SOWING SEEDS

Start plants from scratch

From page 12
this operation.

The newly sterilized sand or soil
should be allowed to stand un-
covered until it is cool, and then if
not all used for seed starting, the
balance should be stored in a seal-
ed plastic bag.

As to pots in which to place the
seed-starting medium, if you wish
to save money, the Canadian
Garden Council suggests you can-
not get a better substitute for peat
pots than egg shell halves. Yes,
crack your extra-large or large cpgs
carefully so you have two half
shells, then place the half shells in
cardboard egg containers, fill the
cgg shells with the sterilized start-
ing medium, moisten and plant
your seeds. (Plant not more than
three or four seeds per shell, and
once they germinate, cut off —— do
hot pull out — al! but the strongest
grower in each shell.)

Various types of peat pots, ex-
pandable peat pellets, peat starter
strips and starter cubes are all of-
tered in most catalogues, and sold
in garden centres. These are all
great for starting seeds, but other
than simplicity, offer little if any
other advantage over the egg shell
halves.

Plastic greenhouse covers for
seed trays are also an extra that
makes seed germination faster, but
if you wish to economize, simply
puta couple of loops of thin, rigid
wire (a coat hanger, for instance)
at each end of the tray, and wrap
the entire tray with a layer of
plastic dry cleaner's bag. The im-
portant point with = plastic
greenhouse covers, whether they be
purpose-made semirigid covers, or
just dry cleaner's bags, they must
be removed as soon as the first
seeds start to show through.

As soon as germination takes

place, your seedlings walt start to
grow toward the light source.
Unless that source is immediately
overhead, you will have to turn the
trays around, preferably 90 degrees
each day. If you sow your seed
three per pot or shell, and cut
away all but the strongest seedling
in each. then you may grow your
seedlings on for about a month be-
fore transplanting each to a larger
pot, or direct to the garden, once
hardened off. Half strength solu-
ble fertilizer applied every ten days
is recommended once the seedlings
have their second set of leaves.

If you sow your seeds in rows in
a tray they will need to be
transplanted singly at the time they
develop that second set of leaves.
Move the strongest seedlings to ia-
dividual small pots, and apply the
half-strength fertilizer. It is best to
keep newly transplanted seedlings
out of full sun for a day.

Learn about buying, selling home

BUYING OR selling a home in-
volves major legal and financial
considerations. You may be asking
yourself: Is it better to sell my
home privately or use a real estate
agent? What are the concerns of a
buyer versus those of a seller?
What is the role of a lawyer in a

teal estate deal? Is there anything
special | should know about to-
day’s market?

You can find answers to these
and other questions and be better
prepared for your purchase or sale
by attending the free law class on:
Buying and Selling a Home at

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