Too Many Vegetables….How to Thin Seedlings

Is there such a thing as too many vegetables in your garden?

My radishes are definitely doing well. But, there are too many growing close together.

Why did this happen? Did I plant too many? When you plant small seeds, you scatter them along small furrows.  You do plant more seeds then vegetables that will grow to maturity.

The reason for this is that some seeds do not germinate.

After they sprout, and begin to grow – then you have to ‘thin’ them out. This involves removing certain seedlings so that the remaining ones are at a proper distance from each other and have plenty of room to grow.

So, how do you ‘thin’ seedlings?  

Simply use a pair of scissors and cut the extra seedlings off at the base.

This works much better then pulling them out because you can disturb the roots of the seedlings that are staying.

So how far apart should your vegetable plants be from each other? Well, it depends. Look at your seed packet, which will tell you how far apart they should be.

I just thinned my radishes (the easiest vegetable to grow, by the way). My carrots aren’t quite ready yet, so I will probably thin them out in a couple of weeks.

I hope your week is off to a great start! 

A Box of Seeds and an Impatient Gardener…

Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."