Growing your own vegetables from seed

Growing your own vegetables from seed is veryThese are planted out as they are into your soil mix
easy. It is great fun to watch the tiny seedlings emergeand the roots grow through the cardboard. The toilet
from the soil mix and of course is a great dealroll eventually degrades into the soil.
cheaper than buying ready grown plants. It is not asLet's start off by assuming we are sowing into trays.
quick though. The reason why it is cheaper is that youFill the tray with whatever compost you are using and
are doing all the work yourself.gently firm this down until you have a fairly level
So what do you grow them in? Well it all depends onsurface. At this stage you need to water this so that
what type of plant you are growing. Before wethe seed will be surrounded by moisture. You then
discuss what type of container you need, you alsoneed to sow the seed. Very small seeds should be
need to think about what type of soil mix you aregently sprinkled, not too thickly, on to the surface of the
going to grow them in.compost. Larger seeds such as tomatoes can be
My father used to just take some garden soil, put it inplaced individually on the surface of the compost. A tip
an old dirty plant pot and grow his seeds. It used tohere, to help you get them in the correct place, is that
work but it was only his experience which allowed himyou can move them with a small artists paint brush.
to be able to identify which was the seedling he wasCover the seed to the correct depth with sieved
after and which was a weed seedling. Why, well thecompost or fine grade vermiculite. The back of the
soil he used was full of weed seeds. He also did notseed pack will let you know what depth to cover with.
clean his pots which is never a good thing.This is important as too much compost will make life
There is no reason why you cannot reuse pots yeardifficult for your seedling. Gently water the surface of
after year, and in today's Reduce, Reuse, Recyclethis compost.
world we live in it is a good idea. I use some pots yearThat's it. Just keep the tray somewhere at the best
after year, not because I am too cheap to buy newtemperature for the seed. I usually find that my kitchen
ones but simply because there is nothing wrong withwindow is fine. I often cover the seed trays with
the old pots that have been cleaned and sterilized. Iplastic sheeting until the seedlings start to emerge then
simply soak them in a tub of water to loosen any oldtake this off.
dirt, wash them in warm soapy water using a stiffIf you need to water the seed tray, I usually do this by
bristled brush, rinse in clean water and finally soak in astanding it in a small try of water and letting the
disinfectant solution. I have used diluted bleach, dilutedcompost act like a sponge and soak that water up. I
medical disinfectant, gardening disinfectant andfind this does not disturb things as much as using a
specialist organic gardening disinfectant. They all work,watering can does. Let this water drain away though
but remember to wear waterproof gloves for this lastas the compost needs to be moist but not wet
stage as many of these chemicals are strong andFinally, when the seedling is large enough to handle and
could do some damage your skin. I also buy newhas developed some true leaves not just seed leaves,
cheap disposable pots each year as I can more orI transfer it to its own pot of compost and let it grow
less assume these are sterile so there can be nolarger. When you do this you need to be gentle and
danger of transferring diseases from old dirty pots toonly hold the seedling by a leaf. Holding by the stem
new seedlings.can crush it as the stem is very fragile and this
There are not just pots though, I also use trays or flatscrushing will kill the seedling.
as they are known in some countries, little plug traysA final point, remember that many seeds can be sown
where the seedling can grow in its own cell and olddirect into the ground where they are to grow. Make
plastic coffee cups which have been washed out. Yousure the soil is warm enough before you do this and
will need drainage hols though. I have even startedprotect your seeds with some form of cloche if it is
larger seeds off in the discarded middles of toilet rolls.early in the season.