In the Garden with Pat Rubin

Bee garden writer Pat Rubin writes about everything that grows, from flowers and trees to vegetables and lawns. Pat volunteered for several years as a Placer County Master Gardener and has written about gardening for many national and regional publications. In addition to gardening, she spends time raising and showing miniature horses and miniature donkeys.

In the Garden will include news, events, advice and other gardening tidbits. Pat will also answer reader questions.

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April 8, 2008

Don't pull out those seedlings

Radishes, lettuce, carrots, basil, even tomato seeds usually get planted too closely together and gardeners have the reluctant task of thinning them.

It’s hard to discard those extra seedlings, but if you don’t, you’ll get a cluster of leggy, poorly producing tomato vines, or radishes packed so close together they don’t have room to spread out.

So thin you must.

But instead of pulling the extra seedlings out of the ground - and disturbing the roots of the ones left behind - snip them off at ground level instead. That way you won’t also be tempted to plant those extra seedlings.

When I sow basil, for example, I plant five or six seeds to insure good gemination. As the seedlings grow I snip away the weaker ones. At first I'll snip one or two away, then give the remaining plants a few days to keep growing. Then I'll snip a couple more of the smaller, weaker ones away until I have one stout, healthy growing plant left.

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