Seed Starting as MOTHER's Gardeners Do It

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The idea is to give the plants better and better nutrition during each stage of growth, so that transplanting won't be a temporary setback but, rather, an immediate improvement. Chadwick called this concept "Breakfast-Lunch-Dinner!": Give plants a lean breakfast in their first flat, a nutritious lunch in their next one, and a robust dinner in their compost-filled final garden bed.

PRICKING OUT

When the seed leaves have flopped all the way open, two or three true leaves have appeared on each seedling, and your transplanting trays are all filled and ready, it's time to prick out! Transplanting's going to come as a shock to your plants, so you'll want to do everything you can to soften the blow. Choose a fairly shady spot in which to carry out the operation, and work smoothly and quickly. The job will go faster if you let the seedling trays get a little dry before you transplant. The soil in the prick-out flats, though, should be moistened just a bit.

With a hand garden fork or other tool, dig out a clump of seedlings, roots and all, and drop them gently onto a wet cloth. Dropping them helps to separate the roots, while using a damp cloth keeps the roots from drying out. Indeed, you should cover the root ball with the cloth whenever you're not working with it. Don't leave the roots exposed to air for long: If they dry out, the plants will be damaged and may not survive.

Gently work the roots apart, dig a little hole in the soil in your transplant tray (a regular butter knife works fine for this), and pick up a plant by its seed leaves to move it to its new home. Don't carry the transplant by the roots, true leaves, or stem; if any one of those breaks, you'll hurt the plant. The seed leaves, though, are going to fall off soon anyway, so they make safe carrying handles.

Set the plant in so the soil reaches just be low the true leaves-even if that means burying the seed leaves-and tamp the soil down around it to hold it in place. (Perennial flowers, however, should be set at their previous depth.)

Space your plants evenly along a row, closer or farther apart depending on how big they grow and how long you intend to keep them in the tray . . . anywhere, say, from two to three inches. Then set your second row of transplants so that each one of them forms an equilateral triangle with its two closest neighbors in the first row. This staggered planting makes better use of tray space and lets the foliage fill the tray more without crowding.

And by all means, cull, cull, cull. Get rid of the tiny specimens, the ones with crown scars, and the spindly ones. Transplant only the best.

Once you have your crops pricked out and in place, water the tray well at the base with an ordinary spouted watering can (from now on, try not to wet the leaves when you water; it fools the plants into actually losing needed moisture) and set the trays in a shaded, moderately warm place until they're completely over the shock of moving. They may wilt for a day or so, but should then recover. Once they perk up, give them all the sun or other light you can.

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