The Truth About True Leaves
Let's get truthful for a minute...
Being completely new to gardening can be a bit nerve racking when you here all the long time gardeners using all their lingo like leggy plants (which I touched base on here) and true leaves. What are true leaves? Why are they so important that all of these gardening gurus are talking about them? Well I too am a newbie and I am here to help explain some of the crazy gardening things you here about but don't know and may possibly be to embarrassed to ask about. Just stick with me and i'll do all the asking and research required!
So here is what I have found by researching as well as trial...
When you plant a seed it begins to open and send out roots and a stem. The stem starts growing and popping out of the soil. When the tiny little seedling finally makes its way through the top of the soil line it begins to soak in the sun for more nutrients to help it grow to its fullest potential. It will have the seed shell on the top of the stem most times and when it finally pushes its way completely out of that shell you see its first set of leaves. These leaves are seed leaves or more scientifically known as the cotyledon. Some seeds such as tomatoes will have two leaves and others such as onion will only have one. Botanists use this characteristic to place them in their perspective species category. The plant will continue to soak up the light and, if it has two seed leaves, as it does you will notice small leaves coming from the center of these cotyledon. Those new leaves are the plants true leaves. These "true" leaves will not look the same as the previous set of leaves. True leaves begin the process of photosynthesis. I will not go into crazy detail as to how all of that works because I am not a botanist but, it is the absorption of light and converted into energy to allow the plant to live. True leaves are very important for the plant as well as for us as gardeners.
When starting a plant from seed indoors there comes a time when the plants need to be potted up. Making sure the seedling is sturdy enough to be potted up is crucial for the plants survival. If you pot it too soon it may not handle the change well and die. What gardeners look for before potting up are true leaves and the sings the plant gives us. If you watch your plants you will know what they need. A plant with ample sunlight but laying over beginning to wilt may need more water to perk it right back up. A plant with plenty of water but stretching really tall and beginning to lean may need to be moved closer to the sun or growing light. Before potting up your new little seedling look for at least one set of true leaves. If the plant is growing in close quarters with another than potting up will need to happen sooner so that the roots do not get too intertwined and nearly impossible to separate. If the plant is not planted too close to another then it can wait longer before being potted up. Look for sings of root crowding like stunted growth. The seedlings will grow quickly and starting them in small containers will require potting them up much sooner.
I started my first garden last year (2018) and many of my plants were started indoors as seeds but I will be honest I did actually buy a few plant starts to put out there as well. (Tomatoes and Peppers) My plants did great starting them inside in the window sill just watering them and allowing them to grow. I may have babied them some sense this was my first attempt at growing from seeds and trust me I did heaps of research to make sure I got it all right! Nope! It didn't all go as planned. They were great inside but when I took them outside, that's when the problems started. As I watched them grow some became sick, some riddled with bugs and worms, and some turned out to be vines when they were labeled as a bush variety and buy did that throw me for a loop. But, I continued to research and learn as I went on and we reaped the benefits! We has tomatoes out the Wahoo and cucumbers for days. We also only got one watermelon due to the black rot and we lost our only pumpkin due to powdery white mildew. The point I am trying to make here is that no one is perfect and gardening can be scary and difficult but the more you try the better and more knowledgeable you will become. Please DO NOT ever just give up! There is a whole community out there who have the biggest hearts ever that want to help you succeed. You just have to let them/us!
Starting from seed is not in anyway hard but it is also not a piece of cake. That is why many people prefer to just run to the store and buy plant starts. That is completely fine if you too want to go that route but, in my opinion everyone should at least give gardening from seed a try. There are tons of things that cause any gardener distress when starting seeds but once you learn all the tricks and tips and get the proper setup you will be a professional in no time!
Thanks for reading along. Follow me on Instagram and YouTube to find that community I talked about and to watch my novice journey into this crazy world of homesteading! Remember to have a good time. Bye guys!
Being completely new to gardening can be a bit nerve racking when you here all the long time gardeners using all their lingo like leggy plants (which I touched base on here) and true leaves. What are true leaves? Why are they so important that all of these gardening gurus are talking about them? Well I too am a newbie and I am here to help explain some of the crazy gardening things you here about but don't know and may possibly be to embarrassed to ask about. Just stick with me and i'll do all the asking and research required!
So here is what I have found by researching as well as trial...
When you plant a seed it begins to open and send out roots and a stem. The stem starts growing and popping out of the soil. When the tiny little seedling finally makes its way through the top of the soil line it begins to soak in the sun for more nutrients to help it grow to its fullest potential. It will have the seed shell on the top of the stem most times and when it finally pushes its way completely out of that shell you see its first set of leaves. These leaves are seed leaves or more scientifically known as the cotyledon. Some seeds such as tomatoes will have two leaves and others such as onion will only have one. Botanists use this characteristic to place them in their perspective species category. The plant will continue to soak up the light and, if it has two seed leaves, as it does you will notice small leaves coming from the center of these cotyledon. Those new leaves are the plants true leaves. These "true" leaves will not look the same as the previous set of leaves. True leaves begin the process of photosynthesis. I will not go into crazy detail as to how all of that works because I am not a botanist but, it is the absorption of light and converted into energy to allow the plant to live. True leaves are very important for the plant as well as for us as gardeners.
When starting a plant from seed indoors there comes a time when the plants need to be potted up. Making sure the seedling is sturdy enough to be potted up is crucial for the plants survival. If you pot it too soon it may not handle the change well and die. What gardeners look for before potting up are true leaves and the sings the plant gives us. If you watch your plants you will know what they need. A plant with ample sunlight but laying over beginning to wilt may need more water to perk it right back up. A plant with plenty of water but stretching really tall and beginning to lean may need to be moved closer to the sun or growing light. Before potting up your new little seedling look for at least one set of true leaves. If the plant is growing in close quarters with another than potting up will need to happen sooner so that the roots do not get too intertwined and nearly impossible to separate. If the plant is not planted too close to another then it can wait longer before being potted up. Look for sings of root crowding like stunted growth. The seedlings will grow quickly and starting them in small containers will require potting them up much sooner.
I started my first garden last year (2018) and many of my plants were started indoors as seeds but I will be honest I did actually buy a few plant starts to put out there as well. (Tomatoes and Peppers) My plants did great starting them inside in the window sill just watering them and allowing them to grow. I may have babied them some sense this was my first attempt at growing from seeds and trust me I did heaps of research to make sure I got it all right! Nope! It didn't all go as planned. They were great inside but when I took them outside, that's when the problems started. As I watched them grow some became sick, some riddled with bugs and worms, and some turned out to be vines when they were labeled as a bush variety and buy did that throw me for a loop. But, I continued to research and learn as I went on and we reaped the benefits! We has tomatoes out the Wahoo and cucumbers for days. We also only got one watermelon due to the black rot and we lost our only pumpkin due to powdery white mildew. The point I am trying to make here is that no one is perfect and gardening can be scary and difficult but the more you try the better and more knowledgeable you will become. Please DO NOT ever just give up! There is a whole community out there who have the biggest hearts ever that want to help you succeed. You just have to let them/us!
Starting from seed is not in anyway hard but it is also not a piece of cake. That is why many people prefer to just run to the store and buy plant starts. That is completely fine if you too want to go that route but, in my opinion everyone should at least give gardening from seed a try. There are tons of things that cause any gardener distress when starting seeds but once you learn all the tricks and tips and get the proper setup you will be a professional in no time!
Thanks for reading along. Follow me on Instagram and YouTube to find that community I talked about and to watch my novice journey into this crazy world of homesteading! Remember to have a good time. Bye guys!
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