(HOST) In spite of all the snow still piled in the yard, commentator Henry Homeyer is starting his garden – and thinking spring.
(HOMEYER) Spring is here. I know it is, because the calendar tells me so. It doesn’t matter that I’ve recently been up on the roof to shovel off ice and snow, or that I still have to start up the woodstove every morning. Spring is here because the sun has some strength. Spring is here because I picked pussy willows by the stream – even though I was on my cross country skis at the time.
Each spring I start about three hundred, starting in March. First are the onions, leeks and artichokes, and hot and sweet peppers. I’ve planted those. Soon it will be time for planting flower and tomato seeds, and broccoli, kale and Brussel sprouts. The rest, things like cucumbers, root crops, beans and potatoes I don’t start indoors. I’ll plant them directly in the garden when the soil is warm enough.
Starting seedlings indoors is what keeps this gardener sane when winter drags on. I love visiting with little green things, lifting up the corner of the plastic covers I place over the flats of planted seeds. It’s magic to me that I can plant seeds, provide light and water, and BOOM -one morning, little green plants are growing there.
Starting and tending seedlings is easier than you might think, but there are a few pitfalls to avoid. First, seedlings need light — lots of light. Even a sunny windowsill is not adequate. Seedlings grown without enough light will be spindly and frail, leaning mournfully towards the window, begging for more sun. I hang fluorescent lights over them, keeping the lights about six inches above the little leaves, and raising them as the plants grow. That ensures good stocky plants.
Seedlings shouldn’t be crowded. I plant two or more seeds in each little growing compartment to make sure I get at least one that grows. But within a few days of germination I have to play favorites, and pull or snip off the scrawny ones, leaving just one plant per cell — Tough love.
Most seedlings grow better in a cool environment than in a hot one. A spare bedroom that stays in the mid-sixties and cools off at night is perfect. And don’t run your grow-lights twenty-four hours a day. Little seedlings, like kids and puppies, need rest. Fourteen hours of artificial light per day is as much as they need.
If you grow your seedlings in commercial potting mix, you need to water your seedlings with dilute fertilizer at least once a week. The potting mix is mostly peat moss, which has virtually no nutrients needed by plants. As an organic gardener I use a fish and seaweed fertilizer from my local garden center. It offers my seedlings the full range of nutrients they need – a dozen or so instead of just the three elements found in chemical fertilizers.
I’m hungry for spring and all it brings, but I’ll make do for a while longer with some seedlings to keep me cheerful.
Henry Homeyer is a gardening writer and columnist.