Columbia Master Gardener Paul Morris says he has found a great therapy that offers personal satisfaction and can only occur in the spring: planting your own seeds.
Morris, who owns and operates a perennial plant nursery, explained to a group of people at the Columbia Public Library on Thursday night how to plant their own seeds. The event was co-sponsored by the Heart of Missouri Master Gardener Association.
Chrys Higginbotham, who has planted her own seeds for about five years, said it is hard work.
One of the benefits that keeps her growing her own seeds is the good feeling she gets and the money she saves, she said. “I get a lot of enjoyment in watching them germinate and grow,” Higginbotham said. “I love seeds because my mother always gardened. It’s probably genetic.”
Morris said that an interested gardener can start planting seeds as early as January. Gardeners begin to struggle with dying plants when the plants start to germinate, according to Morris.
At the library, Morris also offered some tips for success that he has learned in his 15 years of experience.
One tip is to take a pencil, while planting those very small seeds, and touch it to the tip of your tongue. Then you can easily pick the seeds up one by one. He also recommends checking your plants every day and transplanting them once you have at least one full set of true leaves.
He also suggested looking at temperature and other requirements a plant needs in its surroundings.
“Look at the cultural requirements of what you plan to grow,” Morris said. “Most things that we choose to grow aren’t that difficult.”
Morris recommends that everyone try planting their own seeds. “With each one, you’re going to learn something,” Morris said. He went on to say, “I still learn stuff everyday and sometimes fail miserably.”