11:26 - 10 January 2011
All seeds have the potential to grow. Each little brown casing contains everything needed to sustain the seed in the first few hours of growth, all it needs to get started, usually, is a little warmth and water. Some seeds have more exact needs and may require a period of chilling, or other technique to get them started, but the majority of plant seeds regularly grown by gardeners do not.
For some reason there is a huge amount of confusion surrounding the practice of growing from seed, which is rather bonkers as in nature plants do it without any help, and farmers grow plants from seed regularly, outside in the cold, windswept fields around the country (and world) with little intervention other than weed and pest control and supplementary feeding.
Outside in the garden you know when it’s a good time to sow seeds because the weed seeds start to germinate. Old wives tales tell of gardeners placing their bare behind onto the soil and if it was warm enough to remain there it was warm enough to sow seeds. These days we use other methods to decide when it’s best to sow.
Sowing seeds in the garden exposes them to a wide range of factors that may have a bearing on how successfully they germinate and grow on. The first rule with sowing seeds is to carefully read the instructions on the seed packet. Look to see what sort of plant you are trying to grow. If it’s hardy then it can be grown almost year round, but most seeds have a time slot to sow them for the best results.
Some seeds are ideal for direct sowing, which means that they can be sown and grown directly in the garden soil, either in rows or blocks in the vegetable garden or scattered in attractive swaths around the flower garden. Most seeds that are suitable for direct sowing will be cold tolerant, so a short spell of cold weather after sowing will simply keep them in check rather than kill them off. Generally seeds that can be direct sown include many vegetables and also hardy annuals and biennials. However you can also sow many of these seeds in pots and modules in the greenhouse and then plant them outside as soon as they have been hardened off and are large enough to handle. This is the preferred method of propagation for most gardeners, but especially greenhouse gardeners who can not only protect the young plants from the ravages of either and garden pests, but are also able to raise and earlier crop.
One of the biggest causes of a seed crop failure is damage by pests and diseases. Some of the most common are slugs and snails which are very fond of fresh young seedlings and can quickly decimate a while crop. Simple methods can be employed to keep slug damage to a minimum and there are now plenty of alternatives to pesticide pellets. Sometimes the problem is less obvious and could have been caused by a fungal disease, cutting off the seedlings at the compost surface, this is often caused by poor ventilation between plants and an environment that is too damp.
Animals can also wreak havoc on seedlings, mice may chomp your young plants, cats may use the seedbed as a litter tray or pigeons may take a fancy to the green shoots. Even experienced gardeners and greenhouse owners suffer crop failures and set backs, but by sowing a few seeds of each sort every fortnight or so, new sowings will quickly catch up and replace any failures.
If you are new to sowing seeds then choose to grow seeds that are marketed as easy for children. It’s a great way to build your confidence. Add a couple of packets of fast germinating, easy to grow flowers such as French marigolds, sweet peas and nasturtiums and vegetables such as runner beans, French beans and salad and simply have a grow. You won’t be disappointed.
