Spring - A Busy Time

Now that the warm temperatures, accompanied with the warm winds dried up our yards and gardens, we can earnestly step outside into the fresh air and begin those routine spring chores. Isn't spring marvelous? We don't even have to put on a jacket to venture outside most days!

Perennial Flower Beds

Peony Botrytis Blight Botrytis cinerea

In order to save a lot of time, some of these chores should see our immediate attention. Removing last season's dead foliage if herbaceous perennial beds were not cleaned up last fall, can be done with a hand rake, with some plants, as long as we get at it before the tender new shoots have grown too tall. If it has come to the point of seeing more new green growth than dead material, its better to remove it carefully by hand. Breaking off growing tips on many plants will mean no flowers this year. Either way, it's important to remove this dead foliage to prevent the spread of diseases, which may have overwintered on the dead plant material. One example is Peony botrytis blight, caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea which causes blasting (withering without opening) of the flower buds and also spots on the leaves, stems and flowers. Young stems may eventually rot off at the ground. Plants that have very persistent stems should be cut off near ground level with a pair of secateurs and not ripped or jerked out.

Now is the time to remove the mulch from your perennial beds. We do not want the new shoots remaining in the dark now that the ground is warming up. Why mulch? Mulching prevents the soil from warming up and thawing in the late winter and early spring seasons. The repeated performance of thawing and freezing eventually leads to the ground cracking and heaving. The plants roots are in turn exposed to the freezing air. The freezing temperatures than kill the plants roots resulting in death of the plant. Up until the last 2 or 3 years, we could count on annual snowfall to provide us with an early, deep blanket of snow. This snow blanket provided us with an excellent mulch, which protected the more tender plants. This is very noticeable when we try growing shrubs such as Prunus x cistena (Purple leafed sandcherry) in our zone 2. The tips of the plant die back to the top of the snowline every year. Below the snow, the plant remains alive and carries on growing the following spring.

Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis)

Early spring is the time to transplant many of your perennials if they have become over crowded and less vigorous (plants and flowers are smaller than normal). The earlier the better, before they start growing is best.

Peonies(Paeonia spp.), Bearded Iris (Iris X germanica), Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis) and Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra spp.) are among the few herbaceous (all parts of the plant die down to the ground each year) perennials that should not be transplanted in the spring. Always use the outside pieces of a clump for propagation (a means of starting new plants) as they are healthier and much more vigorous. Be sure the new planting site is well drained - poorly drained soil often leads to root and crown rot of many perennials. Loosen the soil to a depth of at least 1-foot for most perennials. Add liberal amounts of organic matter (compost, well-rotted manure, or peat moss) and don't forget the bone meal or any synthetic fertilizer that has a higher percentage of phosphorous (5-10-5) for example. Phosphorous promotes vigorous root growth and large flowers. When transplanting your daylilies (Hemerocallis spp.), do not throw away the surplus white, fleshy tubers. They are edible, tender and delicious when sautéed or fired. As another bonus, the daylily buds and flowers may be used to garnish salads or sautéed and eaten.

Your Lawn

For those of us who like a well-cultured lawn, a thorough raking in the spring is beneficial. This is more critical if many deciduous (leaf losing) trees are growing on or near the lawn and time did not permit raking the leave and twigs off last fall. Piles of wet, matted leaves will certainly not benefit any grass. After the lawn has been raked, it should be aerated to reduce compaction of the soil. This is done with a machine that punches holes in the lawn and removes 3-4 inch long cores of sod and soil approximately ½ inch in diameter. The soil then expands and loosens. Air, water and fertilizer can then reach the root zone of the grass much easier. Do not remove the plugs, they will break down with rain or when watering the grass.

Any lawn will benefit from a topdressing of compost or well-rotted manure. If using manure, be sure it is pulverized and free of perennial weed seeds. Sticks, stones and other objects that seem to end up in a manure pile must be removed before it can be used as a top dressing. These objects can be a serious hazard if hit and flung with a lawn mower. To topdress your lawn, simply fill a wheel barrow with the material you have chosen, and then fling it with an aluminum grain scoop shovel over the grass. With practice, an even spread of ¼ - ½ inch of topdressing should cover your grass. The new shoots will grow through the topdressing, and then watch your grass turn dark green.

