Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
want to be able to tell your plants apart when they start to mature and have more defining characterist-
ics. But until then, mark seeds or seedlings when you put them in the ground, using the plastic inserts
from their original pots if they were purchased at a nursery. This helps avoid confusion. To mark seeds
or seedlings that don't have tags, you can use markers made from Popsicle sticks, paint stirring sticks,
cut-up mini-blinds, or broken terra-cotta pot shards. Be creative (this is a fun way to get kids involved).
Whatever markers you use, just make sure to label them with a permanent marker so the ink won't
wash off in the rain or fade due to sun exposure.
Don't plant seeds too deep; generally 2 to 4 times as deep as the seed's thickness.
Seeds for lettuce and other salad greens are quite small, and separating them can be tricky, if not
impossible. Go ahead and plant these seeds in small groupings, or pinches, to ensure that at least one
germinates. If all of your seeds end up germinating, then you'll see a few seedlings sprouting up in a
cluster. Once the seedlings are a few inches tall, you can thin them by removing the extras and leaving
the biggest, healthiest-looking one intact so that it continues to grow. Trim the extra seedlings at soil
level with scissors or garden shears. Pulling them by hand disturbs the roots of the remaining seedling.
If you have a lot of these trimmings, you can eat them; in the grocery store they're very expensive and
called “micro greens”!
Another approach to planting leafy greens (usually not printed on the seed packet) is to broadcast,
or sprinkle, them over an area (as if you're adding salt to a dish), and then cover them with a very thin
layer of soil. Instead of removing extra seedlings, let them continue to grow and then harvest their outer
leaves every so often for a salad of baby greens. By cutting only a few leaves at a time from each plant,
the plants will stay alive and continue producing. This method of growing is referred to as “cut and
come again.”
CHOOSING SEEDS VS. SEEDLINGS
