Thinning Seedlings: Evil but Necessary

I always have mixed feelings about thinning out my seedlings. They’re small and cute, and I’ve watched them since they first peeped out of the soil. But in the vegetable world, a Highlander-like ruthlessness prevails: in a given area, There Can Be Only One. So I dutifully chop the heads off these dainty little sprouts, one after another, in the hope that the remaining seedling in each compartment of the container will grow strong and large.

It’s hard to know which seedling is the best one to keep, this early in the season. I select first for size (nice large leaves), then sturdiness (a short, thick stem), then placement (towards the middle of the compartment, not at the edge). There are a few oddities that I’ve left behind—eggplant seedlings with three baby leaves, or cotyledons, rather than two. As my approach to gardening thus far has been largely experimental, rather than research-oriented, I’m not entirely sure what having triplet leaves means. Is it a sign of strength or an unwanted abnormality? After all, eggplant, by definition, is a dicot, the di- meaning its seeds naturally have two cotyledons. So I’ve decided to wait for the first true leaves to emerge before deciding which stem to lop off in these cases.

The culled seedlings look good enough to eat, but in this case, I’ll pass: tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers are members of the nightshade family of plants, whose stems and leaves are largely toxic to humans (though tomato leaves, in particular, are quite tasty to the larvae of the hummingbird moth). If I want sprouts or young leaves, I’ll have to plant something I can actually eat. Tomatoes and their brethren are a deferred pleasure, not to be enjoyed until midsummer. The wait will be long . . . and hungry.