Q and A: Germinating Herb Seeds
(Page 2 of 2)
February/March 2000
By Kathleen Halloran
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Seeds need warmth and moisture to germinate. Set the flat in a warm spot and keep the potting mix evenly moist. Because the air in my house tends to be dry, I keep a mister nearby and spritz the flat several times a day. As soon as you see the first little green sprouts emerging, move the flat under the lights. Position the lights as close to the plants as you can without touching the leaves. If the lights are too far away, the plants grow slowly and get leggy. For fast-growing plants, you may need to raise the lights every few days. (Place flats of slower-growing plants on slabs of wood or other props to keep their leaves close to the lights if you don’t have a separate fixture for them.) Feed the plants regularly with a dilute solution of a soluble all-purpose fertilizer, following instructions on the package. Thin out the seedlings by clipping off extras at soil level rather than pulling them out and disturbing the roots of the ones you want to keep. Water only as needed to keep the soil moist. As the plants grow, they’ll begin using water more rapidly than they did when they were tiny.
When the seedlings have their first sets of true leaves (they’ll look different from the plants’ first, seed leaves), fork them gently out of the flat and transplant them into individual pots. I use recycled 21/2-inch-square plastic pots, which I’ve washed with a detergent and bleach solution to prevent disease, and I line them up in shallow trays to catch any water that may come out of the drain holes. You’ll know a plant has outgrown its current pot when roots start growing out the hole in the bottom.
Allow at least a week of gradually increasing exposure to outdoor conditions (start with an hour in the shade in a protected spot) to harden off the plants before planting them in the garden.
Kathleen Halloran is a freelance writer and gardener in LaPorte, Colorado.
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