10 questions and answers for sowing
1.When can I sow vegetables and flowers?
If you start too early with the sowing, the ratio of temperature and light intensity for the young seedlings are very unfavorable. Often, the Seed boxes standing on a windowsill and is heated by the heating, the sun has not yet enough power to keep the plants provide it with light. The seedlings are then long, thin stalks with small, pale green leaves. In the jargon of gardeners, the phenomenon is known as etiolation. Rule of thumb: In the house not begin before the first of March with the sowing. In the greenhouse and cold frame, you can sow vegetables and flowers a little earlier, because the plants are exposed more and the ratio of light and temperature can be controlled easily. In a previous house sowing succeed only with additional exposure with a plant light . In the tillage of flowers and vegetables in the garden bed to sowing date depends on the hardiness of the plant. The sowing of beans, you should plan such that the plants do not germinate before the Ice Saints, carrots, however, you can be sown in March.
2. Do I need special seed-earth?
You should use seed of flowers and vegetables in any case, right-sowing soil. It contains, in contrast to conventional potting soil scarcity of nutrients, so that the seedlings are overfed not the same, but to develop strong roots to nutrients. Good seed-soil is sterilized in the production of hot water vapor to kill fungal spores and other pathogens. Tip: Fill your seed-vessels in half with a conventional potting soil and spread to an equally thick layer of planting soil. Thus, the seedlings initially form many roots and then grow into the nutrient-rich soil.
3. Is the bringing forward of vegetables and flowers summer make sense?
It depends to what plants you have. Heat need vegetables such as tomatoes, eggplants and cucumbers should always prefer you, because the vegetation period on the field otherwise hardly sufficient to reap rich harvests. Cabbage pulling the best in the greenhouse Frühbeetkasten before or they might need also for a long time to harvest maturity. Even the classic balcony flowers such as petunias or Busy Lizzie must be sown under glass in order to be the start of the season in May Terrace strong enough and the flower does not begin too late. Annual climbing plants such as scent-vetch (Lathyrus), or morning glory (Ipomoea) provide rapid screening, if they are sown early. On most summer vegetables and flowers, the direct sowing into the patch, however, the simpler and better way.
4. Am I growing in trays or sown into individual pots?
If the seed – for example in tomatoes – is relatively coarse and germinates reliably, there is nothing against sowing two to four seeds in small pots. Advantage: You can easily isolate the seedlings later and save yourself the more complex transplant. Fine, however, you sow seeds in trays better, because then you can choose from a variety of the most vigorous seedlings. A good compromise is the standard in the professional horticultural seed in multi-pot or Quickpotplatten: The young seedlings are transplanted after germination with a small balled into larger pots and grow without interruption, because the roots are damaged, hardly.
5. How do I get that seed better distributed fine?
In practice, the uniform sowing of fine seeds often proves difficult. In this case, can use the following trick: Mix the seed with just as fine, dry sand and scatter the sand-seed mixture, then on the seedbed. When you scale sowing the seeds can also fill in a kitchen or with a matching mesh strainer and sprinkle powdered sugar on a cake like then.
6. Is a covering of the seed container to recommend?
In order to germinate the seeds sown, they need warmth and a very high humidity. Especially at sowing on the window sill because of the dry room air, a cover is very important. Consider using special culture boxes with transparent plastic hoods and cover individual pots with inverted jars or plastic wrap. Do not forget to open the covers every day for a few minutes to allow an air exchange can take place and no fungal disease spread.
