Vegetables From Seed

Growing your own vegetables from seed is very easy. It is great fun to watch the tiny seedlings emerge from the soil mix and of course is a great deal cheaper than buying ready grown plants. It is not as quick though. The reason why it is cheaper is that you are doing all the work yourself.

So what do you grow them in? Well it all depends on what type of plant you are growing. Before we discuss what type of container you need, you also need to think about what type of soil mix you are going to grow them in.

My father used to just take some garden soil, put it in an old dirty plant pot and grow his seeds. It used to work but it was only his experience which allowed him to be able to identify which was the seedling he was after and which was a weed seedling. Why, well the soil he used was full of weed seeds. He also did not clean his pots which is never a good thing.

There is no reason why you cannot reuse pots year after year, and in today’s Reduce, Reuse, Recycle world we live in it is a good idea. I use some pots year after year, not because I am too cheap to buy new ones but simply because there is nothing wrong with the old pots that have been cleaned and sterilized. I simply soak them in a tub of water to loosen any old dirt, wash them in warm soapy water using a stiff bristled brush, rinse in clean water and finally soak in a disinfectant solution. I have used diluted bleach, diluted medical disinfectant, gardening disinfectant and specialist organic gardening disinfectant. They all work, but remember to wear waterproof gloves for this last stage as many of these chemicals are strong and could do some damage your skin. I also buy new cheap disposable pots each year as I can more or less assume these are sterile so there can be no danger of transferring diseases from old dirty pots to new seedlings.

There are not just pots though, I also use trays or flats as they are known in some countries, little plug trays where the seedling can grow in its own cell and old plastic coffee cups which have been washed out. You will need drainage holes though. I have even started larger seeds off in the discarded middles of toilet rolls. These are planted out as they are into your soil mix and the roots grow through the cardboard. The toilet roll eventually degrades into the soil.

Let’s start off by assuming we are sowing into trays. Fill the tray with whatever compost you are using and gently firm this down until you have a fairly level surface. At this stage you need to water this so that the seed will be surrounded by moisture. You then need to sow the seed. Very small seeds should be gently sprinkled, not too thickly, on to the surface of the compost. Larger seeds such as tomatoes can be placed individually on the surface of the compost. A tip here, to help you get them in the correct place, is that you can move them with a small artists paint brush.

Cover the seed to the correct depth with sieved compost or fine grade vermiculite. The back of the seed pack will let you know what depth to cover with. This is important as too much compost will make life difficult for your seedling. Gently water the surface of this compost.

That’s it. Just keep the tray somewhere at the best temperature for the seed. I usually find that my kitchen window is fine. I often cover the seed trays with plastic sheeting until the seedlings start to emerge then take this off.

If you need to water the seed tray, I usually do this by standing it in a small try of water and letting the compost act like a sponge and soak that water up. I find this does not disturb things as much as using a watering can does. Let this water drain away though as the compost needs to be moist but not wet

Finally, when the seedling is large enough to handle and has developed some true leaves not just seed leaves, I transfer it to its own pot of compost and let it grow larger. When you do this you need to be gentle and only hold the seedling by a leaf. Holding by the stem can crush it as the stem is very fragile and this crushing will kill the seedling.

A final point, remember that many seeds can be sown direct into the ground where they are to grow. Make sure the soil is warm enough before you do this and protect your seeds with some form of cloche if it is early in the season.