Spring is the time of year when all garden magazines are full
of the plans you should be making for the season to come, but very rarely do
they cover one of the most basic of gardening techniques. Sowing seeds properly
is crucial if you want to ensure a good crop of flowers and vegetables in your
garden. We all love to take that small flat packet of seeds and take joy in the
vision of what it will produce, but like everything, a good foundation is
required to ensure a good crop.
The seed contains everything that is needed to start the
growth cycle of the plant and it will keep safe the promise of the future until
the time is right. Most basic of those requirements is water, followed swiftly
by temperature and appropriate growing conditions in terms of soil and
nutrients. Then you must protect that baby plant from pests and diseases until
it is strong enough to fend for itself, just as you would any newborn.
The most basic method of sowing is to use good quality seed
compost which has not been stored somewhere cold. Place it in seed trays or
pots so you can avoid too much thinning or pricking out later. Make sure your
seeds are fresh and of good quality before sowing them gently onto the soil,
not too close together, and then cover them lightly with a fine layer of
compost or vermiculite. As a rule of thumb the depth of the covering should be
about twice the diameter of the seed, certainly no more. If your seeds are a
little shrivelled you can try soaking them. This is often done with hard coated
seeds or where you are expecting a dry spell if you are intending to sow
outdoors. It can speed up germination quite noticeably.
Some seeds require a little preparation before they are sown,
peas and beans particularly produce seeds with hard coverings that need to be
pre-treated if you want them to germinate in our somewhat artificial
environments. Generally speaking I try to just chip the surface which mimics
nature's action in breaking down the seed coating. If the seeds are too small
to do this, like Lupins for example, I put them into a plastic tub, secure the
lid and shake them for a while which just breaks up the skin - it has the added
advantage of amusing everyone watching me as well!
Sowing seeds outside, especially vegetables, is usually done
in rows. I always like to fill the drill with water before I plant anything,
and let it drain. Again try not to sow too thickly as this will avoid wasting
those precious seedlings when thinning and if you are sowing where you plan to
grow, it will save a lot of labour. I must admit I don't sow flower seeds in
rows all the time as I do like rather more informality in my flower garden, but
where vegetables are concerned I try and sow in such a way that I can tend them
easily. It might be rows or it might be in squares depending on how I intend
them to grow.
Fine seeds are best mixed with some silver sand or suchlike
to spread them more evenly - it can be a nightmare trying to keep all those
tiny seeds evenly spread and the effort of mixing them with the sand more than
pays off in time saved later. Larger seeds can be individually placed either
where you are going to grow them or you could try using a little trick of mine.
I save the cardboard centres of toilet paper rolls, fill those with compost and
plant the seeds in those. When they are big enough to plant out I just soak the
cardboard (which is generally pretty wet anyway) and plant the whole thing. You
don't disturb the tender baby roots and they just grow through the wet cardboard
as they develop.
Whichever method you use to plant your seeds, make sure you
keep them adequately watered, using fresh clean water. Using these simple
gardening techniques will ensure that you have a good supply of plants for your
garden and vegetables for your table.
Comments
Post a Comment