Month: September 2022

Welcome to part 3 of this blog series. In this post, I’ll be discussing starting seeds.

Transplanting vs Direct Sowing:

When it comes to planting seeds, there are two main ways of doing so. Each with its own advantages

Direct Sowing involves planting the seeds directly in the soil in the location in which the plants will be grown. This method is efficient because it reduces the number of times each plant is handled. However, in areas with short growing seasons, seeds sown directly may not have time to mature before the seasons change.

Indoor sowing/transplanting involves first planting seeds in some sort of flat/container either indoors or in a greenhouse, growing those seeds into small seedlings, and then transplanting those seedlings out into the ground. While this method is certainly more resource and effort intensive, it allows the grower to get a head start on growing certain plants indoors while they wait for the weather to warm up in spring or cool down in fall. Transplanting can also be beneficial if one finds that their direct sown seeds are being eaten by birds or rodents in the garden.

Direct Sowing

Plants that should be sown directly include:

• Root Crops (carrots, turnips, radishes, beets, etc.)
  • • These must be directly sown because transplanting will damage the taproot that will eventually be harvested; resulting in a crop that looks like this:

Picture 1

• Non-root crops that have taproots (cilantro, dill, swiss chard) or roots easily damaged by transplanting (corn, beans, peas)
• Crops that mature quickly enough that transplanting is unnecessary (lettuce, microgreens, salad mixes)

When in doubt, reading the back of the seed packet will provide you with the recommended planting method for that particular variety:

Note the direction to “sow outdoors”. Picture 2

In addition to the recommended planting method, the seed packet will also address the recommended planting time (usually in relation to frost dates). Many packets will list the depth to which seeds should be sown, but as a general rule, seeds should be planted about 1-2x as deep as the seed is wide.

• • • • Following this guide, tiny seeds such as those for lettuce or carrots should be sown shallowly and covered with only a fine (0.125 inch or less) layer of soil; the larger seeds of beans and corn can be sown up to 1-2″ deep.
      • Assuming the seeds were planted at the time of year directed by the packet, simply keeping the soil moist but not waterlogged (too wet will cause the seeds to rot) should allow for successful germination

Indoor sowing/Transplanting

Planting indoors and then transplanting out is best used for long maturing varieties which benefit from a head start indoors before the outdoor conditions are suitable. These are typically warm weather crops such as tomatoes and peppers, but sometimes even cool season crops can benefit from a head start, especially in the short cold days of early spring.

Starting indoors requires a little more preparation than direct sowing, because it requires attention to the following: Container, lighting, temperature and growing media.

• Containers
  • • Many different containers can be used, anything from old water bottles to yogurt containers to specially designed greenhouse trays will work. What is most important is that the container has a drainage hole for water. Without this, the standing water can rot seeds and kill seedlings.

Homemade seed starting pots-Picture 3

• Lighting
  • • The most important consideration when starting seeds indoors is having adequate lighting. A sunny windowsill can work, but the window needs to have direct light for at least 6-8 hours to achieve strong seedlings. Seedlings lacking light will become “leggy” (tall, weak and stretched out) and will not grow well
    • 

Leggy seedlings from lack of light-Picture 4

• • • If your window does not receive enough light or you simply want the best results, investing in an LED or florescent grow light is a good idea. Grow lights could have their whole own blog post, so if you want to learn more about them, this publication from The University of Vermont is a good resource.
• Temperature
  • • Most seeds can germinate at normal room temperature, but when indoors you have the ability to optimize germination rates and speeds by using a heating pad to increase soil temperatures to optimal ranges. 
    • This is not usually necessary-unless you’re starting in a cold garage or sunroom-but it does improve results.
• Media
  • • There are several options of what you can use to start seeds in. Potting soil is cheap and available, and special seed starting mixes are also sold in stores. However, it is important to note that trying to use normal garden soil to start seeds is a recipe for failure due to its poor drainage and tendency to become compacted, as well as the risk of bringing in pests and disease.

Much like starting outdoors, planting the seed at the recommended depth (or 1-2x its width if no recommendation) and then keeping the soil moist but not waterlogged is an effective way to

Once these indoor seedlings have grown to their desired size and the outdoor weather conditions are appropriate, the plants are ready to be transplanted from their initial containers into the ground.

That’s it for this week’s post. Next time we’ll be talking about caring for those plants in the garden, specifically watering and irrigation methods.

Welcome to part 2 of this blog series. In this post, I’ll be discussing all things seed related: Seed types, definition, and selection.

