Reap the rewards of tough love with a bumper harvest

Fiann Ó Nualláin says you can boost the growth potential of your plants by thinning seedlings

May is the thinning month, for the bulk of edible crops — if you want them to bulk themselves up that is. Previously sown seeds may have germinated in clusters or clumps or just come up too close together to get the maximum growth from your crop, so removing all but one or making room for expansion is considered gardening best practice.

Thinning enables space below ground for roots to swell and spread, as much as it provides space topside for foliage spread. Leaving crowded seedlings to continue growing can result in stunted plants as they compete for moisture, nutrients, and light from the same pocket of space.