How to grow veggie starts: Key points from Sue’s demo

SEED STARTING

• Rinse trays, cells, pots that are really dirty with water.

• Add water to seed-starting mix in bucket labeled clean. If you don’t use all the mix you put in the bucket, leave it in the clean bucket for the next person to use.

• Add water and stir until mixture is about as moist as wrung-out sponge.

• Start seeds in cells or trays. Cells are nice for certain plants, like tomatoes, because they give you more of a natural division. Trays make sense for plants like lettuce.

• Seeds do not have to go in deep, about the depth of three times their width. The seed packet will also tell you how deep to plant the seed or if the seed should not be covered with soil at all.

• Plant only one type of vegetable in a single tray or cell-pack.

• Three seeds per cell is a good rule of thumb. If you are planting peas or cucumbers, you can plant 2 seeds per pot and plant them directly into potting mix rather than seed starting mix. They will not need to be transplanted. Do the same for cilantro, but plant 3 seeds per pot.

• Try to sow tiny seeds like lettuce thinly. They will be easier to work with later.

• Wet down with mister after planting to get top layer moistened. Problem with using the watering can is that you can dislodge seeds.

• Make a tag and label what you’ve just planted and the date. The date helps us determine whether plants are germinating.

• Then place the clear cover on top and place tray on shelf with heating pad.

• When you see the plants starting to come up (they don’t all have to be up), take off the lid and move off heating pad to another shelf.

PLANT CARE

• Once the plants are germinated and the lids are off, the plants can dry out quickly.

• If you notice plants are sick/really droopy, use scissors to cut them off. If all plants in a tray are drooped over, dump the tray into the used mix bucket (can be used for transplanting later).

• When plants come up through soil, continue to water gently either with mister or watering can with a fine spray rose.

• Try to keep water off leaves, aiming for soil, if possible. Don’t worry if they get wet; that’s where the fan comes in.

• Don’t forget to pet the plants! It brushes off the water and stimulates them to grow.

• If they are really crowded, thin the plants as they grow to give the robust ones more space. Pick ones with thicker base that don’t look “leggy”. Use scissors to remove the weaker plants. Do not yank them out.

TRANSPLANTING

• Wait to transplant until plants develop their first or second set of “true” leaves. The “seed” or cotyledon leaves will eventually turn yellow and fall off.

• (When transplanting to bigger pots (“pot up”), do so in small increments to avoid opportunities for soil to rot – Maybe we don’t need to include this since we are only using 4” pots?) Don’t want to confuse anyone!)

• Use potting soil for transplanting. Transplant seedling into a 4” pot. Dump the used seed starting mix into the “used” bucket. It can be mixed with potting soil for transplanting. Mix it sparingly with the potting soil, so the dominant ingredient is potting soil.

• Don’t fill pot up to top (leave at least a quarter of an inch).

• Fill pot a quarter to halfway, then take a hold of one true leaf (not the stem or the root ball) and gently “pop it out” with butter knife. You may need to stick your finger in the soil and dig out a little trench in order to plant the seedling deeper.

• Plant the seedling deep, leave as little stem as possible exposed. Add a little more soil and gently pack the soil around the root ball. It is OK if you plant it right down to the cotyledon leaves.

• Water-in the seedling using water mixed with a ½ strength dose of fish fertilizer. Note the date you fertilized.

• Label each 4” pot with the type of vegetable and name of the variety: Tomato ‘Oregon Spring’ or Pea ‘Cascadia’. For tomatoes, also write an I for indeterminate or a D for determinate on the label. Check the seed packet for what type it is. (This is helpful information for the p-patch growers.)

POST-TRANSPLANTATION PLANT CARE

• Once they have been transplanted into 4” pots, they may not need as much water. Let them dry out a little between watering. Don’t water if soil feels very wet. They may not need to be watered for a few days if it is cool and cloudy out.

• Fertilize with ½ strength fish fertilizer at least every 2 weeks. Don’t fertilize the peas.

• Look for pests: aphids love peppers. Squash them with your fingers.

• Start hardening off the “cool crops” (everything except tomatoes, peppers, basil and cucumbers) by transferring them to the shelving outside of the greenhouse once they start getting a little big and we run out of space.