| Master Gardener Deluxe Kit: Planting your seeds |
| Written by Sean |
| Saturday, 12 July 2008 19:42 |
|
The process for planting your seeds into one of the grow pods takes a little bit of time, especially the first time you do one. But, once you have completed one it becomes actually pretty easy to do. So, here's a step-by-step instructions on how to plant your seeds into your AeroGarden using the Master Gardener Deluxe kit. Step 1: You will need the following extra items, for completing the steps to plant your seeds using the Master Gardener Kit.
Also, we would recommend if you have tweezers for putting seeds onto the grow sponge. When we put our grow pods together, we found it easier to put the seeds into the grow sponge using tweezers. You can also follow the instructions in the book if you prefer. Go ahead and warm up your iron at this time, set your iron to a moderate temperature between 300F-400F (which is between the silk and cotton setting on most irons) DO NOT USE STEAM. Step 2: Go ahead and fill out the labels for the number of grow pods that you are going to be creating. This helps in making sure that if you planting different types of seeds, so you can label them as soon as the grow pod is finished. Step 3: Since the grow baskets that hold the grow sponges come shipped in the Master Gardener Deluxe kit split apart. Go ahead and assemble the number of grow baskets that you will need. They are very easy to assemble, take two halves and on each half there is pin on one side and connector hole matching. Just press them together, until there is no space between the two halves. Step 4: It's now time to plant the seeds into the grow sponges. A couple of things to remember, one being the planting depth and the other is the number of seeds to put into each grow sponge. The ideal planting depth of seeds in the AeroGarden will not necessarily be the same as recommended on seed packages from suppliers. In general, we have found that small seeds need a shallower planting depth than large seeds. Plant oregano (a very small seed) at 1/8" depth and cilantro (a large seed) at 1/4" depth. Seeds planted too deep may rot before germinating. When we planted our seeds, we went with a depth between 1/8" and 1/4" since they were medium sized seeds. Also with regards to the number of seeds, as with an outdoor garden, it is important to plant extra seeds in each Seed Pod to ensure success. A rule of thumb is that for larger seeds and fruiting plants, sow only a few extra seeds. Increase the number of seeds as the seed size gets smaller and for plants that grow in bunches, such a chives. Typically 6 seeds per Seed Pod does the trick. With your seeds, we put 5 seeds per pod. Since one seed packet contained 15 seeds, and we were only planting 3 grow pods. If you have a paper plate, squirt just a small amount of glue onto the plate. Take a cotton swab or toothpick and pickup a small amount of glue, then gently open the slit on the grow sponge and apply a thin layer of glue. Then you need to grab your tweezers or use your fingers and place the seeds on the glue. Make sure to keep the seeds away from the side edges of the grow sponge. It is ok if the seeds overlap one another. If your seeds are very small, you can use the glue from the grow sponge to pickup the seeds. Once you have the seeds in the grow sponge, close the grow sponge and insert it into the grow basket. Make sure the press the grow sponge down to the bottom of the grow basket. If you are going to be planting different plants, go ahead and label them as you finish each grow pod. Step 5: Your iron should be warmed up now, so we can apply the label to the seed pod. Place the label on top of the seed pod. Take the iron follow this pattern, to properly affix the label. For 5 seconds, place the iron across the entire label. Then for 5 seconds move the seed pod around the outside edge of the iron -- to ensure the label is secure if not continue to rotate the seed pod around the outside edge of the iron. Your seed pod is now ready to plant. Step 6: Basically you follow the steps as you do with planting any other AeroGarden seed kit.
Congratulations, you have successfully planted your seeds! In the next part of this series about the Master Gardener Deluxe kit, we go into detail about feeding your gardening depending on what you have planted. Click here to view Master Gardener Deluxe Kit: Proper feeding of your garden |
