Little Sprouts, Little Pots

Well, the notebook seed nursery worked.  I just stashed it on the counter in the warm bathroom.  Hey, it's warm, near water and the spot gets visited regularly.  It reminded me of the garden experiment my elementary school teacher had us do with lima beans pressed up against the glass in a jar with construction paper.  With a little water in the bottom, the paper wicked up just enough moisture to keep the seed watered and pretty soon, a little root started followed by the first green leaves.  Multiply that by well over a hundred seeds and you have the beginnings of my garden in a notebook.

The carrying the numbers from seed to pot to planting is probably the best garden hack I have come up with.  It's so stupid simple I walked right by it for years.  I'm still just at the seed to pot stage right now so we'll see how it translates to the plants' final destination.

So now comes the tedious part, transferring the sprouted seed to a pot with starting mix to keep the growing going.  My UK friends call this pricking.  A pretty good term for using a teeny instrument to move a seed to a pot.

A little side note here...

I was pretty relieved to find out that a huge number of UK gardeners start almost everything from seed.  I do it because it's cold and boring during the Winter and I love fussing with the plants.

Back to the potting...

Over the years, I have tried to apply my favorite motto, "Work smarter, not harder." to my gardening.  That means I have come up with some streamlined  ideas when it comes to potting a large number of plants.  I have already talked about the numbering system to ID the plants.  I have also changed a few things about how I transfer the seedlings. 

First, I quit using the thin little planter packs that you buy in the garden store.  They are usually organized in 4 packs or 6 packs or worse all one unit of 50 - 72 spaces.  That idea did not mesh with my ID number following a plant from seed to soil.  Small bathroom drink cups fit the bill.  They are just the right size and fit nicely in plastic food trays with a smaller footprint.  That means you can tuck them in wherever there is space, warmth and light.

Simple-you put some mix in the container, number it, poke a sprout in and set it in the tray.  So, I was about halfway through this process when a new garden friend, Craig LeHoullier AKA NCTomatoMan, shared his trick of starting all of a seed variety in the same starter pot and separating them at the next transplant.  Fewer pots, less of the special seedling mix and less real estate. 

A note about seed starting mix vs. potting soil.  It really does make a difference.  Give the plants a fighting chance by starting with the right mix.  I personally try to stay away from the peat based mixes and the little "peat nuggets".  Consistent moisture is a big deal with seed starting and peat makes that a challenge.  I use a Coir fiber (coconut husks) and peat mixture.  It has always worked well for me.  Although I knew to water the seedlings from the bottom only, a new tip I had shared from several sources was to put a thin layer of fine vermiculite on top of the seedling mix in each pot.  It blocks the fungus gnats from getting into the soil and infecting the seedlings.  (look up Damping Off)

That made the job a lot easier.  Now we wait.