Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
meet a seedling's nutritional needs, it will become necessary
to fertilize seedlings periodically once their first “true” leaves
appear. The first two leaves that appear, called the cotyledons,
contain a storehouse of nutrients that will keep the plant well
supplied until the first true leaves emerge. (Plants can be
divided into two categories—those with two cotyledons,
called “dicots,” and those with one cotyledon, called
“monocots.” The first true leaves look like the leaves that are
distinctive for that plant.) Adding solid fertilizer to the cells
of a seedling tray would be both harmful and impractical, so
liquid fertilizer will need to be used.
Seedlings are delicate, and full-strength fertilizer is both
unneeded and potentially harmful. A good organic kelp, fish,
or start-up fertilizer diluted to half strength and applied every
two weeks after the first true leaves appear should work fine.
Containers
Mini-farming is not a small hobby operation. The average
mini-farmer will grow hundreds or perhaps thousands of
seedlings. The best methods for starting seeds on this scale
include cellular containers like those used by nurseries, peat
pellets, and compressed soil blocks.
The use of undivided flats is advocated in the Grow
Biointensive method. In this method, a rectangular wooden
box of convenient size and about 2 inches deep is filled with
starting medium, and seeds are planted at close intervals. The
seeds are kept moist and warm, and once the cotyledons have
appeared, the seedlings are carefully picked out and
transplanted into a new flat with a greater distance between
seedlings. This process is repeated again when the growth of
