New farmers' seedling pitfalls

Inexperienced farmers may be tempted to grow seedlings from seed themselves, but they have much to gain by trusting a seedling grower at a nursery to perform this task for them instead

- Bill Kerr

More and more farmers are acquiring land to begin farming, often choosing to grow vegetables. When they approach seedling nurseries for a quote on the cost of seedlings, they are usually shocked at the price. They often then check the price of seed and calculate that they can grow their own seedlings, thereby saving a lot of money. They then usually opt for soil seedbeds, unaware of all the hazards.

Before the advent of cavity seedlings, we all had to grow our seedlings in beds. I used to plant 25kg of cabbage seed per year in this way, but it took a lot of trial and error before I managed to do this economically. Thanks to a much lower currency exchange rate back then, the seed cost was substantially lower. Nowadays, though, the risks are too high for growers to go this route, especially inexperienced ones.