Preparation Before Sowing Flower Seeds and Methods for Preserving Edible Fungi

When growing flowers at home, sowing should always be done in flower pots. For pot sowing and raising seedlings, it is best to use a type of flower pot called a "seedling shallow pan," a clay pot fired specifically by pot kilns for sowing flowers. Its top opening diameter is 30-32 cm, the pot height is only 8-10 cm, the inner diameter of the pot bottom is not much different from the inner diameter of the top opening, and there are 4 drainage holes in the bottom.

Ordinary clay pots or sandy clay pots can also be used for sowing, but because the pot body is relatively deep, the soil temperature cannot rise for a while, which is unfavorable for seed germination, and lifting seedlings is also relatively difficult. Some people use small wooden boxes as sowing containers; these can maintain a relatively stable soil temperature, but after slow-germinating seeds are sown in a wooden box, they cannot emerge for a time, and over a long period the wooden box is prone to molding and infecting the seeds or flower seedlings.

Before sowing, first wash the "seedling shallow pan" clean, dry it thoroughly in the sun, use 4 broken tile pieces to cover the drainage holes in the pot bottom, first spread a 1.5 cm thick layer of coarse river sand as a drainage layer, then fill it with surface sand or old pot soil that has been disinfected by sunlight, use a small wooden piece to press the soil firm and level, and leave a 3 cm high rim at the top.

After the pot soil is filled, place the bottom of the "seedling shallow pan" on the water surface of a large washbasin, and let clear water slowly seep into the pot from the bottom holes of the "seedling shallow pan." Once the surface of the pot soil looks moist, immediately lift the "seedling shallow pan" out of the water and prepare to sow. This method of supplying water is called the "bottom-watering method" and can prevent water from a watering can from washing small pits into the soil surface.