You Grow Girlâ„¢

I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but that doesn't stop me from trying new things.

The last time I ever attempted to grow a plant from a seed was in elementary school. I think we were planting beans in the soil to watch them grow and learn about germination. Fast forward to now, I'm a 29-year-old wannabe gardener with high aspirations of growing a thriving veggie and herb garden consisting of five kinds of tomatoes, various hot peppers, chives, sage, mint, basil, cilantro, strawberries and a ton of flowers.

I bought commercial seed starting soil, planted the seeds in little cups, covered them with plastic wrap, sat them on my sunny kitchen windowsill and hoped for the best. One by one little plantlets poked their heads from the soil and greeted me in the morning.

And sure enough half of them died because I didn't know what the hell I was doing.

Here's where I went wrong:

1. I watered from above.
This means if I didn't drown the seeds, I uprooted the fragile seedlings.

2. I didn't invest in a grow light.
I fully counted on my sunny windowsill to provide enough light for the seedlings. Of course, I didn't realize by placing them in the sun next to a window, I probably fried them like little criminals in tiny electric chairs.

3. I left the plastic bags on the containers after the seedlings poked through the soil.
Now I'm still uncertain if this was a no-no on my behalf. I thought those clear bags (and cut-up plastic bottle ends) gave the seedlings a nice mini-greenhouse to flourish in. Instead, I probably provided too much magnification of the sun, and thus sizzled them. Ugh.

4. Ripped seedlings out ala pruning.
Okay, I figured this was how everyone pruned seedlings. Then after reading 3 books I realized you're supposed to cut away the seedling you want to get rid of as opposed to yanking them out of the soil. When you pull young plants out, it may damage the roots of the plants you want to keep. Ooooh.

I did learn a few valuable things along the way.

Here's what I did right:

1. Plant marigolds with all your veggies.
Apparently, these pungent flowers keep away certain pests while attracting bees and ladybugs. This comes in doubly handy when you're container gardening like I am. Also plant dill with tomato plants to keep away worms.

2. Sprinkle cinnamon on the soil of newly-sewn seeds.
I read somewhere that this prevents certain fungi from attacking innocent plants.

3. Don't overwater!
You want the soil moist, not wet. And for crying out loud, don’t let that soil dry out!

4. Bury those tomato plants.
Once you get tomato plants to grow a decent height and they have more than three sets of leaves on them (after their training leaves fall off) – pinch off the lower set of leaves and bury the plant to the upper-top set of leaves. This allows the plant to grow a stronger root system and really take hold.

5. Mulch, mulch, mulch!
After your plants are repotted outside in larger containers, remember to add chopped leaves, pine needles, straw or wood chips to the top of the soil to keep it from drying out too much between watering.

Probably the best thing I came across while doing my gardening research this spring is Patricia Lanza's book Lasagna Gardening for Small Spaces. I learned that the proper way to plant anything in containers is this system of layering soil amendments:

• Place newspaper in the bottom of a large plastic pot (usually 24 inches in diameter) that has proper drainage holes and is propped up by two bricks.
  
• Then make your first layer of soil be organic potting mix. (Make sure all layers are 1 to 2 inches thick
  
• The second layer compost.
  
• Then peat moss.
  
• Then more compost.
  
• Then chopped leaves or grass clippings.
  
• Then compost.
  
• When the container is almost full, pull back the layers and place in your plant.
  
• Top with more compost or potting mix.
  
• Water
  
• Then mulch.
  

Be sure to put a very thin layer of bloodmeal mixed with green sand and fine rock between each layer. It's that simple.

I highly suggest picking up her books (she has a Lasagna Gardening method for larger gardens as well.) I've learned so much from her ideas. Also, do yourself a favor and ask fellow gardeners what works for them as well. And be sure to ask moms, dads and grandparents who garden.

I've since learned from my mistakes and hopefully I won't be spinning my heels the rest of the summer. (fingers crossed).