cut away the excess plants from each cell.   The plants look a little bedraggled immediately after I do a thinning, but they perk up quickly and will be much stronger ultimately than if I had let them remain crowded much longer.                           

         

   

  

The seedling trays were all given a thorough bottom watering and allowed to sit in the feeble sun and chill conditions for about 20 minutes while soaking.           

     

   

 

Then the excess water was drained off and these tender seedlings were whisked back off to the protection, light, and warmth of the light set up in the shop.   I find handling them periodically like this is beneficial … similar to the effect of running low fans on seedlings in that it tends to toughen the stems up and make them more resilient to stresses.                           

       

Next weekend, I will be starting another batch of lettuces and if the weather warms up a bit, I will do some aeration of a few of the garden beds.   I also will be making arrangements later this week to have that cross fencing installed as well.   It seems rather quiet on the gardening front right now, but I can tell that the greens in the greenhouse are responding to the increased day length and I expect in the next few weeks to see the early greens kick into much faster growth – especially if it would just warm up a little bit!                           

 

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener

Categories: Seed Starting, Compost, Weather

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10 Comments

Reply vrtlarica
06:22 AM on February 21, 2011 
It is very quiet now in the garden, but in a month or so, it will be very, very busy. Your seedlings look very happy, they are enjoying fresh air.
Reply hsheather
07:44 AM on February 21, 2011 
Things are looking good there. It has started snowing again here. I have to keep reminding myself that it really will be spring in a few more weeks.
Reply Dana @ Potted Farm
10:33 AM on February 21, 2011 
I always know that seedling thinning is necessary. But it feels so mean!
Reply kitsapfreedomgardener
12:08 PM on February 21, 2011 
vrtlarica - Taking them out for a little fresh air and sunshine! :D I had some rather spotty germination on the super early tomatoes (I think I got heavy handed and buried some of them too deep) but those that came up are doing fabulously.

hsheather - Hopefully this will be the last little Hurrah! of winter and will melt away fast not to be replaced with more snow. I know you guys have had a long and rather overwhelming winter this year.

Dana - It is quite hard to bring yourself to take out perfectly good seedlings, but it must be done. They are not wsted though as my flock of hens enjoyed some bite sized morsels of fresh micro greens. They were thrilled because greens are few and far between in their large pasture area right now because nothing is growing and they have worked over everything thoroughly all winter.
Reply Daphne
05:46 PM on February 21, 2011 
I use a small fan for my seedlings. I try to run it a couple times a week for an hour or so. It really helps make them sturdier. I will be bringing them outside when the weather warms up, but not until then.
Reply Mike
07:51 PM on February 21, 2011 
Your seedlings are looking really good. My onion seeds are just starting to germinate, next up celery I suppose. I can't wait to see how fast those early tomatoes of yours produce this year...June maybe?:)
Reply kitsapfreedomgardener
08:40 AM on February 22, 2011 
Daphne - I actually have a small fan as well, but don't always use it as it does not stir the air over the entire area the plants are in - effectively only benefitting about half of the lot of seedlings. Better than nothing but not that great. Instead, I periodically brush them all with my hand, and give them a brief trip out of doors for some bottom watering periodically - never for very long (no more than a half hour - less if the weather is harsh) and that seems to do the trick just as well.

Mike - Unfortunately, the ultra early tomatoes will likely not produce any earlier than your traditionally timed and planted tomatoes - the difference is our mild and cool (comparatively) summers. The ultra early start only helps make up for the loss of growing time that I incurr due to our growing conditions. So the fruits are not extra early - but they do increase the odds I will get a normal period of harvest out fo the plants. Growing peppers or tomatoes in this area is actually quite a challege. There is a reason why tomatoes and peppers are grown in central Washington and not on farms on the west side of the state! Instead we have farms that grow peas, spinach, and cabbages. That should speak volumes about what can grow in this climate well.
Reply ohiofarmgirl
06:21 PM on February 26, 2011 
off topic: just wanted to say how much i appreciated your comments over on Mr. H's blog about the videos he posted. we kind of are having an opposite reaction. at first everyone thought we were nuts - about what you said.. now they are asking us questions. i think the tide is turning...even in your neck of the woods.
:-)
Reply kitsapfreedomgardener
08:12 PM on February 26, 2011 
ohiofarmgirl - Thanks. I hope that is true. In the meantime, I will just keep carrying on!
Reply Sinfonian
02:47 AM on March 01, 2011 
I haven't gotten to planting out my greens, but with the snow and freezing temps, I am not sure even a hoop cover would be sufficient. Time to go start my brassicas. Pretty sure you did that this past weekend. I am still trying to mirror your results. Thanks for all you do!