Tag: vegetables

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Spring is getting closer and closer and, although our veg patches aren’t quite ready yet, it’s about time we started thinking seriously about growing our own vegetables. Thankfully, even though the weather has been particularly ghastly recently, this is a step that can be started indoors.

It’s time to start sowing some seeds!

But I’m coming at this with completely fresh eyes – I’m a real blank canvas when it comes to knowing how to go about it. The only vegetable seeds I’ve ever sown from seed were cress in Year 5 at primary school.

I had briefly considered buying already-grown vegetable plants and simply planting them out when the time was right. However, after reading this month’s edition of Gardeners’ World, and seeing Monty Don speak rather excitedly about growing veg from the very beginning and watching a seedling emerge, I was convinced to give it a go.

I’ve been doing lots of reading and research around sowing seeds, and there’s a lot of information out there. Even after getting to grips with the basics, I still found myself with plenty of questions. So I thought the best way to process it all was to write about it – and hopefully, if anyone else is asking similar things, there might be some helpful answers here too.

I’ll be sharing updates as I go, documenting what works, what doesn’t, and everything I learn along the way – so if you’re interested in sowing seeds for the first time too, you’re very welcome to follow along.

Seed sowing basics (as I understand them, anyway)

1. Decide on your plants and buy the seeds. 
2. Sow all tender plants indoors, while more robust ones can be sown directly into the ground outside.
3. For indoor sowing, find a warm and sunny space to grow your seedlings.
4. Fill a seed tray or pot with peat-free compost and thinly sow seeds on the surface.
5. Gently soak the compost with water, being careful not to dislodge the seeds. 
6. Cover with a clear plastic bag or lid. 
7. Label pots with the plant name and date. 
8. Leave to germinate. 

What sowing seeds looks like for my garden

As it’s our first time, I want to start with some simple-to-grow vegetables, while also choosing ones we eat regularly. We’re going to attempt to grow: carrots, beetroot, spring onions, spinach, lettuce, courgettes, broad beans and potatoes (and perhaps some herbs and strawberries).

Most of these are best sown into the ground outside. However, I would quite like to properly learn the process of growing from seed so I’m going to get a head start on some lettuce and spinach and begin sowing them indoors. Learning to sow indoors will hopefully be a useful skill to adopt so I’m just going to see this as good practice. 

Courgettes are best started indoors as they are more delicate and therefore sensitive to the cold. I think I’ll still try to sow these from seed and can always buy an already sown plant ready to put in the ground once the weather is a little warmer.

So that I don’t complicate this post, or make it too long, I’ll just focus on indoor sowing for now and can think about the outdoor sowing further down the line – once the weather is right, and when our veg patches are ready! 

My shopping list for indoor sowing

• Seeds
• Peat-free compost
• Seed sowing pots / trays (I’m going to try using toilet roll holders too, because apparently that works!)
• Plant labels 
• Dibber 

Beginner questions about sowing seeds

Even after all this reading, I still had a few unanswered questions: 

• How often should you water newly sown seeds?
• Where’s the best place to keep seed trays before and after germination?
• How long does germination usually take? 
• When is a seedling ready to be planted out?

So I did some further, more specific reading around these!

How often should you water newly sown seeds?

Surprisingly, it took a while to find a straightforward answer to this. In short, the pots should be checked daily and gently watered (perhaps with a spray bottle) as needed. The general advice is to keep the soil damp – moist, but not soggy. Putting a clear plastic cover over the pot should help retain moisture. 

Where’s the best place to keep seed trays before and after germination?

The obvious answer to this is somewhere with sunlight, which would be our conservatory. However, when it’s almost February and we have rather cold weather, this would not be suitable because the germination period needs heat. One option is to use a propagator or heated mat but I would like to keep things simple for now. 

An article titled The Beginner’s No-Fail Guide to Starting Seeds Indoors offered a helpful insight into this. It points out that sunlight isn’t essential at the very beginning of the germinating process so suggested putting seed trays in a warm room for the beginning part. As soon as there’s any sign of germination, they must be moved to sunlight to prevent leggy, weak growth. 

How long does seed germination take?

This question actually only dawned on me as I was writing this post. I think because I mentioned “germination” so often, I realised I wasn’t actually sure where it began and ended!

Of course, it’s not a one size fits all situation, germination time varies depending on the plant. For most vegetables it can take anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks. Salad leaves like lettuce and spinach are fairly speedy and can show signs of life in around 7–14 days, while others are happy to keep you waiting a little longer. 

Apparently, you’ll know a seed has germinated when you see the very first green shoot pushing its way up through the compost. These first leaves aren’t the “real” leaves of the plant yet – they’re called seed leaves – but they’re a very reassuring sign that something is happening below the surface. Until that point, it’s mostly a waiting game (and an exercise in patience).

When is a seedling ready to be planted out?

I’d assumed that once a seed had germinated and grown a bit, it could pretty much go straight from the seed tray into the veg patch. It turns out there’s a small (but important) middle step. 

After germination, seedlings need time indoors to grow stronger. I’ll need to look out for their ‘true leaves’ – these appear after the initial seed leaves and look more like the actual plant. 

But even then, most seedlings aren’t quite ready for the garden yet. Before planting them into the veg patch, they need to be hardened off. This means gradually introducing them to outdoor conditions by putting them outside for short periods each day and slowly increasing the time over about a week. 

Once seedlings have several true leaves, have been hardened off, and there’s no risk of frost, they’re ready to be planted in the ground. 

So it’s not quite from seed tray to soil straight away, there’s more of a gentle transition that helps the plants survive (and hopefully thrive).

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Okey doke, there we have it – I’m ready to buy my shopping list and have a slightly better understanding of what I’m actually doing. Next up is putting all this reading into practice and seeing whether anything green decides to show up. 

I’m fully expecting a bit of trial and error along the way, but that’s part of the fun (I hope). If you’re also new to sowing, or if you’re a seasoned grower with wisdom to share, I’d love to hear from you. I’ll keep sharing updates as we go – how exciting! 

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash