Every year, new gardeners discover the pleasure of growing their own plants from seed. And that’s what it really is: a pleasure. For if, for some, sowing, fertilizing, transplanting and tending seem like a burden, once you’ve started, you discover that it’s quite the opposite. Making seedlings is so fascinating that we sometimes get up earlier in the morning to see their progress… and we run to see them at the end of the working day. All of life seems to be embellished by these little creatures. It’s hard to be depressed when you have seedlings growing in your home!
And just imagine: in just a few weeks, you’ll be producing flowers and vegetables for your garden from these tiny, seemingly insignificant seeds. It’s a real hymn to life!

Not So Hard
Making seedlings isn’t difficult – in fact, it’s quite the opposite. It’s an exercise we put first-graders through. Granted, there may be a few varieties that don’t fare as well, but those that perform beyond our expectations more than make up for any failures. In fact, the whole process is usually described, step by step, on the back of the seed sachet. All you need are containers (boxes, pots, etc.), fresh potting soil, seed sachets (available in garden centers and online), clear plastic lids (also available in garden centers, or get the plastic containers you sell croissants, vegetables, etc. in) and soluble fertilizer. All that’s missing is tap water and an agrarian tool that’s easy to find in the kitchen: a spoon.
Start on Time
To get the best results from your seedlings, you need to start at the right time. Sowing too early (the main problem for beginners) results in plants that are too advanced and difficult to transplant into the ground; sowing too late is less serious, and only delays harvesting or flowering a little. Fortunately, most seed packets give the date for sowing according to the traditional formula: the number of days before the last frost.
It’s advisable not to use the average date of the last frost as a basis for planning planting or sowing. Instead, opt for a “frost-free” date, around two weeks after the average date of the last frost. This date offers little risk of frost, and the soil will be sufficiently warm for most seedlings and transplants. This is a more realistic approach to planting planning in some parts of Quebec.

Sow in the Ground Too
In many cases, especially for vegetables such as carrots and beet, the back of the sachet suggests sowing directly in the ground. This saves you the trouble of producing seedlings indoors. Usually, these seedlings are sown 2 or 3 weeks before the date of the last frost, for hardier plants, or at the date of the last frost.
How to
Prepare seedling containers (they should have drainage holes) by filling them 3/4 full of moist potting soil. Level out with the back of a spoon. In larger containers (seed trays), make a furrow in the potting soil to the depth recommended on the packet and sow the seeds at the recommended spacing (about 1 cm or 1/2″ for medium-sized seeds). If sowing in individual pots, drill a hole in the soil to the recommended depth using the handle of the spoon and place 3 seeds in the hole (2 more than required, in case germination rates are low). In both cases, fill the furrow/hole with potting soil and water lightly, collecting any excess water in a tray for later disposal.

Place the seedlings in a well-lit, but not directly sunny, warm spot. If you have artificial lighting, place them under it, about 15 cm (6″) away. Cover the trays or pots with a transparent plastic lid. This helps to increase humidity and moderate temperature changes.
Germination
Depending on the species, seeds can germinate in as little as 3 days, or as much as 3 weeks (even longer in rare cases). The first leaves are called cotyledons and bear no resemblance to adult leaves. When the first true leaves appear, it’s time to remove the protective cover and increase the light.

Now place the seedlings in a very sunny spot, preferably cool enough at night (a drop in temperature at night will result in stockier plants). If you’re growing under artificial lighting, raise the lamp as the seedlings grow, so that their heads are always about 15 cm (6″) from the tubes.
Water seedlings gently as soon as the soil begins to dry out. Many gardeners prefer to water from below by placing their seedling containers in a tray filled with warm water, removing them after an hour or two or when the potting soil turns darker, a sign that it is well moistened.
4 to 6 Leaf Stage

When seedlings have 4 to 6 true leaves, it’s time to thin or transplant. If you have an abundance of seedlings, remove the weakest ones by cutting them to the ground, leaving plants spaced far enough apart so that they no longer touch each other. If you have about the number of plants you need, transplant them into other pots, again spacing them so they don’t touch. Finally, in the case of individual pots, you sowed 3 seeds per pot. You need to remove the excess, leaving just one seedling per pot. At this stage, too, the potting soil may start to lack minerals: you can then add a soluble fertilizer to the watering solution.
Acclimatation
Plants should be acclimatized to outdoor conditions before being transplanted to the ground. If the weather is suitable (delay acclimatization if it’s unusually cold), expose them to a few hours of very diffused sunlight a day by placing them outside, but in the shade in a protected spot. Every day, increase the length of time they spend outdoors and the intensity of the light. When the plants are able to tolerate their final growing conditions 24 hours a day (full sun for most plants; half-shade or shade for others), which takes about 2 weeks, they are ready to transplant into the ground.

Transplant them outside on a grey day or late afternoon on or after the last frost date, and water well. Our story ends here, because your seedlings are no longer seedlings, but established plants. You’ve made a success of your seedlings!
Larry Hodgson published thousands of articles and 65 books over the course of his career, in both French and English. His son, Mathieu, has made it his mission to make his father’s writings accessible to the public. This text was originally published in Le Soleil on March 6, 2006.
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