Growing your own plants from seed is always an exciting prospect. With a little bit of patience and a selection of seeds, it’s a very rewarding and cost effective way to add to your garden. So many types of plants can be grown from seed: annual and perennial flowers, herbs or vegetables and by following a few rules you’ll soon be enjoying the satisfaction of seeing your seeds germinate into perfect little plants.
There will be full instructions on the seed packet depending on the type of seeds you wish to grow, but a few general tips will help you get started:
SOWING
Most seeds need heat and moisture to germinate; some need light and a colder environment to get started and some require soaking before sowing. Certain seeds can be sown directly into the ground where they will flower, so it is important to prepare the soil to remove any weeds, stones or large lumps of soil. Rake over the area to give a smooth, even surface. Depending on seed type either scatter the seeds across the soil or sow them in drills or marked out rows. Using the rake, gently cover the seeds with soil and water in.
INDOOR SOWING
For indoor seed sowing use small pots or a seed tray filled with seed compost. Make sure the compost is firmed well down and lightly water. Then make a small hole in the compost with a pencil or a dibber leaving plenty of space between them and drop a seed into each hole. Gently cover the seed with a little compost and water in. For tiny seeds just sprinkle them over the top of the seed tray and gently cover with a fine layer of compost, again making sure you water well with a fine spray. Don’t forget to label the pot or tray with seed variety and date.
Place the pots or seed tray in a suitable spot according to the instructions – it may be a sunny window sill or a cold greenhouse, or some may need the warmer environment of a heated propagator. It won’t be long before you’ll see the first tiny shoots coming through the compost. As the seedlings start to get bigger they may be growing too close together so you will need to take some of them out. This is known as thinning out and is a necessary job in order to give the strongest plants room to grow.
Once your seedlings have two or more sets of leaves they will need more space to grow and should be moved into a new tray or pots, which is known as pricking out. Water the seedlings an hour or so before moving them to make it easier to separate the roots. Prepare the new pots with compost and as before when sowing the seeds, make a small hole in the compost to drop the roots into and gently firm the compost before watering. When handling the seedlings, make sure you lift them by the leaves and not the stem which is very fragile and can easily be damaged. Then place the seedlings in the light ensuring they are protected from frost.
POTTING ON
As they increase in size the small plants will need potting on into a larger pot and they can then be gradually acclimatised to outdoor conditions until all risk of frost has passed.
SEED TO PLANT – VERY SATISFYING
My advice… why not get your next batch of seeds from Suttons
