Talking Green: Pricking Out

Now I would like to talk about Pricking Out. Once your seeds have germinated and they have grown enough that you can handle them (usually over 1cm tall) you need to seperate them so that they don't compete for light as they grow larger. Seed packages suggest just pulling out the extras and leaving the strongest seedling but for me I can't do it. I feel bad killing plants. So for those of us who don't want to just keep the strongest plant but rather all the plants-pricking out is for us. lol I have actually read books that tell you to grow seeds this way that you sprinkle quite a few into a try and then use the pricking out method to put them in individual cells. Anyways enough about that-here is how you do it. lol For me, I just take something I have on hand which is usually a popsicle stick or the end of a plastic spoon or knife-something with a small end on it. Then I take it and insert it in beside the plant I want to remove and gently push it up. In terms of how deep to go down, I usually insert the popsicle stick about half way down the cell or about an inch or so. Depending on how many seeds are growing, sometimes more than one comes up which is fine. When more than one seedling comes up, just gently pull them apart while being careful with the little roots. It is ok if some of the roots break so don't worry about that. Just be careful to not detach all the roots from the stem! I have read in books that you should hold a seedling by the leaves so you don't bruise the stem but personally I have little luck with that because often the leaves break off the stem quite easily. Just be gentle and everything should be ok. This is another reason it is good to have extras because despite our best intentions, sometimes a seedling breaks and dies. Once you have pricked out the seedlings you want to move to different cells then it is time to plant them.
Planting the seedlings is interesting sometimes with the tiny seedlings like lobelia. For the tiny seedlings I tend to fill each cell full of dirt and make a small hole to insert the seedling so I don't lose it and I don't have to try hold it up while putting dirt around it. For the bigger seedlings, it is not so hard to hold them up so you can usually fill the cell partially full and then put it in and fill up the cell the rest of of the way. Have fun!