Spider Plant - Ribbon Plant

Common Name: Spider Plant, Ribbon Plant

Botanical Name: Chlorophytum comosum

Plant Family: Liliaceae (Lily Family)

Description: A plant with long, narrow, green leaves about a foot long that grow from the base of the plant and arch or cascade over the pot. With proper lighting, long stalks are sent out which flower and are then followed by tiny plantlets which resemble the parent plant. If excellent growing conditions prevail, the tiny plantlets in turn will send out tiny plantlets. Other varieties include: Chlorophytum vittatum (leaves have a white center); C. variegatum (green leaves edged with white) and C. mandaianum (a more compact plant with yellow striped leaves). These are excellent plants for removing air pollutants in your home.

Light: An east or west window is best. Give it bright, indirect light of at least 400 foot candles. If the plant does not receive enough light intensity, it will not flower or produce the tiny plantlets. These plants respond to the length of the day and produce most of there flowers in the fall when the days shorten.

Water: The media must be kept moist at all times or the leaf tips will turn brown. Fluorides in the water in any amount will also turn the tips brown. Trim off the brown tips with a scissors by cutting back into live tissue, forming a point so the leaves will look natural. Misting the plant in the morning is beneficial.

Media: Most commercial potting soils are fine, although I find some of them need a little perlite added to them to keep the media from compacting.

Feeding: Fertilize every 3-4 months with any complete houseplant fertilizer such as 20-20-20 or use fish fertilizer.

Propagation: Probably the easiest plant to propagate by simply placing the plantlets in water to lengthen the already visible roots, and then potting them up. They may also be put straight into potting media and kept moist, or pinned into potting soil and then cut from the mother plant once well established and growing.

Tips: Do not fertilize any houseplant while it is in the dormant stage. This is usually late fall and winter. This is obvious on many plants when tiny, light green colored leaves start appearing in spring. This indicates the plant has come out of it's dormancy and it's time to feed again. If your plant continues to grow throughout the winter months (new leaves and flowers keep appearing) then it should be fed as required.

Your Houseplant and Light

First, a reminder to everyone that it is illegal to prune any elm trees between April 13 and July 31. This law was established in hopes of reducing the spread of Dutch Elm disease in our province. The elm bark beetle (hylurgopinus rufipes) is a vector (carries and spreads) of the fungus Ceratocystis ulmi (Dutch Elm Disease). The beetle is active at this time of the year and is attracted to the smell of freshly pruned elm wood.

My son has suggested I do a write up on a different houseplant in each column. If time permits me, this will appear at the end of each article. Because there are a lot of folks that live in city apartments, and do not have a garden, a few houseplants can fill the need to work with, grow and enjoy plants. Oh yes, us country folk love houseplants too.

Houseplants bring the outdoors or nature indoors. Recent studies have proven that indoor plants relax a person and add to their emotional well-being. Furthermore, many species are able to take harmful toxins (gases) out of the air and store them in the potting media. With our airtight homes today, this is certainly good news. A few of these plants that are better at removing air pollutants include:

Botanical Name	Common Name(s)
Aglaonema crispum 'Silver Queen'	Chinese Evergreen
Spathiphyllum wallisii 'Mauna Loa'	Peace Lily
Chlorophytum comosum	Spider Plant, Ribbon Plant
Epipremnum aureum	Pothos, Devil's Ivy
Sansevieria trifasciata	Snakeplant, Mother-in-Laws Tongue

Having grown houseplants for many years, I personally feel that the amount of light a houseplant receives is the most critical factor between success and failure with both foliage and flowering plants. Water and temperature are, of course, very important factors, but a bit easier to understand or recognize. If a plant is wilting, we water it. If the media feels wet, we do not water it. If we are shivering or sweating, we adjust the thermostat to a more comfortable range. Fortunately, it is this same range of temperatures that most houseplants are comfortable with.

