Week 1

• Remove seeds from cup and set aside. Position Jiffy Quick Soil Mix® peat pellet flat in Jiffy-Pot®.
• Slowly pour about 80 ml warm water over pellet. Allow about 5 minutes for peat pellet to fully expand.
• Fluff peat with a pencil or fork until light and crumbly.
• Plant seeds about 6mm deep into the peat soil.
• Put the lid back on the cup and put it in a warm place. Check cup often to be sure soil is moist.

Weeks 2 - 3 Germination

Now that your seedling is a few weeks old, here are some steps. Seeds will germinate if placed in conditions with:

• Adequate moisture
• Favourable temperatures (60°F - 90°F)
• Adequate gas exchange (access to air, a light covering of soil, not planted too deep or drowned in water)
• Light

Weeks 4-7

The emerging germinant will still have the seed coat on the tops of the primary needles. Do not remove it. The seedling will cast off the seed coat when it's ready. Once the seed coat is cast off, secondary needles will start to emerge. This is the start of shoot growth.

• As soon as seedlings begin to appear, remove lid and use as pot saucer. Move the cup to a window that receives at least 6 hours of sun per day.
• Lightly water the new seedlings once a day.
• There may be a number of seedlings that sprout in your cup. When they are well started, keep only the strongest seedlings. You can simply snip off the other seedlings or very carefully uproot them and plant in another container.

CARE: Soil should be kept moist. Too much moisture will drown the new seedling or cause damping off. Allow the soil surface to dry between watering but do not allow the whole pot to dry out. The seedling should be in a location that gets lots of indirect light but not a location that bakes in direct sun.

Month 2

As the secondary needles and shoot continue to develop, the seedling will start to appear more tree-like.

CARE: Care for your seedling the same way you did during germination, however with a little more light.

Month 3, 4 & 5

The seedling will continue to develop more secondary needles and its shoot will elongate.

CARE: Continue to moisten like before, but your seedling should now be ready for very light fertilizing. The fertilizer should be a "starter" fertilizer i.e. low nitrogen (first number) and high phosphorus (second number) such as 10 - 52 - 10. The fertilizer can be included with every second watering.

Month 6 (Transplanting)

Your seedling is now robust enough to be transplanted. It can be put into a larger pot or moved into the soil outside (in the corner of the garden or flowerbed). Grass and weed competition must be removed to allow the seedling to keep growing.

CARE: Soil must be kept moist but the surface must be allowed to dry between watering. Fertilizing can now be done with a more balanced fertilizer (like 10-10-10 or 15-15-15). The fertilizer rate should be low as heavy fertilizing could cause fertilizer burn. The seedling should be in a location getting direct sunlight for at least half the day. Do not move the seedling directly from indoors to full sunlight outdoors. There should be a gradual transition to full sunlight.

Do not put the seedling outdoors if frost conditions are expected. The seedling is still too succulent to withstand frost. Try to give your seedling at least one month outside prior to frost conditions.

As the seedling continues to grow larger you may want to transfer it to its final location. White Spruce trees will grow to a height of 80 feet tall at maturity.