Re: Germinating seeds?
- To: <propagation@mallorn.com>
- Subject: Re: Germinating seeds?
- From: "* P* <c*@dgsys.com>
- Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1999 20:40:57 -0500
>In a message dated 2/23/99 9:51:16 AM Central Standard Time,
> bhayes@catskill.net writes:
> Couldn't Art put something together and post it to the List, if
> he's got the solution for sowing the teeny million seeds of some plants,
>like digitalis, e.g.
So - this is the note I had referred to earlier, which was prepared for
another purpose but which is repeated here verbatim:
I often read comments from gardeners complaining that, when planting seeds
for germination indoors, they end up with a "forest" of seedlings in one
spot and bare soil in the rest of the container.
There is an easy and inexpensive solution to this problem, which I have
used successfully for years. All of my seedlings come up an inch apart, in
neat rows.
Cut a piece of 1/8" thick Pegboard [ (R) who knows? ] to approx. 10" x
12". It "must" be the thin, 1/8" Pegboard, not the heavy-duty, 1/4" type,
and must have one side that is smooth and hard.
Place this "planting/spacing guide" over the top of the seed flat or pot
you are using. I use small flats about 6" by 9" made out of fibre
composition board, but the kind of flat doesn't matter - only that you
leave the surface of the planting medium about 1/2" below the top of the
flat or pot, so that the Pegboard does not come in contact with the
planting medium.
Pour the seeds carefully onto the surface of the Pegboard. A few will fall
through the holes, but Hey!, that's what you have in mind, isn't it?
Then slide the seeds, one by one, into successive holes in the Pegboard.
The holes are 1" apart (or, technically, 1 inch "on center"). Remove the
Pegboard, and cover the seeds, or not, according to the instructions you're
following.
Voila! Your seedlings will come up like rows of corn in Iowa.
You will soon learn little refinements in technique. For example, for
really tiny seeds, it is helpful if you have a source of light beyond the
Pegboard and you can sit low enough that the surface is more or less at eye
level.
Visibility might be improved by painting the Pegboard white - with glossy,
OIL-BASED paint. (Or, at a kitchen supply store, you might find a small
accessory board already finished in white) The Pegboard I've used for
more than 10 years, however, is still natural Pegboard color.
Art Phinney, Fairfax, VA
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