Sowing the Seeds of Love

Sunflower photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

I love a Sunflower, and I believe in love power, 

Love Power, Love Power!

(Lyrics from the song Sowing the Seeds of Love

by the big 80's pop band Tears for Fears).

I use coin envelopes for seed collecting and saving.

     Every spring on the second weekend of April I get out my seed starting equipment and convert the basement into a greenhouse. Some years I start only flowers and other years both vegetables and flowers. A couple of seasons ago I grew hundreds of wild Bee Balm seedlings indoors, and that was good enough. Because I also have two small outdoor nurseries where I cultivate many trees and native perennials from seeds, what I grow indoors are mostly annuals that are transplanted to summer vegetable and flower beds.

     This year I'm revved up about starting veggies because I have more control over which varieties I can grow. Retail nurseries have gotten better about selling a slightly larger sampling of unique varieties but it's nothing compared to what a gardener can find in a packet of seeds, and I love any adventure involving plants.

The potted geraniums and herbs have been 
relocated to the screened porch 
to make way for seedlings.

     I begin the day before by cleaning the seed trays and pots with bleach and water. I also moisten the planting media so that it is ready to work with. There are many different brands of soil-less seed starting mixes on the market, and I've tried most of them. Here's my review of four brands you'll find at retail stores: the two I especially dislike are Hoffman and Black Gold--both are extremely dusty and take forever to wet (absorb moisture). The Hoffman bag contained vermiculite, which I despise because it is a known lung irritant and carcinogen--hello, asbestos is made with vermiculite. 

     Black Gold is so finely ground it reminds me of Dutch cocoa, but not nearly as delicious. It's overly hydrophobic and therefore takes too long to moisten, and after a few days in the seed trays it readily grows green mold. 

The winner.

     Miracle Gro makes a very good seed starter mix--it wets quickly but isn't soggy, and when you open the bag it doesn't fly up your nostrils, but the best yet is Espoma Organic, which I tried for the first time this year. It's the highest priced of the four because it's organic and because they added several strains of mycorrhizae. (Yes, that magic fungi that grows naturally and for free, wherever plants grow, like in your yard!) Thing is, seed starting mixes and potting soils are sterilized, for good reason, and this process kills fungi and bacteria--see where I'm going here? That's right, mycorrhizae is of no use to seedlings when it's stone cold dead. Nevertheless, Espoma brand wins hands down because it has the best texture, is not the least bit dusty, and it wets perfectly, and that's worth paying for.

Wetting the soil-less seed starting mix.

     Before you plant, pour the starting mix into a large, clean bucket--be sure to sterilize the container with bleach and water first--and add just enough water to evenly moisten the media. It should just barely hold together in your palm when you squeeze it. Next fill every 1" cell in the tray to the top with moistened mix, and then tap the tray to settle. You can even the media with very light finger pressure, but whatever you do, don't pack it down in the cells.  Now you are ready to sow!

Seed dial.

     A seed dial is helpful for dispersing one seed at a time, especially the tinier ones. Place the seeds inside the device and then rotate the dome to change the size of the opening so that it's just large enough to allow the seeds to pass through. With a little practice you'll get good at rotating and carefully tapping out a single seed, which rolls down the shoot and lands directly in the seed tray where you want it to go. Keep an excellent pair of pointy tweezers on hand to pick up any stray seeds that are too small for your meaty fingertips.

Seed trays planted, marked, and set beneath 
full spectrum grow lamps.

      

     Now, let's take a peek at at some of the plants I've started for 2012. Hint: if you've read my blog you already know how much I love Renee's Seeds. As usual, I placed a big order with her company this spring, and I am in her media database (that's right, Shane VanO is now "The Media") which means I got a few free packets to trial in my garden so I can blog about it. Sweet.

    








 Shortly after the seeds germinate they will produce their first set of true leaves, growing at the apex of the stem.  In case you don't know, the first thing that emerges is the cotyledon, those lobed-shaped things. Begin adding a diluted all-purpose fertilizer to the water as soon as the actual leaves appear, just as you see in the photo below.

Napa cabbage seedlings.

     In about two-to-three weeks the seedlings must be removed from their starting cells and placed in four inch pots filled with fresh potting soil. Give each seedling cell a gentle squeeze from below to loosen the roots, and then firmly grasp the stem (two fingers) of the plant directly where it meets the mix and carefully remove it. 

A healthy root ball.

