The true leaves will grow soon after and look different. Water the seedlings well a couple of hours before you plan to transplant. To prevent stunting your plants it is important to thin out the clump of seedlings. These plants will often need thinning after they mature. Chard plants grow best spaced about 8 inches apart. WHEN TO THIN: Some plants can be thinned at a certain height. If you don’t need many plants, you can thin them in place: just pinch or snip off the excess seedlings, leaving the remaining ones spaced about 2 inches apart. Let your seeds stay put until the next time you need them. This reduces the chance that you’ll damage surrounding plants. AFTER THINNING: Some gardening gurus remove all thinned plants to get rid of a scent that could attract pests. The ideal length to start thinning is when they reach two to four inches in height and have grown one to two sets of true leaves. Tereska Gesing 27,408 views. Thinning Seedlings by Trimming Our preferred method to thin most types of seedlings is to trim out the unwanted ones. For the past five years, she has worked as the West Coast Editor of Organic Gardening magazine. Check out your seedlings. When Swiss chard seeds germinate, a small clump of seedlings often emerge because chard "seeds" are actually a fruit that contains several seeds. Do you have any thinning tips or a different approach for any of the plants listed? So, instead of pulling, simply use scissors to snip off the seedlings you don't want at the soil line. Go ahead, print out this handy thinning chart. Then pick up a seedling by its leaves and nestle its roots into the hole. What is a Geode and How Do You Hunt for Geodes? True leaves resemble the leaves of the mature plant. I would rather leave the seeds inside. Wait to thin until the seedlings have one set of true leaves and are just beginning to put out their second set. Best of Crafts, Gardening, Nature and Recipes, How To Grow Garlic from the Grocery Store, Farmers Market or…. Swiss chard seedlings. Hand-pulling the seedlings that you'd like to thin out can disturb the roots of the seedlings that you'd like to keep. Your seed packet will normally tell you the appropriate spacing required between your seedlings for thinning. Here are the steps to thinning Swiss chard. Just keep the soil consistently moist and they will eventually perk up. If you continue to browse our site, you agree to our use of cookies. Maybe even laminate the thing! BEFORE THINNING: Water the soil to make it easier to pull extra plants. So, instead of pulling, simply use scissors to snip off the seedlings you don't want at the soil line. Plant Your Seeds Germination rates typically vary from 70 to 90 percent, so you should plant more seeds than you think you'll really need. Keep an eye out for pests, but apart from watering, this is an easy vegetable to look after. Water the seedlings in. Backfill the planting hole with soil. Chard seeds are actually small clusters of seeds which will produce more than one plant. How to Thin Seedlings – Thinning Chart – Cool Weather Crops. No more fiddling around with a bag full of seed envelopes. I would rather leave the seeds inside. Take one pass with the rake and then another pass in the opposite direction. Plan the perfect garden with our interactive tool →. The carrot root fly is a good example of a pest that might be drawn to a newly thinned bed of carrots. These leaves are simply baby versions of the chard's mature leaves. Sometimes it's damp out in the garden, or it's an uncommonly warm day. 2:57 . Seed leaves of lettuce are small and round in shape. I simply forget. Make sure to get as big of a root mass as possible. The first leaves that form are called seed leaves or cotyledons. However, the seedlings won't be perfectly spaced. True leaves look like miniature versions of leaves on the mature plants as opposed to seed leaves, which are more round with less detail. Don't worry; they might look a little droopy for up to a week. We simply snip off the smallest, thinnest, or leggiest ones at the root line with small sharp trimming scissors, leaving the chosen one behind. If you are only going to harvest the leaves, then thin the seedlings, so they are 8 to 10 inches apart. Water well after thinning. HOW TO MAKE Potting Soil with Eggshells and Coffee Grounds, Five Things To Do To Your Tomatoes RIGHT NOW, Homemade Seed Starting Mix and Simple DIY Potting Soil Recipe, HOW