Why Light Is So Important

To really understand the importance of light, we need to know just a little bit about photosynthesis. Because most of our language is derived from Latin, we can break these big words down to make them easier to understand. So, photo/synthesis broken down - photo - means light, and - synthesis - means putting something together. Thus, plants use lights energy (sun, fluorescent lamp, etc.) and chloro/phyll (chloro - means - green, and - phyll - means leaf) to produce sugar and starches (energy-rich carbohydrates) in a form that the plant can store and use as a source of energy at a later time (on a cloudy day, for example). As this process is occurring your plant is growing and producing oxygen. There is no other source of oxygen that we breathe, but by the process of photosynthesis. The more light and warmth you can provide most plants, the faster the rate of photosynthesis and growth of the plant.

Now, one other thing steps into the picture - respiration. Respiration does the exact opposite of photosynthesis. It consumes the stored energy (sugar and starches), and breaks them down into carbon dioxide and energy. This process occurs at night or anytime there is not enough light for photosynthesis to take place. The warmer the temperature, the more rapidly respiration takes place. (This is why your stored potatoes will get softer much quicker when it is warm). If you have ever looked at a houseplant book, you will notice they say night temperatures should be 10 degrees cooler than daytime temperatures for your houseplants. This is why. If your houseplant is respiring at the same rate, or a quicker rate than photosynthesis has been occurring, the plant will either stay the same size or it will slowly use up more energy than it is manufacturing, and die. Warm days and cool nights make the prairies one of the best climates for growing agricultural and horticultural crops or plants for this very reason.

Nature has designed plants to grow under different light conditions. We must not forget this and place a shade loving fern in the bright sunlight in hopes of it growing more quickly. Too much bright light will soon kill this plant. It's really a matter of knowing your plants.

The Right Light - How Do We Know?

Your houseplant will often tell you in several ways. If it is spindly and stretching towards a source of light (window for example) , it needs more light. If you have purchased a variegated (any other color(s) on the leaves besides green) plant, and eventually green is the only color left, it needs more light. A plant that remains the same size for many months usually needs more light - except when it is in the dormant (not growing) state. If you have a flowering houseplant and it never blooms, it is generally a sure sign that your plant is not receiving adequate light intensity.

The Helpful Light Meter

If you really love growing houseplants, may I suggest purchasing a light meter. They can be purchased at Early's Garden Center in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. To use one, you stand with the meter directly over the houseplant and point it towards the source of light (window, lamp etc.). A needle on the meter will stop over a letter from A to H, on most models. A is the low light end, with H being the high light intensity end - full sunlight in other words. A chart which accompanies the meter shows the light intensity in foot candles (f.c.) for each letter (ex. A - 0-80 f.c., B - 80 - 140 f.c., C - 140-180 f.c. and so on). You will be amazed at how quickly light intensity drops as you step back from an east window, for example.

Another chart which accompanies the light meter lists many houseplants and the foot candles required by each for healthy growth. Here's an example- plant chart shows pincushion cactus needs 1400 f.c. Light chart shows H is 1400 f.c. You point the light meter at any source of light and walk around the room until the needle sits over the letter H. Place the pincushion cactus in this spot. If you can not find a spot in the room that shows H, provide artificial light or do not try growing this plant. Neither it or you will be happy.

With the proper light intensity, its easy to grow beautiful houseplants. It's very satisfying to count over 100 fully open blossoms on your Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera truncata) or walk into your home and have it smelling like a peppermint or chocolate factory when your wax plant (Hoya carnosa) is in full bloom.

Chinese Evergreen

Botanical name: Aglaonema crispum 'Silver Queen'

Common name: Chinese evergreen

Plant family: Araceae (Arum family)

Description: A beautiful bushy, upright foliage plant which is very easy to grow. The lance-shaped leaves are approximately 2 inches wide and 10 inches long. The leaves are almost entirely silvery-grey, blotched with green with a thin green band around each leaf edge. With age it may reach 2 feet tall. The flower is a 2 inch long spathe - yellow, white or creamy in color. Remove this flower as soon as it appears to conserve the plants energy, otherwise , the plant tends to become leggy. If it does become leggy, cut it back a bit to encourage new side shoots.

