Seeds and Seedlings: How to Plant Them

When planting seeds, the things to pay attention to are spacing and depth, and recommendations for both can be found on the back of the seed packet.  Spacing is how far apart you'll be planting your seeds.  Most instructions on spacing suggest planting more seeds closer and thinning them later - removing or transplanting every-other sprout so that they have enough room to grow.  This gives you the opportunity to make sure you get the number of sprouts you want but also making sure that each sprout has plenty of room to grow.  If you plant more densely with the intention of thinning your sprouts, don't get sentimental about them later and decide to forgo thinning.  Each plant needs appropriate space for its roots to grow, for its leaves to spread out, and for its leaves to catch all the sun it can, unhindered.  I've ruined a garden by not wanting to pull out those beautiful extra shoots - they were too busy competing with each other to produce any fruit.  Likewise, be specific in following the recommended planting depth.  Some small seeds you can simply drop on top of the soil, and maybe gently rake a little dirt on top.  Larger seeds need to be pressed as deep as 2- 2 1/2 inches.  One good rule of thumb is to plant a seed as deep as 1 1/2 times the length of the seed. 

In order to germinate (sprout), seeds need warm soil and must stay wet.  By this time of the season, your soil will be warm enough; but keep a close eye on how fast your soil might dry out.  If we don't get consistent rain, you may need to water your seeds as much as twice/day to keep them damp.  If a seed is in the process of germinating and it dries out completely, it will die.  Continue to keep close watch on your tender sprouts as they also cannot afford to dry out, and you'll want to be vigilant about pests at this stage.  The pests that most commonly attack my sprouts are slugs.  That cayenne pepper trick I mentioned earlier works just fine; I reapply after a few waterings or after rain.  Generally once a sprout gets several inches tall and has put out 3 and more sets of leaves, it isn't all that susceptible to pests.  Healthy plants are the best deterrent against pests or disease.  We'll talk more about this later, but for now - feel free to leave comments about your pest issues and I'll tell you what I know about each one.

When planting seedlings, the things to pay attention to are also spacing and depth.  Hopefully you'll have a good tag or label on your plant with a recommended spacing, and as far as depth you'll want to plant so that the soil level in your garden just barely covers the top of the potting soil held together by the seedling's roots.  Before planting your seedlings, water them well.  If the soil your seedlings came in is dry, the water you give them once they are planted my not penetrate their roots, instead running around the roots into your garden soil, failing to give them a great start. 

When removing seedlings from plastic pots, first squeeze the bottom of the pot on all sides to loosen the roots.  Then pull very gently on the stem while pushing on the bottom of the pot.  If the plant does not slide out easily, squeeze the bottom of the pot some more.  You don't want to pull hard on the stem since those young roots are tender and will break easily, sometimes ruining the plant.  If you've got plants in peat or cardboard-type pots, it is true that you can plant the entire pot straight into your garden.  Well, true mostly.  Be sure to remove any plastic labeling first, and it's very important to peel off the portion of the pot that extends above the level of potting soil.  The material that these pots are made of wicks strongly, and if any of the pot extends above the soil in your garden, it will suck up all the soil moisture around the roots and send it sailing on the spring breezes.  I also feel around the pot a bit - often the plant's roots have not penetrated the very bottom of the pot and when that's the case, I peel off that portion of the pot too - just to give more opportunity for plant roots to make a strong escape into my garden soil.  Once you've planted your seedlings, water them well - giving them a great start with plenty of moisture, but also helping your garden soil to make the best contact around the new plant's roots. 

A Final Note About Spacing
There are a few of ways to look at plant spacing.  The idea of Square Foot Gardening, popularized by a book and PBS series of the same name, is where you intensely nurture your soil and then use a closer spacing in order to maximize a small gardening space.  This method also recommends staking or growing upwards as much as possible, so that more ground area is available for more plants.  Square foot gardening is very successful when your soil is rich and you're able to consistently tend to your plants to keep them healthy.  Another way of looking at gardening is to have fewer plants and to give each plant all the room it needs to flourish.  The difference between the two is that with square foot gardening you may have 6 or 8 pepper plants in an area that is 4' x 4' and though those plants won't get huge, the intensive care they receive will make them thrive and produce well.  On the other hand, by giving 3 or 4 pepper plants the same 4' x 4' area, they will have plenty of room to grow as big as they want - producing a great crop due to their size and lack of competition.  In a more traditional row-type garden, farmers often plant more seedlings closer than would be ideal - even spacing peppers 1' apart.  They will most certainly not reach their full health or potential this way, but because there are so many plants, the harvest may be the same as with a handful of plants that were maintained intensely.