Secrets Far Growing Seedlings
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Fanning Staff
LEBANON (Lebanon Co.)
While no amount of wishing will
bring spring quickly, planning for
it makes these long winter months
a bit more bearable.
Recently Deb Hartman taught a
class at the Lebanon County
Grafting
HONESDALE (Wayne
Co.) —A Make-A-Tree Grafting
Workshop will be held Thursday
evening, March 28 from 7:00 p.m.
until 9:00 p.m. at the Central
Methodist 'Church Social Room,
Eleventh and Church Street, Hon
esdale. Registration fee SS.
The workshop will include a
discussion on basic fruit tree graft
ing techniques followed with a
hands-on grafting session. All
materials will be provided. Graft
ing rootstock will be available at
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Extension office on “Starting
Seeds Successfully Indoors.”
For those who want to make
sure their seedlings survive out
doors, Hartman provided a whole
list of factors that must be consid
ered before planting seeds.
One of the most important fac
tors to consider is the planting soil.
Workshop
$5 each to make your pwn tree.
The instructor will be Charles
Bertram, a local fruit producer.
The instruction will be designed
for small scale fruit producers and
home gardeners. All interested
persons are welcome. Call to
register by March 26.
For more information and to
register for the workshop, call the
Wayne County Cooperative
Extension at (717) 253-5970, ext
239, or Bertram’s Orchard at
(717) 253-4105.
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MESSICK FARM
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717-560-2500
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Using garden soil for indoor
planting is taboo because it will
crust and dormant weeds, fungi,
and disease may choke new
seedlings.
Soil that allows good drainage
but will hold some moisture is
necessary. Hartman shared several
soil mixes that she prepares. For
mulas for these mixes are included
at the end of this article. Planting
soils are also available for purch
ase from gardening centers.
It is important to know the soil
pH, and to adjust soil additives to
accomodate the plant’s preference.
Most vegetable plants need a
medium to high pH soil.
Seedlings need a lot of fertilizer
so if you are purchasing fertilizer,
all three numbers whould be equal
for the nitrogen, phosphoros, and
potassium.
The soil can be perfect, but the
plants will fail if they are planted
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too early before outdoor trans
planting. Ideally, seeds should be
planted four to 12 weeks, depend
ing on the plant, before the last
frost If seeds are planted too early,
they will become “leggy” or
“spinely” and more prone to
disease.
In this area. May 11 is consid
ered the last host date for the area.
That doesn’t mean that frost is nev
er reported after that dale, but gen
erally the weather is safe after that
date. Low areas may experience
frost when higher elevations do
not.
Planting valuable or very large
plantings of frost-sensitive crops
should be delayed to be on the safe
side. On the other hand, it may be
worth gambling on an early last
frost with limited plantings of cer
tain crops to get a jump on the
season.
To determine
when seeds
Steps to follow for planting seeds:
• Wash containers in hot soapy water with
nine parts water to one part bleach.
• fill container with soil
• press down with finger to work out air
space.
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ibould be planted, count backward
from the May 11 dale to the
approximate time to seed before
the last spring frost
Begonia, browalia, geranium,
larkspur, pansy, and vinca should
be seeded 12 weeks before frost.
Dianthus, impatiens, petunia,
portulaca, snapdragon, stock and
verbena should be planted 10
weeks before frost
Ageratum, alyssum, broccoli,
cabbage, cauliflower, celosia, col
eus, dahlia, eggplant head lettuce,
nicotiana, pepper, and phlox
should be planted eight weeks
before frost
Aster, balsam, centurea, mari
gold. tomato, and zinnia should be
planted six weeks before frost
Cucumber, cosmos, muskme
lon, squash, and watermelon
should be seeded indoors four
weeks or less before the May 11
date.
• water
* plant seeds 2-3 seeds spread in each
container
• tamping-press down to contact soil.
• sprinkle a little soil on top
»thin by cutting rather than pulling out to
prevent disturbing root system.
• tamp down genlty
• mist soil
Some seeds need light and others germi
nate in dark. Check seed packets for instruc
tions. If light is needed, never cover the seeds
with soil.
• The seed trays should be placed at a win
dow or under florescent lights.
• Cool 40 watt florescent lights work as
well as grow lights and are more economical.
• Keep lights on until plant germinates, then
turn off for 6-8 hours every 24 hour period.
• Mist throughout the day or top water with
small spout
» After germination, lots of light is needed.
Temperatures should be kept at 65-70 degrees
during the day and S 3 to 60 degrees at night.
Seedlings need 16 hours of light daily.
• Lights should be placed 4-6-inches above
plants.
• Keep growth constant If growth stops,
the plant will suffer a setback.
• When the plant has three leaves, they are
ready to be trasplanted. Use a screwdriver to
ease out plant if soil is moderately dry. Plant
seedling the same way as the seed had been
planted but do not water until seedling is
transplanted. Use soil line in transplanting.
• Two to four weeks before the plant will be
transplanted into the garden, toughen up the
plant by exposing plant to outdoor sun, start
ing with one hour a day and increasing the
amount each day.
Here are the formulas for soil mixes, which
Hartman recommends;
CORNELL MIX
for seedlings and houseplants
4 quarts horticultural grade vermiculite
4 quarts shredded peat moss
1 tablespoon superphosphate
2 tablespoons ground limestone
4 tablespoons cow manure or bonemeal
SOIL BASE MIX
for outdoor containers
1 cubic foot topsoil
1 cup foot vermiculite
1 cup foot peat moss
1 quart dried cow manure
V i cup ground limestone
1 cup dried blood
1 cup bonemeal
SOILESS MIX
for outdoor containers
5 cubic feet ground bark
S cubic feet sand
5 cubic feet peat moss
1 pound, 10 ounces 5-10-10
2 pounds ground limestone