Light: Will survive in low light conditions as low as 15 foot candles, but 50-75 f.c. is best. Never place it in full sun. Remember, the more variegation (color other than green) on a plants leaves, the more light it will require.

Water: Let the top 1 inch of media dry before watering, then soak the plant from the top of the pot with tepid water.

Media: A well drained medium consisting of peat moss, perlite, compost and sand is best.

Temperature: Average room temperatures are fine (65-75) degrees F. Remember, cooler at night.

Feeding: Once every four months with a weak solution of 20-20-20- fertilizer or liquid fish fertilizer-overfeeding will burn the roots.

Do Not: Over water this plant as it is subject to root rot when too wet. Do not place it near cold drafts. Do not over fertilize.

Propagation: The easiest method is to divide the new off shoots when they are 6 inches tall and pot them up.

Transplanting your Seedlings

Did you hear about the algebra teacher who quit gardening? He kept growing square roots!!!

Once your seedlings have developed their 2nd set of leaves (true leaves) or are easy to handle, they are ready to transplant into potting media. At this stage they should have developed a good root system. They now need more room to grow and develop and must be pricked out (transplanted). The sooner you can transplant them once they reach this stage, the better.

The seedlings may be transplanted into any type of container as long as the containers have good drainage holes. They should also be able to hold close to 3 inches of media in depth. There are many types available on the market. Some are designed to hold several plants in the one container, while others are used to pot up a single plant.

Clay Pots

Plastic, clay or peat pots may be used. The media in plastic pots will dry out more slowly than in clay or peat pots because moisture cannot pass through the walls of the container. This saves time with watering chores. Clay pots are more suitable for certain species of cacti and succulents and other plants whose roots cannot tolerate excessively damp conditions for extended periods of time. The purpose of using peat pots is to avoid disturbing the plants roots when setting the plant out in the garden. Many tap rooted and sensitive rooted plants like pumpkins and watermelons are directly sown into peat pots. The pot is then covered with soil in the garden. It is very important that all of the peat pot be covered, otherwise, the peat acts like a wick and the sun can quickly dry out the media in the peat pot-killing your plant. To keep your peat pots from drying out so quickly in the greenhouse or home, set them in flats and place sphagnum peat moss all around them. Keep the moss moist.

Containers can be made from empty milk cartons or square plastic jugs. Simply cut out one side, wash them out, and punch holes in the opposite side which will be the bottom of the container.

Greenhouse

I have a small greenhouse, so room is not a problem. I pot up all of my annuals, perennials and vegetables individually in 4 inch plastic pots. Each plant can then be attended to as required and in the event of disease or insect problems, easily removed and destroyed. When transplanting to the garden, there is very little root disturbance and the plant does not suffer from stress.

Although damping off is not generally a problem once the plant reaches the true leave stage, containers should still be washed and sterilized before using them. Other diseases, insects, and insect eggs could be harboring in dirty containers. Sterilize using no less than a 4% solution of water and bleach, and then rinse the containers with clean water.

Now that containers have been chosen, it is time to choose a potting media. A media or medium is a material or combination of materials used to grow or anchor plants. Some media's do not contain soil. Soil is a composition of organic matter, small mineral particles and many kinds of living organisms. When plants are hydroponically grown, the grower will often use rockwool ( fiberglass ) as an inert medium to anchor the plant roots. Fresh water and water soluble fertilizer are then continuously circulated around the plants roots. Horticulturally speaking, soil is used as a type of medium to grow plants.

Because I am an organic gardener, soil and well-rotted manure are the basic components in my potting mix. To this mixture, sphagnum peat moss, perlite and bone meal are added. The manure and bone meal provide all the necessary macro and micro-nutrients required by the plant while it is in the pot. Bone meal is a good organic source of phosphorous, and phosphorous promotes vigorous, healthy root growth. Phosphorous, however, moves very slowly in the media or soil and therefore should be mixed in the potting media, garden or field prior to planting.

Tomato

If you use soil from an agricultural field which has been used for growing cereal or oil crops, be very sure the soil does not contain any chemical herbicide residues. Some chemicals do not break down for several years and this could spell disaster for your seedlings. Tomatoes, for example, are very sensitive to some herbicides.

Using sterilized or pasteurized soil prevents problems with insects and diseases in most cases. Pasteurization kills insects, weed seeds (except for a few very hard coated species) and pathogenic bacteria and fungi (the bad guys), but not all the beneficial soil microorganisms. Sterilization kills everything. Pasteurization is most often used because of the beneficial microbes. Once your soil has been pasteurized, you must not contaminate it with even a trace of soil that has not been pasteurized. To pasteurize soil, heat a quantity of soil so that the coldest part stays at 180 degrees F for 30 minutes. You will notice a smell in the house for a day or two if you use your kitchen oven.

Incidentally, the above information and following information apply to your houseplant media as well. For healthy root development and plant growth the medium must have good aeration (obtained by adding peat moss, vermiculite, perlite or calcined clay to the media); good water holding capacity (add peat moss, vermiculite, compost or well rotted manure); good drainage (add peat moss, vermiculite, perlite, calcined clay, prepared tree bark or washed sand) and good nutrient holding properties (add peat moss, well rotted manure, compost or any thoroughly decomposed organic matter). The perfect media should have 75% porosity (spaces in the media) so that excess water can drain through quickly. Green moss or mold growing on the media's surface indicates poor drainage.

When using a soilless medium you will have to fertilize the plants. The easiest method is using a complete balanced water soluble synthetic fertilizer like 20-20-20 or organic fertilizer such as liquid fish fertilizer. Follow directions on the container label for mixing and using. Some types are applied with every watering while others are applied every two weeks, etc. Slow release fertilizers may be mixed into the media prior to planting, without further applications being necessary. Most importantly, do not over fertilize. This can lead to many problems.

Seedling

It's now time to plant. Fill your containers with the potting mix. Do not pack it into the containers. Use your finger, or use a tapered tool about the thickness of a pencil and make a hole in the media. If it sifts back into the hole, the media is likely too dry or of poor structural content. Moisten it or add the necessary amendments. Using an old table knife, push it straight down the edge of the flat of seedlings and gently pry up. Be as gentle as possible to avoid breaking off any tiny root hairs. Separate the seedlings by holding onto the stem, not the leaves. If a big clump of starting media clings to the roots, all the better. Just make the hole in the media bigger. Then bring the soil over the roots with your fingers and gently firm the soil around the plant. Once a seedling is bare rooted (has no soil around it), the tiny root hairs can die in a few minutes if the air is hot and dry. Pot them up as quickly as possible.

Space large seedlings 2 inches apart and smaller ones 1½ inches apart when using flats or paks. When transplanting very small seedlings, such as sweet alyssum or portulaca, for example, do not try to separate each individual plant, but simply take a pinch of plants (3-5) and pot them up as one. This is not only easier, but makes a much bushier plant at maturity.

Once the plants are potted up, water them by setting the container in a flat container of water. The higher the level of water in the container, the quicker the potted plants will soak up water through the drainage holes. As soon as the surface of the media appears shiny and wet the plant(s) can be removed. Write the name of the variety on a label with a waterproof felt marker and stick one in each container. Some varieties may need to be placed in the shade for a day or so until they have perked up, if they are wilting badly.

Try to grow the plants a bit on the cooler side (60-70) degrees F for most plants. Give them as much light as possible-full sun is best. Supply artificial light if necessary. Turn the plants every other day if they are growing in a south window and bend towards the light. This is known as phototropism. Plant cells on the dark side of the plant grow longer in their search for more light causing the plant to bend over the shorter cells on the lighter side of the plant. The idea is to grow short, healthy, vigorous plants.

Let the media surface become slightly dry before watering your plants. Never let the plants become so dry that they wilt. Wilting does not always kill a plant, but the plant is put into stress. Stressed plants are far more susceptible to insect and disease infestations.

