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When seedlings first start popping up in the garden, that dense sprouting is a joy to see. Carrots, beets, lettuce, and radishes coming up shoulder to shoulder mean the planting was a great success. However, that thick row of seedlings can't stay like that, or there won't be a great harvest. It's really hard to pull a healthy little plant when you have spent weeks waiting for it, but it is something that must be done.
This is not to say that the seeds shouldn't have been planted densely. Often, and especially with tiny seeds, it is essential to plant them close and use more than you'll actually let go to maturity. There are several reasons for this:
- Small seeds are hard to space because even if you try to plant only one every few inches, they fall all over the place, or it is impossible to separate out just one at a time. So, even if it's not the initial plan, the seeds end up close together in the soil.
- Not every seed that is planted will come up. To counteract this problem, most gardeners sow more than they need and closer together. This is a great way to ensure that the garden is planted well and there will be plenty of plants. If you only plant one seed every 6 inches or so, and then a bunch doesn't sprout, you'll have gaps that could be used for growing.
Why Thin Seedlings
The primary reason to thin is that if all the seedlings stay, they will fight for resources: water, light, and root room. When the seedlings have to compete so fiercely for sunlight and nutrients, they often become stunted and don't produce very well.
For example, when carrots are too crowded, their roots become thin, curl around each other, or grow into strange little knots because they don't have enough room to widen. Crowded beets will produce a nice patch of greens but won't grow very big underground. Radishes do the same thing as beets. They will grow huge, healthy leaves and look fine above ground, but then when you pull one up, it'll be no bigger than your finger.
Lettuce plants that are too close together will fight for sunlight and not grow very big. They might also start rotting because their leaves are constantly touching or squished together.
How To Thin Vegetable Plants
The best time to thin seedlings is when the first true leaves show up. The first leaves that appear are seed leaves, not true leaves, so wait for that second set of leaves. Once you can see the true leaves, you can tell which seedlings are sturdy enough to keep. Keep the biggest plants, and cut or pull the smaller or weak ones around them.
When you're thinning beets and carrots, small scissors work really well. The reason to use scissors instead of pulling them is that pulling one from dry soil can tug at the roots of the plant beside it and cause too much disturbance to the seedlings you're keeping, and this will stunt their growth. Snip the seedlings you're removing at soil level.
If you are going to pull them instead of snipping, water the row first. It's easier to pull them when the soil is wet, and it doesn't cause as much trauma to the seedlings around them that you're keeping. Water them lightly again afterward so the soil settles back around the roots you left in place.
Carrots
A row of carrots usually needs two rounds of thinning. When the seedlings are about 1 inch tall, thin them to about 1 inch apart. Give them a few more weeks, then thin again to about 2 inches apart. Small finger carrots are okay a little bit closer together, but broad types like Red Cored Chantenay need more room because they get wide.
When you do the second thinning, keep the tiny carrots; they are a great addition to a salad. If carrot rust fly is a problem where you are, remove the thinnings instead of leaving them on the bed. The smell of bruised carrot leaves draws in the adult carrot rust flies, and their larvae will later tunnel through the carrot roots.
Beets
Beets need a different kind of thinning because one beet "seed" is often a little cluster with several seeds inside. Even when you space the seeds carefully, you still get a tight knot of seedlings at every spot. When the seedlings are 2 to 3 inches tall, cut each clump down to one plant. Do not try to tease the extras apart. Their roots are usually wrapped together, and the beet seedlings you are keeping can come loose with them.
Leave 3 to 4 inches between the final beet plants. The thinnings are great in salad or cooked like spinach. If you want baby beets, let the last few extras grow until they have small roots, then pull those first and give the remaining beets their full space.
Lettuce
Once the lettuce seedlings have two or three true leaves, start cutting every other plant for baby greens. As the row fills in, keep this regular thinning up, and you'll have great baby greens for salad, and the plants left behind will slowly gain the room they need.
Leaf lettuces such as Black Seeded Simpson and Salad Bowl need about 4 to 6 inches between plants. Romaine and butterhead types, including Parris Island and Buttercrunch, need 6 to 10 inches. Crisphead lettuce such as Salinas needs about 12 inches.
If you planted a row only for baby greens, leave it crowded and keep cutting. Those plants will never need the space required to make full heads.
Radishes
Radishes grow super fast and need to be thinned as soon as they are up and growing, then left at their final spacing. Salad radishes such as Cherry Belle and French Breakfast need 1 to 2 inches between plants. Most are ready about a month after sowing, so don't wait to do this, or they won't have the space they need.
Winter radishes need more room. Give Black Spanish Round, Watermelon, China Rose, and Minowase Daikon at least 4 inches between plants. A large daikon will use every bit of extra space you give it. The thinnings don't need to go to waste, either. They are great in salads.
Pelleted Seeds
To reduce the amount of thinning needed for some vegetables, you can use pelleted seed. Pelleted seeds have a clay coating that makes them easier to pick up and place. Yaya and Yellowstone carrots are available as pelleted seed. The coating has to stay moist long enough to break down, so be sure to keep these beds regularly watered.
You can also plant a radish seed into the carrot row every 6 to 12 inches. Radishes come up first and are a great way to mark the row, while carrots take their time sprouting and can be hard to see. Harvest the radishes about a month after sowing. Their roots leave the soil a little looser behind them, which also helps the carrots grow.