Acquiring seeds:

Step one of acquiring seeds begins with finding a place to buy them from. This can be done either in stores or online. My personal recommendation is to buy online, because there is usually a much wider selection to choose from, but big-box stores: Lowes, Home Depot, Tractor Supply, Walmart, etc., also commonly stock seeds. When buying online however, it is important to order from reputable brands and not just random accounts on Amazon, otherwise you may end up with “tomatoes” that look like this:

Picture 1

Some well known online seed retailers include:

• • Johnny’s Selected Seeds
  • Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
  • Burpee
  • Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
  • Park Seed
  • High Mowing Seed Company

You may also notice that despite what you see on TikTok, I don’t recommend planting seeds obtained from grocery store produce. While these seeds may grow, they usually don’t produce the quality of produce you’d expect. This is because almost all produce found in the store is grown from “hybrid seeds” (I’ll describe this further down, or you can read more about it here). Long story short, planting the seeds from the store is not a reliable option, and you’re better off spending the $1-4 for a pack from an actual seed company.

Terminology

Picture 2

Clicking on one of the above links will bring you to a page full of pictures and descriptions of different varieties, all of which will contain various terms that may not be easy to understand. Here is a quick breakdown of some common seed terminology:

• • • Open Pollinated (OP): These varieties of seeds are basically the plant equivalent to a purebred dog. They are genetically stable varieties, which means they will produce viable seeds that would grow a plant identical to the parent plant.
    • Heirloom: This is a subset of open pollinated seeds which have been cultivated for a long period of time (usually at least 50-100 years) and are considered “classics”.
    • Hybrid/ F1/ F1 Hybrid: These plants are the first generation offspring of a cross between two open pollinated varieties. They share genetics from both parent varieties, but if the seeds from these are saved and replanted, they will not produce identical plants because hybrids are not genetically stable -They ARE NOT what people commonly call “GMOs”*- A similar example that you may be more familiar with is how a golden retriever and a poodle can be bred to create a “Goldendoodle”. In this case, the resulting goldendoodle puppy is an F1 hybrid
    • DTM or DTH: This stands for days to maturity (or days to harvest) and reflects the number of days that pass under ideal conditions from when a seed is planted until when the crop can first be expected to be harvested.
    • Organic/USDA Organic: These seeds have been produced following a set of cultural practices established by the USDA concerning the use of specific chemicals. Unless you’re looking to sell “certified organic” produce, this designation will not mean much.

 

*Technically from a scientific standpoint all domesticated plant varieties are GMOs, but that is not the common usage in todays society which equates genetically modified organisms (GMOs) with genetically engineered organisms (GEOs). You can read more about the differences here.

Selecting Seeds:

Now that you understand what the websites are saying, the next logical question is: What should I buy? This ultimately will come down to personal preference, but a few general considerations are:

• • • What do you want to eat? Those really spicy ghost peppers may look like fun, but if you’re not much of a hot food fan; they’re probably not a good idea. Looking for crops you’ll be able to enjoy eating is a good way to get an idea of where to start.
    • What do you have space for? Growing a pumpkin with 30′ vines out of a pot on your apartment balcony is a terrible idea; simply skimming the description of each plant will provide you with enough information to determine if you’ll have the space for that type of plant.

Picture 3 (Someone didn’t consider their space…)

• • • What grows in your area? If you live in Maine, its probably not in your best interest to grow peanuts, simply because the weather is too cold. Looking around at what people in your area are growing can be very informative as to what types of plants are feasible options for your location.

What about varieties? Hybrids vs Heirlooms?

Picture 4

Much like the selection of what to grow, the choice of variety is also mostly personal preference, and you’ll have to try each one for yourself if you want to really know the best ones.

However, a couple more considerations to keep in mind:

• • • Hybrids tend to have better pest or disease resistance since they are often specifically bred to improve these traits
    • Hybrids may mature faster than open pollinated varieties
    • Some hybrids are said to taste worse their heirloom counterparts, the common example always being supermarket (hybrid) tomatoes vs one out of your grandmothers garden. However, some hybrids are explicitly bred for taste and in some cases may win blind taste tests over several heirloom varieties. In addition, the conditions in which each plant is grown can also have huge impacts on flavor and texture, sometimes more so than the variety itself.
    • If you intend to save seeds, open pollinated varieties (including heirlooms) will grow true to type (assuming there is no cross pollination), while hybrids will not. This does not mean hybrid seeds are sterile; it just means that they will produce offspring that don’t have the same traits as the parent plants, making them risky to save seeds from.

That’s it for this blog on selecting seeds. The next post in this series will focus on planting those seeds and starting the growing process…

Picture 5