Sterilized starting soil is essential for seedlings.
cheaper than buying flat packs from the garden center. As an organic grower, you can take comfort in knowing that your seedlings have not been treated with pesticides or harsh chemical fertilizers. Head-forming vegetables, from radicchio to pac choi,
can all be direct sown in the garden with great success. Starting the seeds in trays, however, means that you can carefully control spacing in the row at transplant time. Even for lettuce you can use 72-cell planting trays with one seed per cell. One of the added benefits to this method is avoiding early damage to newly emerging seedlings from slugs, snails, and woodlice. While there is no “correct” way to garden, there are
some very useful tools available to assist with the process when starting from seed.
Top picks include: Sterilized seed starting soil Seedling trays Seedling warmer mats T-5 fluorescent lights For a planting chart to assist you in starting seeds visit
westcoastseeds.com. Gardening Guides have been adjusted for different Canadian growing regions based on average frost dates and frost-free days. h Mark Macdonald is West Coast Seeds’ staff writer and
photographer. He has been growing food and flowers organically for over 20 years. West Coast Seeds specializes in untreated, non- gmo vegetable, herb, and flower seeds, and is certified organic by the Pacific Agricultural Certification Society (16-205). Be sure to visit
westcoastseeds.com and request a free Gardening Guide.
Choosing the right size containers for the seedlings is important to ensure the seedlings have the proper amount of space to grow into.
18 • Early Spring 2016
Starting plants early means you can get a jump on the shorter Canadian season.
localgardener.net
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