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Seed Starting |
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Containers |
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You will need clean, sterilized pots or seeding trays, washed
in soap and hot water and rinsed in a weak bleach solution
to eradicate last season's bugs and diseases. You can also
use pots made of peat moss, fiber or coir (a biodegradable
alternative made from coconut husk fibers), and plant them
right into your garden soil in the spring. If using pots,
they should be placed on a tray. You'll need clear tray covers,
which you can buy or make using plastic wrap.
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Coir pot
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Peat pot
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Planting
Medium |
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It's important to use sterile seeding medium, as you don't want
any weed seeds competing with your selected seeds. You can purchase
soilless seeding mix containing peat moss, perlite and vermiculite,
or you can make your own using sterilized, bagged planting soil
mixed with equal parts perlite, vermiculite and sterilized coarse
sand. Add warm water until the mix is moist enough to squeeze
into a ball that breaks apart easily. |
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Place the medium into the clean containers and tap the containers
on a hard surface to settle the mix slightly. The medium should
be somewhat loose so the new roots can extend through it easily.
Cover the seeds with vermiculite, which is light, doesn't compact
and retains moisture well. |
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Other Articles from this Issue |
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