Keep lights close to the plants - no more than a couple inches from the leaves. Remaining plants will have room to develop properly, without having their roots disturbed.įor sturdy plants with strong root systems, start applying a water-soluble fertilizer, such as Plant Health Care, about once a week. Use a scissors to snip out any weak or crowded seedlings. Let seedlings grow until they have two sets of "true" leaves. Cover lightly with soil and water well.Īs soon as the first seedlings pop up, put the tray under bright fluorescent lights for 15 hours per day. Germination rates typically vary from 70 to 90 percent, so you should plant more seeds than you think you'll really need. If you're thinning a crop of lettuce seedlings, you can actually add the tiny thinnings to your next salad.Place each seedling into its own pot of peat-free compost, firm down and water. Get a pencil (or stiff plant label) right under each plant and try to tease out every individual seedling, roots and all. When handling the seedlings, grasp them by their leaves or roots avoid holding the stems, which can be damaged easily. To prick out, handle only the seed leaves, not the stem (which bruises very easily). If you decide to transplant any of the seedlings, loosen them carefully from the soil, using a table knife. Thrifty, yes, but it's easy to damage the tiny plants. Some gardeners carefully separate the seedlings and replant the extras in other pots.Two to three seeds per pot is sufficient. You'll be left with only as many seedlings as you need. Here's and easier way: When the first true leaves appear, snip off the extra seedlings at the soil line. It's fussy work, and always hard to decide which ones to save and which to toss. Use garden snips or a scissors to thin out crowded seedlings.
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