I used to transplant my seedlings very early in their life, when two true leaves appear I would transplant them into the respective beds. The seedlings always sit in a pool of water in egg trays from seed to two true leaves. Planting media is 50% matured compost and 50% soil from the grow bed. Then I decided to do direct sowing and it also worked well for me. This was in the old Mini-Farm. I had problem doing the same in my new Mini-Farm. Transplanting early will face the danger of drowning when rain because water takes a long time to drain and direct sowing the seeds will be dispersed everywhere when there is a thunderstorm which is very common here. Sometimes the birds takes a fancy to eating the seeds. Now I sow my seeds in recycled plastic containers like yogurt containers. There is always water in the pan and I think I am doing it wrong ...am I? I want the seedlings to grow as big as those they sell in Europe and I believe there is a much better chance of surviving. In order to do that I have to do it right and I had been reading up on it in the internet. The more I read the more confused I get and for the first time I discovered that seedlings need to be fed. This is my plan for watering. 1. First sow the seeds. 2. Ensure there is water in the pan always until they start to sprout. 3. After that allow the water in the pan to dry up. 4. Determine the interval needed according to weather condition to add water in the pan to ensure that the media does not dry out. 5. Allow the pots to stand in the water for about an hour and remove the excess water from the pan. This is my plan for feeding. 1. In organic N=15, P=15, K=15 fertilizer. 2. Dissolve 1/2 teaspoon in 4 liters of water. 3. Start feeding when seedling have 2 true leaves. 4. Soak the pots for an hour twice a week regardless to the wetness of the media. Is this method OK?
Hi KK, It pains me a little to say it, but I would not (A) let just planted seeds stand in water or (B) feed them fertilizer in those early days. In these parts, that method would not work. I water newly planted seeds once very well the day that I plant them then do not give them any more water until they are above ground. Once they are above ground I still wait until the planting medium shows some signs of drying in the surface of the soil...then I give a little water to the bottom, not on top of the soil in the little planting container. This is because that many of the problems that new seedlings develop will occur here where the stem meets the soil. KK, in my experience newly planted seeds do not do well with too much water. Sometimes the seed even rots and never germinates. As for feeding the tiny seedling--well, that is very much a personal preference combined with what type of plant it is. One thing is certain though--if the plantlet is fed, they will not require very much food. This is because (1) they are small and exist completely from what those first leaves can do for the plantlet...that is the function of the first leaves--to get the plantlet bigger, to the second set of leaf stage. (2) Because everything is so small and in the developing stages the plant cannot take-up nutrition and process it rapidly or in great amounts in the early stages. The NPK values that you are planning to use, I find an "overkill"---greatly too much. Think of a newborn baby--you do not feed it Daging Rendang with some potatos and veg in the first days of its life, right? Why?--because the little baby's digestive system cannot manage it. In this case, the little plantlet cannot use such a powerful overdose of elements...the element concentration could even kill the plantlet in a worse-case-scenario. Of course the tiny new root of the plantlet takes a modicum of nutrition from the soil, but that is very little. Well, mate, those are my ideas about your planned schema. I feel bad having to say it because you have obviously put quite a lot of research into it. As you know, there are many ways of doing things and my ideas do not have to be considered "gospel", so perhaps others folks on here will have different ideas. Wait and see. I want you to be successful, so my fingers are crossed for you, mate. NPK values like that are normally used to amend outside soils where you will be growing crops or certain flowers. The folks here that use that sort of fertilizer broadcast it over beds where later crops will come to grow.
Um, yeah.. I agree with S. Don't let them sit in water. The soil will become saturated and fungus may grow and kill the seeds. I water my soil once lightly (just so it isn't dry to put your seeds in it) then after I put the seeds in I lightly water the seeds so they make contact with the soil. I then cover the flats or pots with a plastic cover to keep a moist environment available to soften the seed cover so it can emerge and shed the seed cover. After they emerge and have some size to them if you want to let them sit in water for an hour and then dump it out go ahead and try that to see if it works for you. Personally, I would not be remembering to go dump the water in an hour. I would be off doing something else and totally forget about that. I don't fertilize until I see real leaves emerging and not even then until I transplant it into a larger pot. Then I will fertilize with a regular fertilizer full strength. I know a lot of people who don't do this, but I find it doesn't kill off my seedlings. I also add a time release fertilizer to all my flats and pots. This is my method not everybody would do it my way. You just need to learn what works best for you. We all fail, but even if we fail we learn something valuable... and try something else the next time or remember to do it right instead of being lax or unobservant if we know better.
I do the about the same as Carolyn. In your heat & humidity letting them sit in water might be inviting fungal diseases to come for a visit. when mine start active growth I put them in a larger container then fertilize as usual. Just remember to work the fertilizer into the top of the soil and keep it away from the plant. Then as you water the food will be taken to the roots. The roots are what need the fertilizer to make a good healthy plant.
Thank you so much Sjoerd for your comments base on your own experience and practice, I really appreciate it. When we transplanted lettuce and some other vegetables in Luxembourg, the soil of the seedling is really dry to touch but moist. I thought it was the different weather condition that is why they could survived. These lettuce plantlets have to be soaked in water before they are removed from the starting cell to be trimmed before planting. The trimmed and soaked plantlet. We were told that trimming the leaves encouraged the roots to grow. The lettuce were not watered immediately after planting but was only watered the next day. I can't remember why. What you commented make lots of sense because when we were in a nursery in Belgium, we had to do lots of fungus removing from plantlets in starter pots because they were over watered. OK noted a very good point which I'll start practicing right now. As for the feeding part I can understand what you mean. I was worried because of my poor soil condition and also that nutrients from compost is very slow release. I'll have to monitor the situation I'll stay away from Daging Rendang ... hehe!!! Don't feel bad, you comment really help and it is very much appreciated. Now I have a very much better understanding about the whole scenario of starting from seeds instead of depending on my school days experience in biology class of planting mung beans in heavily water soaked cotton wool. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Carolyn, I guess I'll have to monitor the whole process and make sure that the media stay moist. I guess I'll have to remember to dump the water after an hour ... maybe an hour is too long, I'll start with 30 minutes. I want to do this because I do not want to water them from the top. I remember watering from the bottom is more beneficial like what Sjoerd mentioned. I'll hold back on the fertilizer and see how is the out come. If necessary I'll have to shop again for something more suitable for seedlings which I hope I do not have to do it. I guess I'll have to learn what is best and remember it. Thanks Mart, you are right about the inviting fungal diseases to come for a visit. Since I am starting with larger containers now I might even end up doing with lots of fungus instead of veggies. I guess I'll have to leave the fertilizer to after I plant the seedlings in their beds. I had added lots of compost and fish guts into the bed and maybe I do not need the fertilizer at all.
Just one more thing--Carolyn talks about using fertilizer and I agree with that because almost all plants like some fertilization, but I tend to tailor my use of any sort of plant feeding. I decide what and how much based upon what type of plant it is...like lettuce for instance--I use almost no fertilizer because it is a "shooter", that is to say, they have the tendency to shoot, in other words to send up a stalk with flowers. There are other plants that I categorize in the class of "shooters"--like spinach, onions, brassica's and so forth. With these sorts I use less fertilizer because it can stimulate the plants to bloom and so ...up goes the shoot. Instead I manage this problem by keeping them watered and weeded well. Anyway, that lettuce plant looked good to me. As for the cutting of the foliage--well, I have never heard of it with lettuce, but certainly in other plants like leeks, for instance. Good luck further with your new mini garden.
