Fourteen days in (or so) and I spy, with my little eye some true leaves on the early seedlings. If you remember, the first leaves you see when the plant sprouts are actually the seed leaves or cotyledon. The true leaves emerge from between the cotyledon (in the case of dicots) and resemble the leaf of the mature plant. They are capable of photosynthesis (the process by which plants use the energy of the sun and turn it into usable food.) The cotyledon will eventually fall off when the true leaf matures.

In my case, the first seeds to produce true leaves are the lettuces and cosmos. I can see a true leaf bud starting on the cabbages as well. Once these leaves start to take off, it can be a good time to add some dilute fertilizer. The best type to use is an all-purpose, organic, water soluble fertilizer. There are a lot out there, but if you need to make your own, check out this link from Mother Earth News. It includes ratios for making your own fertilizer using chicken manure, seaweed, fresh grass clippings, or even urine!

This can also be a time to transplant the seedlings into a six pack size pot if you started in a seeding tray. Remember the roots are very delicate at this stage. Use a widger or a similar tool to gently ease the little seedlings out then transplant just as gently into a larger pot. Here is a helpful video by Mother Earth News again.