Spider Mite

Monitoring your plants means keeping a watchful eye open for insect and disease problems. Catching that first plant with spider mites can save you a lot of future problems, for example. Most insects can be controlled using a botanical insecticide made with pyrethrins from chrysanthemum flowers. These are still poisons and should only be used as a last resort. Always follow the directions and precautions on the labels before using them. There are many different insecticides and fungicides on the market available to the gardener if he/she chooses this route of pest control.

Pinch out the terminal or apical tip (the top of the plant) on plants that tend to grow as a spike (ex. Snapdragon). This will force out lateral shoots or side branches resulting in a much bushier plant with many more flowers. This should be done immediately after the 3rd pair of true leaves have developed, directly above those leaves.

Disbud (remove) any flower buds that appear on the plant prior to setting them out in the garden. This may seem harsh, but in the long run your flowers will be much more prolific and beautiful. All the plants energy will be put into developing a healthy, vigorous plant instead of those first few flowers.

Starting Your Own Bedding Plants

Whether you use a small greenhouse, or simply a sunny spot in the house, the following basic principles apply to starting your own bedding plants. The mistake most often made is that a lot of folks simply can't wait and start them to early. For most flowering annuals and vegetables, 6 - 8 weeks prior to your annual last frost date in the spring is plenty of time, unless you want to get them in the garden earlier and are prepared and willing to get out and cover those tender plants in the event of a frost. Many of the warm season crops such as tomatoes or peppers will not do well when the soil is cool at any rate.

Occasionally, while visiting friends, I have noticed spindly tomato plants that are 2 feet high and there is still three weeks before they can be planted out. This is hard on plants and in the case of broccoli and cauliflower, for example, a check in growth (the plant stops growing) can result in the buttoning effect (small heads form - about the size of a loonie).

There are, of course, varieties that must be sown earlier so we can enjoy there flowers or fruits in our short growing season. Our annual last spring frost date is June 10th . By August 24th we could have our first late summer frost, although in recent years we have occasionally made it to late October without a killing frost. Perhaps this is due to the greenhouse effect.

The following dates are suggested for starting the more common varieties of plants in our area:

White Bermuda Onions

March 1st or a bit earlier - Onions ( all types )

March 15th - Celery; Eggplant; Carnation - Dianthus; Chinese Pink - Dianthus chinensis; Pansy - Viola; Snapdragon - Antirrhinum; Verbena - Verbena; Scarlet Sage - Salvia splendens; Flossflower - Ageratum; Coneflower - Rudbeckia; Gloriosa Daisy - Rudbeckia; Cockscomb - Celosia;

April 1st - Peppers; Basil; Sage and Thyme

April 15th or later - includes all other annuals and vegetables : Cabbage; Cauliflower; Broccoli; Brussels Sprouts; Tomatoes; Marigolds - Tagetes; Petunia - Petunia; Aster - Callistephus; Dusty Miller - Centaurea; Phlox - Phlox drummondii; Balsam - Impatiens; Bellflower - Campanula; Hollyhock - Althaea; Strawflower - Helichrysum; Ten-Week Stock - Matthiola; Summer Cypress - Kochia; and Tobacco - Nicotiana for examples.

Garden Nasturtium Tropaeolum majus

Alyssum, Zinnia and Nasturtium - Tropaeolum majus may also be started as bedding plants, but generally do well with direct sowing in the garden. Others such as Geraniums - Pelargonium, require much more time - early February and are usually purchased at a greenhouse or started from cuttings from last seasons plants.

The first step is to use fresh viable seed. Reliable seed companies will have the year 2000 stamped on this years seed packets along with the germination percentage. Buying seed that is resistant or tolerant to many diseases is a definite bonus (ex. Big Beef VFNT Tomato has good disease tolerance to Verticillium Wilt caused by the fungus Verticillium albo-atrum and V. dahliae; Fusarium Wilt caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum; Nematodes - microscopic wormlike organisms which can weaken plants and spread disease; Tobacco Mosaic Virus ; Early Blight- caused by the fungus Alternaria solani; Stem Canker - caused by the bacteria Corynebacterium michiganense and Grey Leaf Spot caused by a bacteria). If you collect and save your own seed from the garden, be sure it is disease free.

