February, 19 13 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



67 



By starting plants indoors early in the season the garden may be advanced several weeks 



Starting Plants Indoors 



By F. F. Rockwell 

 Photographs by E. R. Rollins and the author 



f 



I HE gardener who waits until the soil can be 

 K".m ' S -y. worked before sowing his first seeds is 

 accepting a handicap that no amount of work 

 can overcome. His garden, which, in early 

 May, should begin to return something for 

 all the work and materials put into it, will 



mixing equal parts of rotted sod (or, in lieu thereof, garden 

 soil that is well supplied with "humus") and leaf-mold, or 

 very old, spent manure, such as may be taken out of a last 

 year's hot-bed. If you have not taken the precaution, the 

 Fall previous, to put away some dirt where it would not 

 freeze, the quickest way to get your seeds started now will 

 keep him waiting until long after that before he begins to be to go to some local florist and buy a bushel or two of soil 

 draw his first dividends in the shape of fresh, tender lettuce from him. If this cannot be done, however, you need not 

 and delicious young beets. It is, of course, possible to pro- give up. Get a pick-axe and loosen up a few good-sized 

 cure the number of plants one needs from some local florist chunks of dirt in the garden where the soil is lightest, and 

 or seed-house. But the "number" of plants is only half the put it in the cellar near the furnace or in some other warm 

 requirement. To make sure of having exactly the varieties place to thaw out until it is fairly dry. Leaf-mold can 

 you want, and to have them in the best of condition, there is usually be got in the woods, even in Winter weather, down 



under the surface layer of leaves in hollows, 

 back of a wall, or in any other place where the 

 accumulated debris of years has rotted away; 

 or chip dirt from the bottom of the wood pile 

 will serve as a substitute. To this mixture of 

 loam and leaf-mold, add sand enough to make 

 it slightly gritty, to "cut" it so that it will crum- 

 ble and fall apart readily when compressed in 

 the hand. Having provided the right sort of 

 soil in which to sow seeds, you will find that the 

 biggest part of the "work" of seed-starting is 

 over. From your grocer you can get a few 



but one thing to do — start your own plants. 

 Nor does this necessitate the convenience of a 

 greenhouse, or of a hot-bed, even. A light, 

 sunny window, where room for a generous 

 table-top or a shelf can be had, in a place where 

 the thermometer does not go below forty-five 

 degrees or so on average nights, is all that is 

 required. An occasional drop below forty de- 

 grees will not prove fatal, but every time it 

 occurs means that the growth of the plants will 

 be that much retarded, and if too often re- 

 peated their quality will be injured. from cracker boxes. Slits 



The equipment for starting seeds indoors is should be left to facilitate cracker boxes, and these, sawed lengthwise into 

 simple. Next to light and warmth — as men- drainage two-inch sections, and bottomed so that narrow 



tioned above — a light, porous soil is the only necessity, spaces, say one half inch wide, are left between the boards, 



In starting plants from 

 seed, "flats" may be made 



Many failures in seed-starting are due to soil that is not 

 fitted for this purpose. Richness is no advantage — in fact, 

 is a drawback — but a physical condition which will retain 

 moisture and at the same time let any surplus water drain 

 off at once, and will not tend to form a "crust," is the most 

 vital factor in success with seeds. Such a soil it is difficult 

 to find ready at hand; but it may be easily prepared by 



or else that several half-inch holes are bored in each one, 

 will provide you with "flats" — just what you want for start- 

 ing vegetable seeds and large flower seed. For very fine 

 flower seed, such as Begonias, Heliotrope, Petunias, etc., a 

 few seed-pans — which are made by the flower-pot manu- 

 facturers — will be more convenient to handle; though if 

 one cannot readily get them, a flat in which one row or so 



