Many new vegetables and flower introductions aren’t found in local garden centers. You can however, find them through mail-order gardening companies.
A tremendous number of mail-order gardening companies do business in the US and Canada. Their catalogs – you’ll probably find several on your doorstep in January and February – offer a wide variety of new plants. A few companies even specialize in only one or two types of plants, often breeding their own new varieties for sale.
These companies sell seeds, bulbs, or “bare root” plants – which are live, but usually dormant – and ready to plant. While mail-order gardening offers variety, it is often cost-efficient as well. Dozens of plants can be grown from seed for a few pennies while the same varieties purchased at a local nursery at the ready-to-plant stage cost considerably more.
Sow these seeds in the garden
Every gardener has done it. The winter has gone on too long, and you want something growing in your house RIGHT NOW. So you start a few seeds indoors. And then more. And more. Pretty soon, your house is covered with flats, all sporting little green sprouts.
While seed starting is definitely satisfying to the soul, you may want to concentrate your efforts and your space on the plants that need a head start. The seeds listed below either grow quickly and not worth starting them inside, or they resist transplanting: beans, beets, carrots, lettuce, peas, radishes, spinach, bachelor’s button, calendula, larkspur, sunflower, dill, fennel, cypress vine, marigold, zinnia, squash, just to name a few.
Prepare you indoor seed flats
All seeds need both warm soil and moisture to germinate. In general, most seeds germinate readily if the soil temperature is around 75 degrees F. However, some plants such as coriander, (60 degrees F); nasturtium, (65 degrees F); and stock, (65 degrees F), sprout best at slightly lower temperatures.
Warm your soil by placing incandescent light bulbs near the containers or by using specially designed electric soil-heating cables or heat mats. The top of a refrigerator will warm seeded cell packs. (Window sills aren’t a good place to germinate seeds because cold air leaks around the glass may chill the flat).
I use a fine, sterile, soil-less, seed-starting mix. Styrofoam containers, plastic or aluminum salad containers, reusable plastic flats or pots all work well to start seeds. Peat pots are particularly good for varieties such as moonflower vine (Ipomoea alba), morning glory vine (Ipomoea purpurea), and peppers, which all resent being transplanted. Simply peel back the top of the pot to soil level, remove the bottom and gently score the sides, then bury the pot and seedling right in the ground.
Dry up damping off disease
Like a movie monster, “damping off” is a silent killer. In one swoop, it cuts young indoor seedlings off at the soil line, leaving you with a heartbreaking flat full of dead plants.
The culprits are several fungal, soil-borne diseases that prey on weak, overcrowded, or sluggish seedlings No known cure exists, but – like garlic around the neck – preventive measures can help you send this dreaded Dracula packing. Here’s how:
Always plant in a sterile seed-starting medium. (Garden soil is too heavy for small seedlings.) A sterile mix and clean containers washed and disinfected with one part household bleach to nine parts water will greatly reduce the chance of infection. Water before noon, so soil is dry at night, and don’t over water. Thin out crowded seedlings with a small scissors, snipping them off at the soil line. Set up a small fan to keep air moving gently around seedlings. Leave ½ inch or less between the soil and the top of the flat to encourage air circulation. Another option is to apply a commercial liquid fungicide, available at your local nursery, to the seed flats after planting. Read and follow all label directions.
Don’t wash away your hard work
Seeds are tiny and easily dislodged until their root systems are in place. After sowing your seed flats, don’t pour water directly on your containers from a watering can or you will wash away your efforts. Misting the soil heavily or watering containers from the bottom are both better options.
To bottom-water, set the container in a few inches of water and wait until the surface of the soil is moist. To allow excess water to drain away. When seedlings are 2 inches tall, reduce moisture. Let the top one-half inch of soil dry out between waterings and many soil diseases can be avoided.
Nancy Olsen is the agriculture agent for the Bladen County Extension Office. She can be reached at 910-862-4591.