Right, come on you ‘orrible lot! Time to face the real world. And you’re not going to like it. Yes, once you get planted, you puny little seedlings, you’ll face wind and rain, sun and chill, and you’ve got to be tough! Time for seedling boot camp.
Raising seeds indoors is the best way of stealing a march on the seasons and getting tender plants like tomatoes and chillis big enough to have any chance at all of fruiting in our short warm growing season. But it comes with its pitfalls. Even if you diligently rotate the little plants on your windowsill to stop them leaning precariously towards the light source, you still aren’t giving them enough practical experience of the ravages of the outside world.
To stop your seedlings growing up too cossetted and nesh to cope with their first few weeks outside, give them a workout to help them man up. They need strong stems to cope with windy conditions. Get a strip of paper and softly brush it over your plants every couple of days. Do it softly, mind you – you don’t want to snap any stems in two – just gently brush the seedlings to about 30 degrees to left and right to help the stems grow stronger and ready for the big bad world of the garden.
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Sam
Thank you for reminding me about this technique as I had completely forgotten about it since leaving horti college! Thanks, Sam x
isabel
no worries: glad it is helpful!