Those who cultivate a garden can decide to buy the plants in a nursery or start directly from the seed, this second option is undoubtedly the most satisfactory: by sowing directly you can see the whole life cycle of the plant, from germination when harvesting the fruit, you also save money by not having to buy the plants but only the seeds.
You can sow in two ways:
- Planting in jars or earthen bread . The seeds are placed in trays or jars which are then transplanted.
- direct seeding . The seeds are planted directly in the garden.
In this article we talk about direct sowing, trying to understand what the advantages are and how best to do it.
Contents [Ocultar]
-
Advantages of direct seeding
-
Which vegetables to sow directly in the field
-
Direct seeding methods
-
planting techniques
Contents
Advantages of direct seeding
- save you work . Planting in the garden directly avoids transplanting operations, and maintaining the plants in the pot requires more attention to irrigation, because the little soil in the pot dries out more easily.
- the transplant is avoided . You spare the plant the traumatic moment of transplanting.
The alternative to direct sowing is sowing in the nursery, it may also be interesting to read about the advantages of this other option, you can find them in the article how to sow in the nursery.
Which vegetables to sow directly in the field
All vegetables can be sown directly in the garden, there are two categories of horticultural plants, so it is particularly practical to avoid the use of trays and to put the seed directly in the field.
Large-seeded vegetables. From a good sized seed, seedlings grow quickly and would suffer from being in very small jars for a long time. In addition, the shoot is robust and comes out of the garden soil without any problem: all cucurbits (pumpkin, zucchini, watermelon, melon, cucumber), legumes (peas, beans, broad beans, chickpeas, etc.), corn.
Primary root vegetables. These types of vegetables, such as carrots or parsnips, should not be planted in a container because they suffer a lot from developing in the closed environment of the jar: the root is conditioned. For example, in the case of carrots, if the plants are made in the nursery, there is a risk of obtaining stubby, small or misshapen carrots.
Direct seeding methods
sow by spreading . If you are in a hurry, you can choose to sow by sowing: it is simply throwing the seeds into the ground according to peasant tradition. Sowing by spreading requires taking handfuls of seed and throwing them with a broad sweep of the arm, trying to give even coverage to the soil, it takes a small hand but is not difficult. If the seeds are very small, you can mix sand to make them easier to collect and distribute. After throwing the seeds, they should be buried, this can be done with a rake, moving the earth to cover the seed. The spreading method is suitable for green manures or vegetables that have small plants, for example salad. Large vegetables need too large distances between plants to allow profitable seed casting.
sowing per row . In most cases, garden plants are planted in straight rows. This geometric arrangement of flower beds takes a little more time than the scattering technique, but it’s worth it. Planting in rows will make it easier to use the hoe to remove weeds. If the correct distance between the rows is chosen and their orientation is taken care of, the plants will have space and light to develop to the maximum. To sow in rows, a furrow is made, perhaps with string stretched so that it goes straight, the seeds are put in and then covered.
Sowing by mail. When the vegetables form large plants, it is not necessary to make a furrow and plant the row, it is enough to make small holes at the right distance: the posts. Pumpkins, zucchini, cabbages and salad heads are typical vegetables to plant in rows. The technique is simple: the small hole is created by measuring its distance from the others, the seeds are put in and covered with soil.
thin out seedlings . When planting in the field, you don’t need to put the exact number of seeds, usually you put a few more, to make sure you don’t leave any gaps. When planting in rows, once the seedlings have emerged, those to be kept are chosen to get the right distances, thinning them out, in the placement technique which is used to put at least two seeds in each hole, then the strongest seedling is chosen, ripping the others.
Sowing technique
The good moment . Seeds need to be sown at the right time, when the temperatures are right for plant growth, you can take help from the many planting charts or the calculator by Orto da Coltivare. If temperatures are too low, the seed will not germinate and may rot or fall prey to animals and insects. Even if the plant is born but the minimum temperatures are still low, it can suffer consequences.
Nursery. Before planting the seeds, the soil must be worked properly, the best method is a coarse and deep tillage, which makes the soil permeable and soft, accompanied by a finer surface tillage, which allows the emerging roots to find no obstacles.
Planting depth. The depth at which the seed should be placed is different for each vegetable, an almost always valid rule is to place the seed at a depth equal to twice its height.
The distance between plants. Growing plants too close together puts them in competition with each other and favors pests, so know the right planting distances and whether thinning is appropriate.
Irrigate. The seed needs moist soil to germinate, so after sowing it must be moist. However, they must not create a stagnation that rots it. You must also pay attention to seedlings that have just germinated: as they have very short roots, they need a daily supply of water.