Sow & Forget

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Cut the cord into lengths of approximately 10 inches and fray about three inches of one end. Then poke a hole in the bottom of your planting container, feed the unfrayed end through from inside, and spread the raveled portion to cover as much as possible of the pan's surface. Finally, dump in the potting soil.

How many wicks to use depends on the size of the container. I insert three if I'm planting a standard 11" X 21" flat, and four for a plastic dishpan lettuce bed. That may be more than necessary in the second case, but the moisture does have to be drawn through five or six inches of soil and I want to make sure there'll be plenty. There is, and the crop flourishes. I suppose the best rule to follow is to cover at least three-fourths of the container's bottom with frayed wicking. This will assure every plant of easy access to water.

The unfrayed ends of the wicks will be left dangling about five or six inches below your flat or planting container. Fill a second vessel with water (I use plastic dishpans for this too A and place the flat or lettuce bed right on top. Make certain the cords have more than just their tips hanging in the liquid. The farther down they hang, the less you have to be concerned about replenishing water in the reservoir.

The soil which is so efficiently moistened by my wicking consists of equal parts of peat moss, leaf mulch, and topsoil. This mixture is fed to my earthworm colony for several months to give the little critters time to work their fertilizing magic. I've been told that a poorer grade of earth is better for starting seedlings because it forces them to root out more. get healthy plants that make the trip to the garden with hardly a complaint, however, so I'm happy with my own formula.

According to my professional advisor, milled sphagnum moss used as a planting medium provides seeds with near perfect conditions for germination. The product is easily obtained from any garden store or through the mail from most seed companies. You don't need a great deal of the sphagnum moss a five pound sack will last me several seasons. To use the planting medium, soak it in water and spread a thin layer over the potting soil in the container. Scatter the seeds and cover them with another thin layer of moss. This tucks the future plants into a moist, sterile blanket.

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