Thinning Out Seedlings

If you have sown your seeds thickly, as recommended, once your seedlings stat to grow you will have more plants than you need, assuming that your soil is in good condition.

Although liberally planting seeds may seem extravagant and wasteful, it is more expensive to sow too few seeds than too many. Seeds are relatively cheap; not being able to produce a full crop can be very expensive.

As soon as your seedlings begin to sprout, you thin out your plants - get rid of the surplus. Thinning out your seedlings they will become weak and will have difficulty growing.

You should not let young plants grow too close together. If they do, they will not get enough air, water and light to develop in a healthy manner.

Once your seedlings can be handled, you must remove the weakest plants and allow the strongest to remain.

The first time you thin out the seedlings, let them stand half the distance apart that you intend to leave for the man crop.

This will ensure that your plants grow fully.

If you are growing plants, such as carrots, onions or beets, which can be left until they reach a moderate size before overcrowding occurs, you can gather young, choice roots. This will make your crop more profitable.

You should never wait until your plants are overcrowded before they plants receive their final thinning, as that will cause the main crop to suffer.