STARTING PLANTS FROM SEED
One of the ways of getting a supply of plants for the house is to start
them from seed. With a number of varieties, better specimens may be
obtained by this method than by any other. Most of the annuals, and many
of the biennials and perennials, are best reproduced in this way.
Simple as the art of starting plants from seed may seem, there are a
number of things which must be thought of, and done correctly. We must
give them a proper situation, soil, temperature, covering and amount of
moisture, and when once above ground they need careful attention until
lifted and started on their way as individual plants.
The number of plants of one sort which will be required for the house is
naturally not large, and for that reason beginners often try starting
their seeds in pots. But a pot is not a good thing to try to start
plants in: the amount of earth is too small and dries out quickly. Seed
pans are better, but even they must be watched very carefully. A wooden
box, or flat, is better still. Cigar boxes are often used with good
results; but a more satisfactory way is to make a few regular flats
from a soap or cracker box bought at the grocer's. Saw it lengthwise
into sections two inches deep, being careful to first draw out nails and
wire staples in the way, and bottom these with material of the same
sort. Either leave the bottom boards half an inch apart, or bore seven
or eight half-inch holes in the bottom of each, to provide thorough
drainage. If they are to be used in the house, a coat or two of paint
will make them very presentable. Of course one such box will accommodate
a great many seeds--enough to start two hundred to a thousand little
plants--but you can sow them in rows, as described later, and thus put
from three to a dozen sorts in each box.
Where most beginners fail in attempting to start seeds is in not taking
the trouble to prepare a proper soil. They are willing to take any
amount of trouble with watering and heat and all that, but they will not
fix a suitable soil. The soil for the seed box need not be rich, in fact
it is better not to have manure in it; but very porous and very light it
must be, especially for such small seeds as most flowers have. Such a
soil may be mixed up from rotted sod (or garden loam), leaf-mould and
sharp sand, used in equal proportions. If the loam used is clayey, it
may take even a larger proportion of sand. The resulting mixture should
be extremely fine and crumbling, and feel almost "light as a feather"
in the hand. If the sod and mould have not already been screened, rub
the compost through a sieve of not more than quarter-inch mesh--such as
a coal-ash sifter. This screening will help also to incorporate the
several ingredients evenly and thoroughly.
While we provided holes in the seed box for drainage, it is best to take
even further precautions in this matter by covering the bottom of the
box with nearly an inch of coarse material, such as the roots and half
decayed leaves, screened out of the sods and leaf-mould. On the top of
this put the prepared soil, filling the box to within about a quarter of
an inch of the top, and packing down well into the corners and along
sides and ends. The box should not be filled level full, because in
subsequent waterings there would be no space to hold the water which
would run off over the sides instead of soaking down into the soil.
The usual way is to fill the boxes and sow the seed, and then water the
box on the surface, but I mention here a method which I have used in my
own work for two years. When filling the box, set it in some place where
it may be watered freely, such as on the cellar floor, if too cold to
work outdoors. After putting in the first layer of coarse material, give
it a thorough soaking and then put in about two-thirds of the rest of
the soil required and give that a thorough watering also. The balance
of the soil is then put in and made level, the seeds sown, and no
further watering given, or just enough to moisten the surface and hold
it in place, if dry. The same result can be obtained by filling and
sowing the box in the usual way, and then placing it in some place--such
as the kitchen sink--in about an inch of water, and leaving it until
moisture, not water, shows upon the surface. Either of these ways is
much surer than the old method of trying to soak the soil through from
the surface after planting, in which case it is next to impossible to
wet the soil clear through without washing out some of the small seeds.
After filling the box as directed, make the soil perfectly smooth and
level with a small flat piece of board, or a brick. Do not pack it down
hard,--just make it firm. Then mark off straight narrow lines, one to
two inches apart, according to the size of the seed to be sown.
