by Lindsay Bond Totten
Scripps Howard News Service
Genuine shortcuts are pretty scarce in gardening. So when a horticultural technique that promises "quick results with minimum effort" really works, why not grab it?
Direct seeding--sowing seeds directly into garden soil, bypassing pots and flats altogether--is one such plum. For flowerbeds bursting with color, gardeners should really pick this one; it's within such easy reach.
Advantages to direct seeding are few in number but powerful in scope:
First, direct seeding allows gardeners to dispense with all sorts of messy seed-starting paraphernalia. Forget the bags of soil-less mix, recycled cottage cheese containers, and elaborate fluorescent light setups. You won't need to sacrifice windowsill space, either.
Direct seeding saves big bucks. Besides eliminating costly seeds-starting supplies, gardeners can also reduce the amount they pay for bedding plants.
Not that I begrudge local greenhouses what they charge for annuals--quite the contrary. But let's face it, flats of flowers can add up, especially if you plant a lot of them. A $2.25 packet of seeds can yield the equivalent of $30 worth of transplants.
But, without a doubt, the best reason to try direct seeding is to take advantage of special varieties that aren't available in market packs at your neighborhood garden center.
"Where else but from a seed company can a knowledgeable gardener find varieties of annual lupines or old-fashioned four o'clocks?" asks David Quatchak, proprietor of Franklin Hill Garden Seeds, a small western Pennsylvania company specializing in seeds of hard-to-find annual flowers and vines, many suitable for direct seeding.
An avid gardener himself, and a strong proponent of direct seeding, Quatchak devotes a portion of his modest, but interesting, catalog to "Poke 'n' Grow" varieties, annuals chosen for their ability to sprout quickly when sown directly into garden soil "right where you'd like them to grow."
"Unfortunately, average gardeners just will not buy flats of flowers without at least one or two blooms open to verify the color," Quatchak explains. "Most greenhouses have given up trying to convince their customers otherwise and now only sell annuals that will bloom well in market packs."
"But some plants just won't tolerate all of the transplanting that's involved in greenhouse production," he continues. "Or, they won't bloom at an early age, so they don't sell."
As examples, Quatchak names flowers like nasturtiums, annual hollyhocks and sunflowers. All are wonderful garden plants and easy to grow when the seeds are poked into soil, he concedes, but they don't perform well in flats, so most greenhouses don't bother with them anymore.
Morning glories and many of the other annual vines offered by Franklin Hill are also shunned by greenhouses, for different reasons.
"It's hard for producers to sell vines," Quatchak explains. "They grow so quickly, and have to have a little stake pushed into the soil to support the stem. Then, retailers get about a two-hour sales window to move them or the vines get all tangled up and are damaged when customers try to pull them apart."
For gardeners who want to experiment with direct sowing an annual vine, Quatchak enthusiastically recommends cypress vine (Ipomoea quamoclit). The feathery foliage is beautiful all by itself, he believes, but gorgeous blooms will make even beginning gardeners feel like experts.
"You'll never see cypress vine for sale in a greenhouse," says Quatchak. "They can't get it to bloom in a pot. The seeds want to germinate and grow in real garden soil right from the start."
Quatchak fears that there's a whole generation of gardeners coming along who don't realize they can put a seed into the ground, right where they want it to grow, and produce a desirable plant. Curious, really, since direct sowing is actually one of the easiest, fastest and most rewarding investments in horticulture.
Many of the varieties in Franklin Hill's "Poke 'n' Grow" section will germinate in five to seven days and grow quickly into thriving annuals with an exceptionally long season of bloom.
Success with direct sowing begins with thorough soil preparation and a seedbed with soil fine enough to accept seeds. Direct contact with the soil is important for seeds to germinate well.
Proper spacing and thinning are critical. Quatchak recommends planting two to three seeds together in one spot and spacing the next seeds 1 to 2 feet apart, depending on the variety. If all the seeds come up, gardeners should thin like crazy, to ensure that just one strong seedling in a group of two or three thrives.
The tendency is to plant them too close together, because the seeds are so small, he cautions. Experience is a good teacher.
To peruse Franklin Hill's "Poke 'n' Grow" list, log on to the company Web site. Two other excellent sources of seeds for direct sowing are Shepherd's Garden Seeds and Burpee Seeds (see contact information below.)
(Lindsay Bond Totten, a horticulturist, writes about gardening for Scripps Howard News Service.)
)
