Reaping what you sow - Lucy Halliday gives advice for beginner kitchen gardeners on growing from seed
NOW'S the time of year to shake off those winter blues and indulge in a bit of true horticultural therapy. There can be few things more satisfying than raising your own plants from seed, so with spring in the air it's time to really get the kitchen garden started by sowing some tiny miracles and watching them grow!
Although a wider range of organic plants is now available from garden centres, raising your own plants from seed has many benefits. As well as being fascinating and giving you a greater understanding of your garden from start to finish, sowing from seed also helps to avoid pests, diseases and chemicals from plants bought in from outside the garden. It also saves a lot of money and allows you the freedom to propagate a wider range of organic crops than it is usually possible to buy as plants.
Following the advice below should give your seedlings the best start so that you can watch them flourish in the months to come.
There are three ways you can start off your seeds.
Sowing in to modules (trays of tiny individual pots) means plants will only have to be transplanted (re-planted in a new pot or patch of ground) once. Egg boxes can make great compostable modules, as can a shallow box filled with cardboard toilet rolls on their ends. Modules are handy if your allotment isn't close by as it means you can look after your plants in the safety of your back garden until they are established. They can be used for veg such as onions, cabbages, fennel, lettuces, peas and beans.
Before sowing, make sure you have a suitable place picked out for your seedlings to begin their life and ensure you don't intend to plant more crops than you have space to germinate. Try to avoid places in direct sunlight or above a radiator. Collect together all the containers you will be using and make sure they are well washed, especially if they were used in the garden last year as they could harbour diseases. Also make sure to use specially-formulated seed compost as this will have been sterilised to ensure that what comes up is what you put in. Most garden centres now stock peat-free organic potting compost or you can try the Organic Gardening Catalogue (www.organic catalog.co.uk). Make sure your compost is fine, friable and moist and don't use last year's potting compost as it can lose nutrients over time. If planting out side, rake the soil in your seed bed to a fine tilth and remove stones and weeds. You can make a row or drill by drawing a shallow line in the earth with a stick or the edge of a hoe. Remember to mark your rows with a stick so you can find them again.
To ensure the best results, only use seeds you are sure have come from healthy plants either buy buying from a reputable seed supplier or by only saving seeds from your own plants when you are sure they are disease free. All seeds must be stored in a clean, dry, dark and preferably air-tight place or they may be damaged by mildew or tiny seed-munching insects. It is worth bearing in mind before you sow that, inevitably some of your precious crop will fall foul of the fauna in your garden. Planting a few extra for the slugs and snails is a good way of hedging your bets. For crops such as broad beans that are being sown directly into the ground, plant a couple of extra beans at the end of each row. These can then be moved to fill in any gaps, including replacing any beans that just don't germinate.
For each different vegetable or herb variety you grow you will need to consult the seed packet or a good gardening book for the best time to sow. Seeds come in all shapes and sizes, from golf balls to sand grains, but most vegetable seeds are an easily manageable size. If the seeds are large enough to handle individually (i.e. brassicas), then try to space them evenly around the tray or pot. Bigger seeds, like beans, can be planted two or three to a yogurt pot, with the weaker seedlings being pulled out and discarded once it's clear which seedling is the biggest. Large seeds like squash, courgettes and pumpkins can be planted singly in a small pot to minimise disturbance to the roots when planting out. Very fine seed, such as carrot, that is being sown outside can be mixed with a little sand to help you see where you've been and to make it easier to sprinkle. As a general rule, cover smaller seeds with as much soil as they are tall and push bigger seeds like peas in to the soil as far as the first joint of your middle finger.
Once you're ready, fill your containers to the top with compost, and press down very lightly, giving each pot a tap to settle any air spaces. Use any handy straight edge to draw over the top of the container to level the compost. Put each pot/container into a shallow bath of water, (a bucket or washing up bowl). The pots should bob-about slightly at first but once they have soaked up enough water their bases will touch the bottom and you should see moisture at the top of the soil. Now plant your seeds according to their size and the instructions on the packet/in your gardening book. Once your seeds are safely tucked away you can use cling film or sheets of clear glass or plastic over the top of the containers to stop moisture escaping indoors. After about 10 days or so you should start to see the soil being pushed up by the emerging little plants. At this point take off their covers and check their compost with a finger. If the top layer is dry, you can add a little water from the bottom as before. Be aware that modules can dry out much quicker.
Only water your seedlings with fresh tap water as rain water can contain micro-organisms that cause "damping-off", a fungal disease that will cause your seedlings to keel over and die. If you are growing your plants by a window you will find that your seedlings will lean towards the light so turn your trays and pots every couple of days. Thin-out any spindly or damaged seedlings so you are left with the strongest ones. If you are growing several plants to a pot or tray rather than in modules you will need to pot-up each plantlet into its own container as soon as it is big enough to handle as plants don't like competition. Carefully loosen the plants to be moved with an old seed label or pen and lift by the leaves not the stem. Once in their new pots transplanted seedlings should generally be left to grow until they have about four true leaves. For modules, plants can be put out when you can see a network of tiny white roots through the drainage hole at the bottom. When they are big enough, give your plantlets a bit of time to get used to the big, wide world by "hardening-off". This gives the seedlings short periods outside over a week to ten days to get used to their new climate before they take the plunge.
And finallygive your seedlings a cuddle! Seedlings raised under cover are protected from the elements and can be weaker than plants grown outside but occasionally gently stroking your hand or a piece of thin card over your tray of seedlings will give them some adversity to tackle and can help them to grow into more sturdy specimens.
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