This is the one part of gardening I do not like, not even a little bit--thinning seedlings. The basil and marjoram seedlings came up thickly, even though I mixed the seed with fine sand and tried very hard to plant thinly. Today I took the tweezers and thinned out the seedlings--throwing away about as many as stayed in the starting cells. I know it has to be done, but I don't like it! I think I'll go have a good cry and a glass of wine for consolation.
I offer my sincere condoleances for your loss, Jane. It does go against the grain, doesn’t it. Ach well, there is the wine to soothe your tortured brow though.
You throw those babies away!! I transplant them into the garden and if they live great then I'll take the credit. If they don't it's Mother Nature's fault not mine.
Eileen, the seedlings don't even have their second set of leaves. These are tiny, tiny seedlings! If I don't thin, we will lose most of them. I thin, then let them grow until they have at least two sets of "real" leaves, and then transplant. Ours go into the garden when they have hardened off. The rest are put in small pots and given to the local community garden. Yes, I am guilty of infanticide . . . .
I always feel the same way. I usually try to save the extras but it only works with some plants. Have had great success thinning tomatoes into their own pots. Carrots and lettuce not so much, and those especially make me so sad.
BunnysGarden, carrots are best direct seeded where they will grow. Root vegetables don't transplant well, as a rule.
Jane is too right about the futility of transplanting root veggies. My Bride does it every year and every year the transplanted root veggies go yellow and die, or if they do overlive the trauma, they are of seriously very poor, stunted quality. No real gardener wants to ever waste; however, when you talk about waste...then I say do not waste time or garden space. Like so much in gardening, it is a question of percentages, knowaddah mean mate. I go with high percentage choices and accept the reality of poorer choices. This is a lot of waffle when I could have just said, Jane is correct. Period. I did want to give you some background and reasoning though because i feel like advice and opinion is fine, but I always need to know the reason for things and not just accept things without understanding. You are in the best of hands with Jane.
Bunny, as always Sjoerd is too kind. There are fantastic gardeners here, and they can be trusted to give you the best advice and direction they have. You are in good hands here, hands with a little dirt under the fingernails and a few callouses!
