Care after sowing (outdoors)

Where possible hoe regularly between rows to keep down weeds. Within rows and on seedbeds some hand weeding is usually necessary although, if you are not certain what the seedlings will look like, it is best to delay until they are well through and can be clearly distinguished from the weeds. If there is a period of dry weather before the seeds germinate, water regularly to keep the soil moist. It is important to remember that, in most cases, the seeds will be close to the surface and that the soil can quickly dry out to that depth.

Even where seeds have been sown thinly, as long as germination has been good it is likely the seedlings will soon become crowded and that this will prevent them from growing to their full size and giving of their best. In a few cases, such as the growing of radishes or salad leaves, this may be desirable or the plants are harvested so quickly that it is not a problem. In almost all other instances they will need to be ‘thinned’ and this is best done as soon as they can be easily handled. During this operation strong plants at the spacing recommended on the seed packet are chosen and held with the fingers of one hand while the remainder are carefully removed with the other. Where two or more seeds were sown at each station the resulting seedlings are similarly reduced to one. With some vegetables, such as carrots and lettuce, the thinnings can be eaten and, in these cases, it may be desirable to thin gradually rather than completing the whole job in one go.

If crowded, even some of the seedlings in a seedbed will need to be removed to give the others room to grow sufficiently. All those left, however, are eventually lifted carefully and either transferred to a separate nursery bed to grow on further or planted out in the positions where they are to flower or crop. This is generally referred to as ‘transplanting’. In many cases, thinnings can also be transplanted if they are removed carefully with most of their roots, and this is often done to fill gaps in a row. Transplanting direct sown seedlings is done in exactly the same way as planting out those raised under glass except that, being hardy plants grown outdoors, they require no hardening off and the planting out date does not necessarily have to be after the last frost.