Plant veggie seeds in your greenhouse using biological organisms for healthy seedlings and disease resilience.
Keen gardeners will know that preparing for spring and summer crops starts now, when we’d probably rather be propped up in front of the fire with a good book! For those of us lucky enough to have a greenhouse, you can sow veggie seeds now ready for planting out when the warm weather arrives.
A greenhouse provides a stable atmosphere, allowing you to plant seeds, including veggie seeds and flowers, when it’s too cold to start these seedlings outside.
Beneficial biological organisms
Biological organisms, like mycorrhizal fungi, give home gardeners an added advantage in producing healthy seedlings, ensuring higher rates of survival and disease resilience. Our award-winning mycorrhizal fungi product, Rootella, increases nutrient uptake and improves soil health, giving your pumpkin seedlings, or tomatoes and other vegetable crops a strong start.
Rootella, mycorrhizal fungi, is so simple to use when planting tomato seeds or any veggie seeds at home. Our premium mycorrhizal fungi product for the home gardener is Rootella T, containing 8 grams of mycorrhizal fungi per bag. These handy grow bags can be broken open when planting seedlings and added to your growing medium. As your seedlings sprout, the mycorrhizal fungi inoculate the new roots and a symbiotic relationship is formed. When your seedlings are ready to go into the garden, drop a grow bag into the planting hole, and your spring and summer crops will thrive with better access to nutrients and water thanks to the mycelium, which increases the root reach up to 1000 times!
Superzyme contains biological organisms in the form of beneficial bacteria and fungi. Supporting vigorous plant growth and soil vitality, Superzyme can also be added to the growing medium when sowing your seeds. The biological organisms in Superzyme will assist with the germination and survival of your veggie seeds. Once your vegetable seedlings are planted out, Superzyme can also be used as a foliar spray to ensure protection from pathogens and robust growth and vigour for the life of the plant.
Fulzyme Plus for added disease resistance.
When raising pumpkin seedlings, planting tomato seeds or any veggie seeds, ‘damping off’, caused by fungus-like organisms, can be a real frustration for the home gardener.
When looking for solutions to manage pathogens attacking your veggie seeds, another product that utilises biological organisms as a natural defence is Fulzyme Plus. A beneficial inoculant, Fulzyme Plus contains Bacillus subtilis plus amino acids; specifically designed to benefit your plants and produce by improving soil fertility and plant health. Healthy veggie seedlings grow into healthy and nutrient dense vegetables.
Once your pumpkin seedlings and other veggie seeds are out in the garden, Fulzyme Plus, applied to soil or foliage, helps to decompose organic matter, releasing organic nutrients vital to the health and growth of your vegetables.
How to: source seeds and plant seeds
A long-term study conducted in Europe over the past 23 years, has shown that “saved seed in organic systems progressively becomes more resilient to environmental stresses, compared with conventionally grown seed”. Citation: Schneider, M., Ballvora, A. & Léon, J. Deep genotyping reveals specific adaptation footprints of conventional and organic farming in barley populations—an evolutionary plant breeding approach. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 44, 33 (2024).
Where you source your seeds matters, and saving seeds for future planting is worth considering. There are various outlets around Aotearoa, New Zealand, where you can purchase non-GMO seeds and get good advice about saving your own seeds for future use. As Audrey Hepburn put it, “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow”.
If you are planning to plant seeds now, consider what you want to grow and how much. Planting tomato seeds and any veggie seeds is simple, and you may find you have enough to share seedlings with other gardening lovers.
A good quality seed mix is crucial for your veggie seeds along with the ideal conditions – warmth, light and moisture. A greenhouse is ideal as all of these requirements can be easily met; however, you can also raise pumpkin seedlings and other veggie seeds on a windowsill inside your home.
Start your planning now for Spring and Summer plantings using beneficial organisms for assured success!
More information about the products we have talked about in this blog is available in the links below, and if you have any questions, simply email us at rsf@rd2.co.nz
