thinning my cukes and squash (growing, containers, tomatoes, veggies)
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ok, I have been gardening for years but am anything but a pro. Thank God I usually have decent luck: my question: the seed packages alwasy say thin to 1 plant or whatever. I have never bothered and so far I seem to do ok, is there a huge advantage to thinning the plants?
ok, I have been gardening for years but am anything but a pro. Thank God I usually have decent luck: my question: the seed packages alwasy say thin to 1 plant or whatever. I have never bothered and so far I seem to do ok, is there a huge advantage to thinning the plants?
NIta
Glad you asked this question. I have yet to have luck with squash. Then again, I have not thinned it.
Bumping, I've just starting my venture into growing veggies and am interested in this too. I just starting on thinning out the squash plants, they do grow fast, hope I have luck with them considering I'm growing them in containers.
Thinning plants is done to allow enough space for the remaining plant(s) to grow without becoming crowded. Squash plants take up alot of horizontal space. So, they should be spaced about 4 ft apart.
Not all the seeds you plant will germinate. Most seed packages will instruct to plant more seeds than will actually be allowed to grow. When the seeds germinate, and begin to grow, then you'll need to thin them out to allow enough room for the healthiest plants to grow to full size.
Let's say you plant one 10 foot row of corn. The package might say to plant a seed every 6 to 8 inches apart. So, you do that and all of the seeds germinate. Now, you have a problem. A corn stalk takes up vertical space, but it also takes up more than 6 to 8 inches of horizontal space.
So, to prevent crowding, the package will instruct the gardener to "thin" the plants to 12 inches apart. At that point you'd want to pull up any of the weaker looking plants (if there are any).
I plant a garden every year, and it kills me to pull up a perfectly good plant that never caused me any harm. But, the remaining plants do much better because there aren't as many plants competing for water and nutrients from the soil.
Is there a huge advantage for thinning? Probably not much if you have a good sized garden. But, if your garden is relatively small then you'd want your stronger plants to get as much nutrients from the soil as possible.
Thinning plants is done to allow enough space for the remaining plant(s) to grow without becoming crowded. Squash plants take up alot of horizontal space. So, they should be spaced about 4 ft apart.
Not all the seeds you plant will germinate. Most seed packages will instruct to plant more seeds than will actually be allowed to grow. When the seeds germinate, and begin to grow, then you'll need to thin them out to allow enough room for the healthiest plants to grow to full size.
Let's say you plant one 10 foot row of corn. The package might say to plant a seed every 6 to 8 inches apart. So, you do that and all of the seeds germinate. Now, you have a problem. A corn stalk takes up vertical space, but it also takes up more than 6 to 8 inches of horizontal space.
So, to prevent crowding, the package will instruct the gardener to "thin" the plants to 12 inches apart. At that point you'd want to pull up any of the weaker looking plants (if there are any).
I plant a garden every year, and it kills me to pull up a perfectly good plant that never caused me any harm. But, the remaining plants do much better because there aren't as many plants competing for water and nutrients from the soil.
Is there a huge advantage for thinning? Probably not much if you have a good sized garden. But, if your garden is relatively small then you'd want your stronger plants to get as much nutrients from the soil as possible.
so now you are telling me I need to kill perfectly happy and healthy plants: does that make me a murderer? Oh well, I will do it anyway, say a prayer I don't go to HELL for this..
so now you are telling me I need to kill perfectly happy and healthy plants: does that make me a murderer? Oh well, I will do it anyway, say a prayer I don't go to HELL for this..
It bothers me too. Believe me.
You can always just plant your seeds 'X' inches apart depending on what the package states. Then just hope that all the seeds you planted actually do germinate. That way you won't have to bother with thinning them.
If you have a big enough garden then it won't matter as much if a few seeds here and there don't grow. But, if your space is limited, and you are relying on all your seeds germinating for a good harvest, then you'll want to do everything you can do to make sure they grow.
so now you are telling me I need to kill perfectly happy and healthy plants: does that make me a murderer? Oh well, I will do it anyway, say a prayer I don't go to HELL for this..
Yes it does! Just kidding. I had AWESOME luck with my spinach, so I'm going to give advice and pretend I'm a pro. I personally think "thinning" is a ripoff
I think seed companies want you to sow thickly, and then "thin" because in historically maybe 70-80% of the plants would germinate. If you've sown thickly, you can thin to make space, and also select the strongest-looking ones to remain--ensuring the best crop for you.
But in this day and age, if you get resistant cultivars that are bred to the level of perfection they've bred a lot of seeds, to you might probably get almost 100% germination rate, and plants are all equally strong.
So, what's the advantage of thinning versus simply planting fewer seeds farther apart?
Kinkytoes, you know, I think you might be on to something, because it seems everyone of my seeds sprung up. I've so far done more damage by trying to thin them out than if I had just taken my chances and planted one seed per pot. I think I killed my first batch of zucs, I did kill my first batch of tomatoes, some of the peppers, bush beans and forget the herb plants, etc, when I tried thinning them. It's a good thing they sprout quickly, (most seeds in two days), so I can start murdering the next new plant.
If I ever actually get something to the point of harvesting mode, I'll let you know. It's certainly been a learning experience, frustrating and fun. One of these days, I'll get it right. I just know it.
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I think I killed my first batch of zucs, I did kill my first batch of tomatoes, some of the peppers, bush beans and forget the herb plants, etc, when I tried thinning them. It's a good thing they sprout quickly, (most seeds in two days), so I can start murdering the next new plant. 
