Seed trays & Modules

[charlesModerator]

Firstly – a huge thanks to Charles for the inspiration that his books have brought me. Finally, I think I’ve stumbled upon a method of gardening that appeals not just to my wish to be organic, but also one which actually makes perfect sense! Now, as a complete beginner, I have a lot to learn and probably a lot of very simple questions to ask

Some background: We’re living in Central Italy with a particularly nice climate – one with real seasons. We reach the 40s on the hottest summer days but still have snow in the winter and temperatures down to the -5 region. We’ve plenty of space to develop our ‘Orto’ (Vegetable Garden) and one of our first projects was actually constructing a polytunnel. We went down this route since all of our neighbours have one and they’re obviously a source of valuable information, but we’d like to show them that there’s more to life than rotovating and chemical fertilizers!

We’ve begun germinating various plants in seed trays (rocket (salad & sky), spinach (medania) etc) but I’m slightly confused by some information in the books. For example, it suggests that 4 or 5 seeds per module is a good starting point. At another part of the book, there’s a suggestion that it’s actually more efficient to sow into seed trays and ‘prick out’ into modules. When pricking out, should it be one plant of these types per module or 4 or 5? Conversely, if sowing into modules, should we be thinning them out to 1 plant or leaving them as a clump? I said I had some very basic questions All of these plants are destined for the polytunnel beds initally since there’s a lot of landscaping to do outside before we can do anything much there.

Thanks in advance – Andy

[charlesModerator]

 It sounds like an exciting project and good luck with all your growing.

Some vegetables do best  from being raised as one plant per module or plug – lettuce, endive and calabrese for example. They can be either sown in a seed tray and then pricked out as one seedling per module, or sown as two seeds per module and then thinned to one, after germination. Which method you use is purely down to individual preference.

It should be clear from my books which vegetables can be grown as mini clumps, from sowing several seeds per module. Beetroot, onions, spinach and mustards all work well like this.

[DuncanMember]

For me the best tip that Charles gives on modules is to compact the compost into each module quite firmly. This stops the compost collapsing when you extract the plant.

[DuncanMember]

I had some Erica winter lettuce in modules which germinated over the last few weeks outside. Yesterday the root balls were frozen so I decided to plant them out – they look OK but I wonder whether they will survive.

[charlesModerator]

 I was asked this recently by email:

"I set loads of salad seeds but in small trays, I found when I came to transplant them that I had to disturb their roots so that when I transplanted them into the garden it takes 2-3 weeks for them to establish themselves.  Do you sow salad seeds individually into modular cells? "

The question has the answer embedded in it, I sow in modules to avoid root damage when planting out. Most plants are growing away within a week on average, longer in cold weather and quicker in warm weather. But modules need watering in, both at planting time and, if it stays dry, a couple of times afterwards at two day intervals or so, until roots have found their way down into the soil.

At the moment, in July, plants are growing away incredibly fast.

[charlesModerator]

 Andy sorry, I never posted a reply.

Partly it depends how you like to pick the leaves for salad. I find it simplest and most productive over a long period to pick large, outer leaves off one plant especially of lettuce, endive, chicory and parsley. But I grow two, or sometimes more, of rocket, pak choi, leaf radish, and almost any other salad, to have smaller leaves and a few more of them. 

For single seeds I either sow direct and thin to one plant, from two or three seeds sown, or I sow in a seed tray and then prick out into modules. Today I was pricking out endive for winter salad in a tunnel, also spring cabbage to plant outdoors at the end of September. For two or more seedlings in a module I sow extra seeds, about 50% more than the number of plants I want eventually, to allow for some not germinating.

I am interested to hear of any successes with other ways of sowing and then planting of modules and plugs.

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