     If you come away with at least 50 percent of the root ball, consider it successful. Transplant into four inch pots immediately, and moisten the soil. Now begin fertilizing at full strength. Snip off most or all of what remains of the cotyledon to reduce transpiration and minimize shock. After a few days I will often remove the lowest (first) set of true leaves on plants like tomatoes, to stimulate top growth. 

Pixie Cabbage and French Pumpkins

Felco is the best! I use this model for pruning seedlings.

   
 In another two to three weeks your plants will have grown tremendously but they are not ready to put in the ground until they have transitioned to the real world and the outside soil temperatures are in the 70's. Heat loving vegetables will be stressed and stunted if planted in cold soil. Find a suitable outdoor spot for hardening off, a place that receives partial or indirect sunlight, and is not windy or cold. If necessary, bring the plants back inside at night--they are astoundingly tender and vulnerable after being pampered indoors.

Protect the seedlings from direct sunlight.

     One of my techniques is to place my plants in plastic storage tubs (leave off the lids) and then cover the tubs with sections of vinyl screening, or shade cloth. This cuts the intensity of direct sunlight enough to prevent scorching of tender foliage. At the very end of May or the beginning of June, the plants are toughened up and ready to go into the garden! 

Sowing The Seeds of Love

Shane VanOosterhout is The Passionate Gardener.  

For more garden inspiration, you can follow him on Facebook. 

Bright Lights Big Basil

     "Grow your own wonderful fresh cooking and other herbs indoors all year long, and stop paying grocery store prices! Get started with your own indoor herb garden in minutes and have fresh herbs 

within weeks!"

All Photos by Shane VanOosterhout

    

     I lifted the above quote from wheatgrasskits.com, one of the many websites selling indoor herb kits. For their low price of $29.95 you receive 12 different herb seed packets and a growing kit that includes a plastic tray with a lid: "the perfect climate for fast herb growth." 

     The perfect climate...where? Hawaii?  Spain?  The South of France?  Last time I miniaturized myself and crawled under a moisturized plastic dome I thought of Minneapolis on July 20, 2011 when the heat index hit 119 degrees and the dew point spiked 82%.

Full-spectrum light from T5 florescent bulbs.

     Yes, heat and humidity are necessary for seed germination, but so is light--a lot of it, and forget about a bright windowsill because winter's sun in the northern hemisphere is far too feeble. The only way to achieve an adequate growing climate for herbs indoors is to provide an artificial light source.  So, let's talk a little about foot candles, or how the strength of light is measured when it strikes a surface.

     Today, January 28, more than a month past our winter Solstice, at 1:30 in the afternoon, my light meter reads about 1800 foot candles when I touch it directly on the window glass. At six inches away from the glass, the foot candles drop to 1500. 

     Herbs need, at the very minimum, 2,000 foot candles of light, which is still on the far end of wimpy when you consider that the bright summer sun delivers 10,000 foot candles, the same time of year when seasonal herbs are at their peak.

     When I place a light meter on my growing table it reads about 4,400 foot candles, as you can see in the photo below.

    

My dad's old light meter from the 1950's.  Vintage.

     During the first week of January I sowed a handful of herb seeds in four-inch pots. By the way, I've been using the same Basil packet since 2009 and the seeds are still viable. Truth is most garden seeds have a long shelf life if they are kept perfectly dry at room temperature. 

Renee's Seeds are excellent, and the packets are very well-designed.

Baby Basil's first set of true leaves rising above its cotyledon.

  

       Indoor seeds should be started in a soil-less mix (literally contains no soil particles), not potting soil. Potting soil holds too much moisture for tender baby plants with tiny root structures. The (non) soil temperature must be warm--70 degrees, and consistently moist (but not wet) or the seeds will not germinate.  As for those plastic domed mini greenhouses?  Watch out, they quickly become tropical mini rain forests--great for terrariums, terrible for herb seedlings, which are vulnerable to rot. 

Second set of true leaves.

     Once the new plants have their second set of true leaves, transplant them into a high quality potting mix--light, fluffy, with added perlite, and allow the soil to dry between watering. Notice in the photo above that the stems are thick and strong, not spindly or bending over.  Also notice that the distance between the two sets of leaves is compact, not leggy, and the foliage is a lovely, rich green color.  

     In a few weeks from now I'll be making pesto!  

Larger pots can accommodate up to four Basil plants.

Parsley seedlings.

I love Rosemary!

This fine lady is more than a decade old. Her tiny flowers are pure white.

Severe pruning stimulates tender shoots on old wood. 

Shane VanOosterhout is The Passionate Gardener.  

For more garden inspiration, you can follow him on Facebook.