Seedling nursery - into the sun

Now that I am getting germination of the seeds, I have moved the seedlings out into the sun. The temperatures here in the desert have cooled off considerably in the last day or two, so the seedlings are in no danger of burning up, as they would have been just a week ago. In fact, they need to get out into the sun, or they will be spindly and *leggy*, stretching themselves out.

Another task that needs to happen now is to do some thinning, and replant seeds in the cells that are empty. I used a sharp-pointed scissor, but I also found that I could use my fingers very carefully. It's best to take the cut-down seedlings out of the cells as they can encourage disease as they rot. I put them out into the garden where they will dry up in a matter of minutes. As I've developed more confidence in the germination rate, I am being more careful with my seed planting. I am actually trying to plant one seed at a time. With the lettuce seeds, which are fairly big, that's pretty easy. The other seeds are incredibly tiny, so I put a few into my left hand and use the point of the scissors to guide them out, one by one, along the fold inside of my palm (not the lifeline, one of the other ones).

The little greenhouses have a bottom part that holds the water in, and you can also see that there are a few misters in this area, which help keep the moisture in. This is a tricky balance - you need sunshine for good strong seedlings, but you also need to avoid letting them dry out. This combination of the greenhouses and the misters seems to be working fine - as long as the weather stays cool.