TO Make Your Own Solar Oven – Fast, Easy and…. Set the clump of seedlings down and use your fingers to gently tease the seedlings' roots apart. Thinning Vegetable Seedlings. The other option is to thin greens when they are tall enough to eat – my preferred method for greens. If you are growing vegetable seedlings in blocks rather than rows, you can run a flexible rake through the seedlings to thin them out. Sometimes you can see the seed casing still attached. How to Grow and Harvest Chard | At Home With P. Allen Smith - … They hold nutrients. All About Malabar Spinach – Grow, Eat and Craft! A good rule of thumb is if you haven’t planted your seedlings in the garden yet, is to limit one seedling per cell or seeding plot. How to Thin Swiss Chard. HOW TO Tell the Difference Between Real Gold and Fool’s Gold, Interviews with Cindy Rajhel of Home Grown Fun, Garden World – Video Games and Seed Packets, Homemade Dry Shampoo – Chemical Free and Non-Irritating. Next, the seedling develops what are called "true leaves." Thinning Seedlings by Separating . To prevent stunting your plants it is important to thin out the clump of seedlings. Cover lightly with soil and water well. Once your swiss chard grows for about 3-4 weeks you can either begin to thin it to allow only one plant to grow or keep all plants in the pots. The second set of leaves is referred to as true leaves. If you're thinning a crop of lettuce seedlings, you can actually add the tiny thinnings to your next salad. Copyright Leaf Group Ltd. // Leaf Group Lifestyle. The best time to transplant seedlings is when you have one set of true leaves. If you are thinning lettuce, spinach, bok choy, radishes, mustard greens, kale, cabbage, or collard greens – just to name a few – you can munch on them, use them to boost a salad or garnish a dish. No more fiddling around with a bag full of seed envelopes. RAKE METHOD OF THINNING: Lettuce, spinach and other greens can be thinned by hand or with a flexible rake. When Swiss chard seeds germinate, a small clump of seedlings often emerge because chard "seeds" are actually a fruit that contains several seeds. Using a spade, dig up the clump of seedlings. Sometimes it’s damp out in the garden, or it’s an uncommonly warm day. Thinning. When Swiss chard seeds germinate, a small clump of seedlings often emerge because chard "seeds" are actually a fruit that contains several seeds. They will stretch out farther than the seed leaves and will start to exhibit characteristics of the specific lettuce grown. For many plants, it’s wise to wait to thin until a second set of leaves forms. As the seedlings begin to grow, thin out the plants so that they’re 25-30cm apart. Every plant is different. Willi lives in Seattle with her husband, four pet chickens, a lawn-destroying labrador, and way too many tomato plants. With beets, a good distance is about three to four inches apart. To solve this little inconvenience, I created a chart for cool weather crops. Every fall planting season I shuffle through seed packets to find out how to thin the seedlings. When it’s cool sprouts will be nice and plump and the remaining plants will be less stressed if you get too close. All Rights Reserved. If you keep all plants there is a chance that they will not grow as full as just one swiss chard. To solve this little inconvenience, I created a chart for cool weather crops. Another method used to thin seedlings is by gently separating them. Chard plants grow best spaced about 8 inches apart. If you are starting seedlings in modular trays you need to thin the seedlings to one plant per cell or they will become over crowded. Now you're ready to transplant the chard seedlings. BEST TIME OF DAY TO THIN: At the coolest part of day and 10 minutes after watering. Some vegetables and herbs like lettuce, carrots, collards, basil, and radish have very small seeds. The round leaves will grow further apart as time goes on allowing room for the true leaves. by Beth Bolles | Sep 30, 2014 | Vegetable Gardening. When the plants reach 4 or 5 inches tall, go back and thin out every other plant so that there is 8 inches between them. Monitor the growth of the seedlings closely. For this first thinning, leave about 4 inches of space between the Swiss chard plants. To do this, carefully remove the whole chunk of soil, seedlings and roots out of their small container.

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