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How To Grow Your Own Plants from Seed
Whether you decide
to save your own seed to grow or germinate bought seed,
you'll save money and get a real sense of satisfaction
at the same time. Seeing healthy seedlings sprout from
your soil is quite a thrill. Knowing you have saved
quite a bit on buying plants is great, too. To ensure
you don't lose the seeds you've gone to so much trouble
to sow, here are some tips to consider.
Prepare small pots or nursery flats,
as they are sometimes called, with a good quality potting
mix. You can make your own mix if you prefer, using
equal parts of coarse river sand, garden soil and vermiculite.
Vermiculite is especially good because the tiny roots
of your seedlings can penetrate the soft, water-holding
grains and so when they are transplanted, they take
their moisture with them. This helps to prevent transplant
shock.
Make rows by pressing a pencil or piece
of dowel into the mixture. Sprinkle the seed in and
cover with sand. Water well with a spray bottle and
keep covered and damp until germination.
There are some variations on the above
rules. You could use an egg carton and sow one seed
in each segment. Then, when they are large enough to
go into the garden, cut the segments apart with a craft
knife and plant the whole thing. The cardboard will
soon rot away and in any case, the roots can penetrate
it while it is damp. Any seed can be sown in this manner,
but it is especially good for vegetables if you want
to start them early.
If you've saved seedling punnets from
a previous buy, re-use them. It's much easier to transplant
a single plant from those sectioned punnets, as their
roots are not all tangled together.
You could also 'sprout' the seed before
planting. This is good for trees or larger perennials,
if the seed takes ages to germinate. Soak the seed in
hand-hot water for 3 or 4 hours. Once it has started
to swell, place it gently in a plastic bag with some
barely damp sphagnum moss. Seal the bag and leave in
filtered light until you see roots growing.
Some seeds, like broad beans, beans
and peas require darkness to germinate. They can be
placed in a dark cupboard.
Another way is to sprinkle fine seeds onto damp paper
towels, roll them up and seal them into a plastic bag.
Watch for germination and never leave out in full sun
or you'll cook them. Label them with name and date so
you'll have a rough idea of when they will germinate.
Bought seeds are usually sprinkled with
fungicide, so if you are growing your own, watch to
make sure no mold develops. If it does and the seed
is too small to wipe it off, you may need to start again.
You can dust your seed with any good fungicide if you
want, but mold usually only develops if there is too
much moisture in the bag.
When it is time to plant your sprouted
seeds, let them dry slightly or they may stick to the
container and be damaged when scraped off. Finer seed
can be mixed with dry sand.
Once the seeds are ready to go into the garden, be sure
to protect them from snails, slugs and slaters.
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