Tuesday - garden - planting seeds

We are having beautiful 80-degree-F days! This is a real bonus. The clouds have not set in yet.

I had great success with seeds this year. Part of success is finding the seeds that will not germinate or plants that will not grow well before planting them in soil. Part of success is having time to prepare the soil.

I built eight small cedar boxes. Home Depot has 60 inch cedar fencing. I cut three 17 inch pieces then cut the left-over in half (about 4.5 inches, the boards are not perfect length or necessarily square but none of that matters).

To assemble them, I drilled small holes (1/8 inch would work) to keep the screws from running out the side and from splitting the wood. Two holes on each side of each end and three holes on each bottom and the holes are visible from the sides. I used sheet-rock screws; long screws on the ends to strengthen the 4.5 inch boards and short screws on the bottom, though long screws could be used in all places. Oh yes, the end pieces align with the top of the box, not the bottom.

I now have boxes that have an inside depth of about five inches and an inside length of about 17 inches with a gap on the bottom of each end making a nice handle. Right away (even if not ready to plant the seeds) I put two inches or so of good soil (more on soil soon) in the bottom. I water these even if there is no seeds so the fertilizer starts to break down and so the soil is not dry (helps keep it from running out the hole in the bottom ends too).

There is room for 14 to 17 peat cups depending on the size used. I put excellent soil in the cups then fill in the spaces between the cups with excellent soil. I like to use the 2-inch round cups because it gives me a little more time to transplant because the roots have a little more room than they do in the smaller cups so the plants are not so shocked when the peat cup is moved to its location.

I actually push an indentation into the soil with a screw head to about the depth indicated on the seed package. I put one seed in each hole then cover with enough plus a tiny bit of excellent soil. Pat the soil down gently to keep the seed in place.

With the eight boxes I can be working with up to 100 seedlings at a time at various stages. I plant two or three boxes a week. This is important because it spreads out the maturing of the plants over six to eight weeks. The boxes are all together and easy to water. The boxes are very light if I need to move them. The boxes can be placed on a work table if desired. No matter what the germination rate is, I have not wasted any precious garden space on non-germinating seeds. I have time to prepare the soil (15 to 20 days) where the seedlings will go. The cups with non-germinating seeds can be used at least one more time. And, cups that fall apart can be crushed and used as soil amendment.

Getting the seedlings out (at least the first one) can be a little tricky. Usually, there is one that is not good enough to go to the garden and I start with that one so as not to crush the peat cup of the better plants.

This works well for brussel sprouts, cabbage, chard, pole-beans, etc. It will not work for carrots and is not efficient for beets and peas. Often, the seed package will tell if transplanting does not work for the seed.

Love, G'pa Bob