What is the best way to thin out SEEDLINGS?
This is one of those questions which experienced gardeners may sneer at. But in fact doing it right isn't obvious and if you do it wrong you may get poor results.
You have sown the seeds and they have come up and there are too many. The packet says "thin to 6"/15cm apart". You do really need to remove the surplus seedlings, or they will all grow too small and stunted because they are starved of food and water, competing for what is in the soil.
Thin when the seedlings are just big enough to handle. A good time to choose is in the evening, when the soil is moist. If the soil is dry, water well earlier on, and leave the plants to absorb this. That way, the disruption to their roots will do less damage and they will have the cool of the night to grow new microscopic root hairs (it's that fast).
Have a container nearby to put thinnings in; don't just leave them on the soil because the smell will attract slugs and snails. Carefully remove surplus seedlings but don't go down, at this stage, to that "one every six inches" (or whatever) that the seed packet says. Leave a few near each other so if one gets eaten you have a spare. You can go back and remove the extras after a week or so.
After you have finished thinning, water again lightly. Spare seedlings can sometimes be transplanted - not root crops, but lettuces and cabbage-family seedlings transplant well - so does sweetcorn. With lettuces it's normal to use a pointy trowel to lift the surplus seedlings and replant them elsewhere. They will be a bit later than the ones you've left in, which is handy.
You have sown the seeds and they have come up and there are too many. The packet says "thin to 6"/15cm apart". You do really need to remove the surplus seedlings, or they will all grow too small and stunted because they are starved of food and water, competing for what is in the soil.
Thin when the seedlings are just big enough to handle. A good time to choose is in the evening, when the soil is moist. If the soil is dry, water well earlier on, and leave the plants to absorb this. That way, the disruption to their roots will do less damage and they will have the cool of the night to grow new microscopic root hairs (it's that fast).
Have a container nearby to put thinnings in; don't just leave them on the soil because the smell will attract slugs and snails. Carefully remove surplus seedlings but don't go down, at this stage, to that "one every six inches" (or whatever) that the seed packet says. Leave a few near each other so if one gets eaten you have a spare. You can go back and remove the extras after a week or so.
After you have finished thinning, water again lightly. Spare seedlings can sometimes be transplanted - not root crops, but lettuces and cabbage-family seedlings transplant well - so does sweetcorn. With lettuces it's normal to use a pointy trowel to lift the surplus seedlings and replant them elsewhere. They will be a bit later than the ones you've left in, which is handy.
