Seed planting: Tips to get your garden started for spring

Описание: More and more people are learning how to start flowers and vegetables from seed. It takes patience and practice.

The first step is reading the seed packets to figure out when the seeds should be sown. They'll tell you how many weeks before the average frost-free date that they should be planted. Along Colorado's Front Range, that date is around the first week in May. Some seeds need to be planted as early as ten to twelve weeks before that date. They include pansies, dianthus, stock, annual foxglove and vinca. The packets will tell you.

You'll need potting soil, trays, plastic cells or shallow pans, labels and plastic domes to cover the flats. You may also want a heat mat to put underneath the trays. That will speed germination. Fill the containers with soil and water first. It's difficult to work with dry soil. Larger seeds are fairly easy to sow. Smaller ones are more difficult.

You can sprinkle them over the soil the way you'd add a pinch of salt to a recipe. Or you can use a device that uses a click to vibrate them out of the trowel-like gadget. This makes it easier to get them in place. Press the seeds into the soil with your fingers or knuckles. Cover the flat with a plastic dome to create a humid environment.

Place the flat in a bright place but not in direct sun. Sun will cook the seeds. Once they've sprouted, remove the dome and move them to a sunny place or under lights. Some seeds can be planted outdoors now. Nature already did its seed-sowing last fall.

Winter cold actually aids germination of some seeds. They will fare poorly if planted too late. It's advisable to plant seeds of California poppy, bread seed poppy, larkspur, nigella and bachelors buttons now. Sprinkle them where you want them to grow. Press the seeds into the soil to make firm contact. It's best to do this before a snowstorm, which will water them in.

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