42 Gardening Under Glass 



inches apart and as shallow as you can get them 

 — just deep enough for the seed to drop into. 

 These should be barely covered by sifting a 

 little soil over them, and ge-ntly pressing down 

 the. surface. vStill larger seeds may be put in and 

 covered to a depth of two or three times their 

 own diameter. 



Covering the flat or seed pan with a pane of 

 glass after planting is not always necessary, but 

 the results are so much more certain that it is 

 well worth doing. Leave a little "chink of air" 

 or an opening along one edge. The i)urpose of 

 the glass is to prevent evaporation while at the 

 same time keeping the surface of the soil around 

 the seed moist. This makes germination surer 

 and cjuicker. 



The temperature in which most seeds should 

 be kept after sowing is from 60 to 65 degrees (at 

 night). The seeds of plants such as Begonia, 

 Heliotrope, and others in the "warm" list as 

 given on page 85, require 10 to 15 degrees higher 

 than this. 



Seeds will germinate quicker if given what is 

 called "bottom heat"; that is, if the fiats or seed 

 pans may be placed on a bench directly over 

 heating pipes ; or they may be placed directly on 

 the pipes, provided proper care is taken not to 

 let them dry out. 



