With August rapidly approaching and spring around the corner the following month, now is the perfect time to start planning your summer in garden and, in particular, give some thought to whether you want to raise plants from seed, which requires extra time and patience. Some new gardeners dismiss seed raising as something that’s too difficult, which isn’t always the case. I’ve put together a little guide with some information about seed raising to encourage all gardeners to give it a go this year.
Why bother raising plants from seed? o Most veggies, herbs and flowers can easily be raised by seed o It’s worth doing if you want to grow interesting and unusual varieties not commonly found in garden centres o It’s more economical than buying plants, especially if you have a large garden and want to put in lots of plants o You can be assured that your seedlings are raised organically and are spray-free What you’ll need o Seeds – these can be purchased either from garden centres or via post from companies such as Egmont, Italian Seeds Pronto and Kings Seeds o Plastic punnets – these can be purchased from Egmont or you may be able to obtain some from your garden centre if they recycle them o Seed raising mix – I obtain mine from Gardn Gro. It’s excellent quality and they deliver direct to your door o Plastic propagator (comes in two pieces – a tray for putting the punnets into and a lid with air vents) o Heat pad (optional) o Sprayer bottle filled with water for watering your seedlings o Labels and a permanent marker Tips for raising plants from seed o Take some time to browse through seed catalogues and work out what varieties you want to grow. Be realistic as to how many plants you can fit into your garden o Don’t start raising seedlings too early as it’s still very cold. August is the perfect month for starting to raise plants from seed under cover o Use a quality seed raising mix, not soil or potting mix which isn’t designed for seed propagation o After you have covered your seeds with seed raising mix, sprinkle some vermiculite over the top. This is something I’m going to do for the first time this year, courtesy of Egmont, who gave me a packet to try out. Egmont recommend it because it keeps seeds from drying out and is helpful for maintaining higher humidity for seeds that are sown close to the surface, such as petunia, begonia and impatiens o Using a heat pad can help the germination process for heat loving plants such as peppers, tomatoes and eggplants. Otherwise, you can use your hot water cupboard o Make sure your seedlings get enough light or they will be yellow and spindly o As your plants grow, you may find that they lean towards the light and you need to turn them around so they stand up straight o Keep your seedlings moist by spraying them with water every day o When your seedlings are large enough, move them to your greenhouse. If you don’t have a greenhouse, use your imagination. When it’s still too cold to put plants outside, I keep them in large Sistema crates with the lids on, which functions as a mini greenhouse o Don’t attempt to prick out and pot up your seedlings too early on. It’s best to leave them in their original punnet to grow several leaves before transferring them individually to a six-cell punnet o To feed your seedlings, make up a weak solution of some seaweed liquid fertiliser mixed with water in a sprayer bottle and mist your plants with it weekly o Recycle your plastic punnets afterwards for your next lot of seed raising Troubleshooting – some common reasons why seeds won’t germinate o Seeds may be too old. All packets have a best before date but once a packet is opened, its life becomes shorter o Seeds may not have been stored properly, making them unviable o It’s too cold. The temperature isn’t warm enough for seeds to germinate o Seeds haven’t been given enough water or have been over-watered
1 Comment
8/12/2019 01:30:01 pm
We always grow everything from seed; aside from a handful of pepper plants (for earlier peppers) and onion bulbs (: It's much more satisfying to grow them from seed!
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