What preparatory work should be done before sowing seeds of nursery stock and flowers

Household flower growing should all be sown in flowerpots. For pot sowing and raising seedlings, it is best to use a type of flowerpot called a shallow seedling pot as the container. It is a clay tile pot fired by pot kilns specifically for flower sowing, with a top opening diameter of 30-32 cm, a pot height of only 8-10 cm, an inner diameter at the bottom not much different from the inner diameter at the top, and 4 drainage holes in the bottom. Ordinary clay tile pots or sandy clay pots can also be used for sowing, but because the pot body is deeper, 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. They can maintain a relatively stable soil temperature, but after slow-germinating seeds are sown into the wooden box, they cannot emerge for a time, and over a long period the wooden box is prone to mold and infecting the seeds or flower seedlings.

Before sowing, first wash the shallow seedling pot clean, dry it thoroughly in the sun, use 4 broken tile pieces to prop up the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot, first spread a 1.5 cm thick layer of large-grained river sand as a drainage layer, then fill it with surface sand or old pot soil that has been disinfected by sunlight, and use a small wooden strip to press the soil firm and level, leaving a 3 cm high rim above. After the pot soil is filled, place the bottom of the shallow seedling pot on the water surface of a large washbasin, and let clear water slowly seep into the pot from the bottom holes of the shallow seedling pot. Once the surface of the pot soil looks wet, immediately lift the shallow seedling pot out of the water and prepare to sow. This method of supplying water is called bottom watering, and it can prevent water from a watering can from washing the soil surface into small pits.