Until the seed have sprouted, you should keep the seed-bed moist and not allow it to dry out. Under normal conditions, watering once a day with a fine-spray hose nozzle or watering can, which will provide a fine misty spray and not wash away the soil, will keep the soil surface from drying out. If you plant in early spring, covering the bed with a mulch, a hooped tunnel, or a spun cloth row cover helps in warming the soil and conserving moisture.

Pull the mulch aside or remove the cover promptly when the plants start showing their true leaves.

Keep the area well weeded, as weeds will compete with the seedlings for food and water, and will cut down on good air circulation, thus encouraging disease. If you have trouble telling the ‘weedlings’ from the ‘seedlings’, consult the pictures in the Vegetable or Flower section, to help distinguish between the two. Remove the weeds carefully so you don’t disturb the seedlings’ roots, and water after weeding, just in case the roots have been disturbed.

As the seedlings sprout, they will probably be too close together, especially if you have double-planted. When they reach two to three inches in height, it is important that you thin the seedlings according to the instructions on your seed packet. This is not the time to be softhearted! Too many plants too close together produce the same effect as a serious weed infestation. A good way to thin seedlings is to snip the extra seedlings off near the ground with small scissors or clippers, rather than pulling them up. This will get rid of your extras without disturbing the roots of the seedlings you plan to grow to maturity. Thinning is best done after a rain or watering. If you can’t bear to throw the thinnings away, pull them and give them to friends or neighbors to plant. Most of these small vegetable plants make a tasty and nutritious addition to a salad, too.

Although this site does not deal with insect and disease problems (your local County Agent is the best source for information in this area), I should mention that slugs find young seedlings particularly tasty meals. They like to eat at night when decent creatures are sleeping. You can try bait (make sure it is safe to use around food, children, and pets), stale beer in a pie pan, grapefruit halves, diatamaceous earth, eggshells, or other remedies, but please call your County Agent for local recommendations. Do not use non-approved bait on vegetable seedlings. Some baits are toxic to people, pets and wildlife. Read the label!