When using older seed, check for both germination and strength of the seed before sowing. To check for germination simply put 10 seeds in a damp paper towel in a plastic container in a warm spot (on top of a fridge for example). If nine sprout, the germination percentage is 90 %. If these were pea seeds, they may sprout, but not have the strength to push through 1 or 2 inches of soil when sown in the garden. Check for strength by sowing at the proper depth in a flower pot of soil. You can help keep the soil moist by placing the pot in a plastic bag.

The next important step is to use sterile flats or pots. Buy new ones or wash old ones in a solution of water and bleach (Javax). Use no less than a 4% solution. Rinse a couple of times with clean water. This prevents the spread of insects and disease.

Now, choose a sterile media (ingredients that make up your potting soil or soilless mix). There are many prepared mixes on the market for starting seeds. These generally contain peat moss, vermiculite and perlite. I personally use and favor medium grade vermiculite. It is a heat-expanded clay mineral which is sterile, very porous, contains some potassium and has a high water holding capacity. Very seldom will the flat require watering a second time before the seeds have germinated.

Damping Off caused by fungus Pythium.

The disease Damping Off caused by the fungus Pythium which kills young seedlings at ground level never occurs in vermiculite unless one is careless and contaminates the media by using dirty containers or spreading contaminated soil over it. Under damp conditions damping off can spread very quickly through seedlings, destroying them. You can drench the media with a fungicide called No-Damp prior to seeding or spray it on the seedlings if a problem should arise. Always follow instructions and precautions on the label when using chemicals.

Once you have chosen a media, line your flats or containers with one sheet of newspaper to prevent the material from falling out of the drainage holes. Excess water will drain through the newspaper. At no time should plant roots be subjected to wet, poorly drained conditions unless they are aquatic by nature or hydroponically grown where fresh water is continuously pumped through the system.

Now, fill the container to within ¾ of an inch from the top with the media. Level it off and soak with tepid water. Sow the seeds thinly and evenly over the surface. Overcrowding does not allow for proper root development and encourages disease due to lack of air circulation between the plants. Follow instructions on the seed packets as to the depth they should be covered. Lemon Basil should be covered with 1/8 inch of media and Golden Acre cabbage with ½ inch, for examples. Some seeds require light to germinate and should not be covered, but merely spread over the media and gently pressed down.

After sowing and covering the seeds, gently water them once again to moisten the media that has been spread over the seeds. Place the flats in a sunny, bright, warm area and cover them with 2 sheets of newspaper. I use newspaper because it not only darkens the flat, but also allows air to circulate through the paper. If plastic or glass are used to cover the flats, you must continually wipe off the excess moisture which collects on these materials.

The warmer you can keep the media, ideally between 70 and 80 degrees F., the sooner the seeds will germinate. Electric soil heating cables which are placed under the media are available and well worth the investment. They can be purchased at Early's Garden Center in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Check daily to see if any seeds have sprouted by looking under the newspaper. As soon as a few have emerged, remove the paper.

Seedlings must have good light or they will become spindly. Artificial light can be provided by placing flats under fluorescent lamps. These provide a suitable mix of wavelength colour and do not give off large quantities of heat, a problem with incandescent lamps. Cool white tubes are good for foliage plants and warm white tubes are better for flowering plants. "Grow" lights are designed for plants , but the tubes are more expensive and do not last as long as the ones mentioned above. Fluorescent lamps must be placed directly above the plants to provide good light intensity. Metal halide lamps are 20% brighter than fluorescent lamps and provide the most suitable light for plant growth. They are, however, more expensive.

Once the seedlings have developed there second pair of leaves (true leaves), it is wise to feed them as most starting mediums contain very small amounts of nutrients. The easiest method is using a foliar type of fertilizer such as 20-20-20 which is mixed with water and poured directly over the seedlings without fear of burning them. Organic gardeners can use manure tea or fish fertilizer to feed the seedlings. When the 3rd pair of leaves have developed, or the seedlings are large enough to be easily handled, they are ready to be transplanted into potting media.