dry surface compost and sowing of tiny seeds

[zuf]

I layered 2cm of fine compost on garden soil two weeks ago. Tilth is very fine. Because of not much rain and windy exposure i now have 1-2cm of dry surface and moisture below. Can i sow tiny seeds like salad in a way that is presented in a video about outdoor sowing of carrots? My main question here is – if surface is dry, can i cover tiny seeds with this dry material – 1-2 cm of dry compost for example? I have this advice in my head, that you should not cover salad seeds as they need light to germinate. Without moisture in top layer germination is impossible i guess. If i water i guess top layer will get dry again very soon as it’s sunny and windy all the time. Now, i could water everyday, but i don’t want to, i would like to sow and see it grow, i’m sure it’s possible, even with tiny seeds with dry surface, i hope!

[charles]

I would do exactly this, sow 1-2cm after watering the drill, so seeds are sitting on moist compost, then cover with dry compost and tread on it, then leave. Let us know how it goes!

[zuf]

ohoy… i have just sown salad in two different ways

1) i made a trench by removing dry surface compost till i came to a moist surface (1-2cm down), watered trench and sown seeds in it, gentle watering again and then i put dry compost back and tread it down.

2) watered dry compost surface, made bumps all over the ground with a rake, broadcasted seeds, worked seeds into the ground with rake and tread it down.

[Rhys]

I did as you did and spread lettuce seed on top of wet seed compost in modules inside an unheated mini-greenhouse.

Some seeds germinated but a lot didn’t.

As a result, I pushed them into the compost, watered again and, hey presto, I had more young seedlings than modules, so had to fill another tray with compost and transplant the excess.

[charles]

Thanks for this Rhys, I should have qualified the advice re time of year and how moist one can keep the surface, at the moment the wind is very drying.

[zuf]

Wohooo. Succsess! Masny more seedlings are appearing with the first method of sowing, we had dry weather till three days ago. I doubted this rain which made to 1-2 inches wet (could be a problem for tiny seeds below), but no need to worry based on seedlings emerging – a bit of wind and sun and top layer is dry again – a problem for seeds sow with method nuber two, which needs moist surface all the time.

[dolmen]

I was wondering do I understand this correctly, I also have at least 2cm of fine compost covering the soil, can I pull aside the compost down to moist soil and plant salad seeds, then recover with 2cm compost??

 

[zuf]

If weather is cloudy, damp and moist i wouldn’t put them so deep. It worked for me in dry windy weather in spring. Now in fall i would cover with less compost.

[charles]

Unusually for GB its really dry now, for most parts, so a 2cm drill is a good idea, and water the drill before sowing. Zuf is right, adapt your method to conditions, seeds can germinate in shallower drills in the compost in damp weather.

[zuf]

We have so much rain this year, it’s unbelievable! We are waiting for decent sun for more than a month now, and also in summer it was rainy quite a lot. Also waiting for module sown plants, they grow so slow… Anyway, gardeners life is good. Usualy i sow winter lettuce in situ, this year i’m pregrowing them in modules, A lot less work it seems, even though it doesn’t look like when handling modules etc… but they are close, easy to take care off and then planting out strong plants it’s just perfect!

[charles]

So that’s where it all went! The worst bit is having less sunshine and I hope it improves for you soon and great that your module growing is working well.

[dolmen]

Thank you

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