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Horticulture Principles and Practices

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locations in the field. Home gardeners may produce their own seedlings. However, the<br />

horticultural industry offers professionally grown seedlings for variety of crops.<br />

Table 9–3 presents a list of some of the crops <strong>and</strong> ornamental plants that are commonly<br />

seeded indirectly (Figure 9–8).<br />

Advantages<br />

1. Good establishment. Only healthy seedlings are transplanted, ensuring a 100<br />

percent initial establishment. With direct seeding, some seeds may not germinate,<br />

even if the highest quality of seed is used.<br />

2. Early maturity. Establishing a crop by seedlings has been known to hasten<br />

maturity.<br />

3. Shortened field growing period. By using a greenhouse (or other facility) to raise<br />

seedlings, the grower can have a head start on the season. During adverse conditions<br />

(e.g., cold temperature), seedlings may be raised indoors for several<br />

weeks while the ground conditions remain too cold for seeds to germinate.<br />

When good weather arrives, these seedlings are transplanted into the field for<br />

an early crop.<br />

TABLE 9–3<br />

Plant<br />

Selected Plants That Are Not Direct Seeded<br />

Scientific Name<br />

Ageratum<br />

Alyssum, sweet<br />

Begonia<br />

Coleus<br />

Dusty miller<br />

Geranium<br />

Impatiens<br />

Marigold<br />

Pansy<br />

Phlox<br />

Snapdragon<br />

Verbena<br />

Zinnia<br />

Tomato<br />

Cabbage<br />

Eggplant<br />

Pepper<br />

Parsley<br />

Cucumber<br />

Onion<br />

Ageratum houstonianum<br />

Lobularia maritima<br />

Begonia x semperflorens-cultorum<br />

Coleus blumei<br />

Centaurea gymnocarpa<br />

Pelargonium x hortorum<br />

Impatiens spp.<br />

Tagetes spp.<br />

Viola tricolor<br />

Phlox drummondii<br />

Antirrhinum majus<br />

Verbena x hybrida<br />

Zinnia elegans<br />

Lycopersicon esculentum<br />

Brassica oleracea<br />

Solanum melongena<br />

Capsicum annuum<br />

Petroselinum crispum<br />

Cucumis sativus<br />

Allium cepa<br />

FIGURE 9–8 Transplanting<br />

seedlings in the field. Often,<br />

workers feed the seedlings into<br />

units attached to a moving<br />

tractor. (Source: USDA)<br />

9.14 Methods of Seeding 303

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