[Livinhope]

This is going to sound totally potty so I apologise beforehand.

I hate waste, and when a seed has taken the trouble to germinate and grow I detest thinning and throwing them away.  Is it possible to plant the thinnings of things like chard swedes, beetroot etc, or do I have to be hard hearted and dispose of them.

[jazzbyrd]

I have successfully transplanted swiss chard from thinnings.

[Swing Swang]

You can eat many thinnings as salads

[Ice]

Unless you have an unlimited amount of time and patience it might not be worthwhile.  I am thrifty and never plant so close together that I need to thin out too much.

[Livinhope]

Many thanks for the input.  I suppose it's trial and error really.  I do try to plant very thinly but with things like swede it is difficult to plant the seeds 5 or 6 inches apart.

[skywalker]

You can eat many thinnings as salads

But how long do you leave them before you thin them for them to be edible. I usually sow 2 seeds per station / module and inevitably when they finally come up there are 2 of them so when do I thin?

[Cazzy]

It is hard, when I can't use thinings, I pretend i'm weeding lol I hate the waste too.

[Zippy]

I sow everything into plug trays one seed to a plug and plant out. Its the only way to avoid so much slug damage. So I never have to thin anything.

[compostqueen]

I like thinning carrots.  Mmmmm delish

[Swing Swang]

>But how long do you leave them before you thin them for them to be edible. I usually sow 2 seeds per station / module and inevitably when they finally come up there are 2 of them so when do I thin?

You can eat them from the 'sprout' stage to salad leave size (or larger depending on how tough they get). It's even possible to eat them larger than this, in which case stir fry or steam/boil them (eg beetroot/turnip leaves). In any case, snip them off at ground level - there'll be no soil on them and you'll not disturb the roots of the plants that you want to keep.

SS

[Adrian]

It depends on what the plant is, really. Some things need the space from early on, so they grow to the right size, such as brassicas. Others, like carrots, beetroot, leeks, etc. can be grown happily in clumps, or more crowded.

Generally you would then thin as the things are big enough to eat, so take alternate carrots, for example, when they're about finger sized, or so, leaving the others to grow a bit fatter.

If the soil is good and contains lots of nutrients (i.e. you've been good and kept adding compost, etc.) then it can support a surprising amount of growth. I've grown carrots that end up virtually pushing each other out of the soil, they're so close, but gradually taking them out and leaving more room works fine.

Cheers,

Adrian

[Aidy]

I tried the old boys method with the swede, sow them in recycled modules, once up plant at the desired spacings, it worked a treat last year.
Beetroot I just leave and pick the baby ones out to thin and leave the other to mature. Chard shold transplant but you wont need to thin unless you have animals to eat the surplus.

[JayG]

Have you read yesterday's thread on "transplanting beetroot"?  You may find that helpful.

I grow carrots in an old chimney pot and don't thin them at all. I get a surprisingly good crop for what is a very small space; I like to think the crowding helps them to grow nice and straight but don't quote me on that! 

[8doubles]

I hate to throw plants away if they have taken the trouble to germinate. Any gaps that are left i just poke a finger in the soil and put the thinning in.

At worst it acts as a slug decoy.

[Livinhope]

Thank you for all the info.  I'm definitely going to try the single swede per module.  I would rather fiddle about putting one seed in each than throw any away.  Re the chard, we do have three chickabiddys who go made for anything edible so they will get any chard thinnings.  I have planted cauliflowers and savoys at one seed per module and they look so fit and happy perhaps it's worth experimenting with other seed.