The instructions usually given are to cover flower seeds to from three
to five times their own depth. You may, if you like, take a foot-rule
and try to measure the diameter of a begonia or mignonette seed; but you
will probably save time by simply trying to cover small seeds just as
lightly as possible. I mark off my seed rows with the point of a lead
pencil--which I have handy back of my ear for writing the tags--sow the
seed thinly, and as evenly as possible by shaking it gently out of a
corner of the seed envelope, which is tapped lightly with the lead
pencil, and then press each row down with the edge of a board about as
thick as a shingle. Over the whole scatter cocoanut fiber (which may be
bought of most seedmen) or light prepared soil, as thinly as
possible--just cover the seeds from sight--and press the surface flat
with a small piece of board. A very light moistening, with a plant
sprinkler, completes the operation.
The temperature required in which to start the seeds of any plant will
be about the same as that which the same plant requires when grown.
Germination will be stronger and quicker, however, if ten to fifteen
degrees more, especially at night, can be supplied. If this can be given
as what the florists term "bottom heat," that is, applied under the seed
box, so much the better.
Until germination actually takes place, there is little danger of
getting the soil too warm, as it heats through from the bottom very
slowly. The box may be placed on the steam radiator, on a stand over the
floor radiator, or on a couple of bricks on the back of the kitchen
range; or the box may be supported over a lamp or small kerosene stove,
care being taken to have a piece of metal between the wood and the
direct heat of the flame. For the first few days it may be kept in the
shade, but as soon as the seeds push through they must be given all the
light possible.
If the seed flats or pans are prepared by the newer method suggested
above, they will probably not need any further watering, or not more
than one, until the seeds are up. The necessity of further watering, in
any case, will be shown by the soil's drying out on the surface. In the
case of small seeds, such as most flower seeds are, the moisture in the
soil will be retained much longer by keeping the box covered with a pane
of glass, slightly raised at one side. If the box is to be kept in
bright sunlight, shade the glass with a piece of paper, until the
seedlings are up, which will be in a day or so with some sorts, and
weeks with others.
From the time the little plants come up, until they are ready to prick
off in other flats or into pots, the boxes should never be allowed to
dry out. If they are being grown in winter or early spring, while the
days are still short and the sun low, they will require very little
water, and it should be applied only on bright mornings. In autumn and
late spring, especially the latter, they will require more, and if the
boxes dry out quickly, you should apply it toward evening. In either
case, do not water until the soil is beginning to dry on the surface,
and then water thoroughly, or until the soil will not readily absorb
more. If you will take the pains, and have the facilities for doing it,
by far the best way to keep the seed boxes supplied with moisture is to
place them, when dry, in an inch or so of water (as described for seed
sowing) and let them soak up what they need, or until the surface of the
soil becomes moist. This does the job more evenly and thoroughly than it
can be done from the surface, and is also a safeguard against damping
off, that dreaded disease of seedlings which is likely to carry away
your whole sowing in one day--a decaying of the stem just at or below
the soil.
From the time the seedlings come up they should be given abundance of
light, and all the air possible while maintaining the required
temperature. It will be possible, except on very cold dark days, to give
them fresh air. Never, however, let a draft of air more than a few
degrees colder than the room in which they are blow directly upon them.
The secret of growing the little plants until they are ready for their
first shift is not so much in the amount of care given, as in its
_regularity_. Tend them every day--it will take only a few minutes time.
When the second true leaf appears they will be ready for their first
change, which is described in Chapter VI.
[Illustration: A new scheme of sub-irrigation for flats. Some porous
material such as sphagnum moss or excelsior (as here) is put on the open
bottom and the flat watered by allowing it to stand in a sink or tub for
a few minutes]
[Illustration: Cuttings ready for sand; the leaves have been clipped
back. From left to right, heliotrope, geranium, "patience plant"]
[Illustration: Geranium cuttings ready to pot. Notice the roots, which
should not be allowed to grow more than half or three-quarters of an
inch long before potting]