Starting seeds
The fact that something so small and so ordinary looking, some seemingly no bigger than speck of dust, can transform into something as utterly glorious as a plant smothered in blooms never ever grows old. There is such magic in this, I urge everyone to try it. There is simply no better way to surround yourself with abundance and beauty. Yet the process of getting seed to flower can feel a bit complicated until you have been through it a few times.
Firstly, whenever you feel you have a black thumb, when you think you aren’t any good at gardening, look out of your window. See how many plants there are? How many weeds? Almost all of these will have grown from seed and they did it all without you. Mostly without any human intervention at all. All they did was to fall from the parent plant and land on some soil, and nature did the rest.
That said, there are slugs, there are unexpected frosts. Under-watering and over-watering. Old seed. I have had my heart broken this spring by a mouse that got into my greenhouse and took over half of my sweet peas. But there are ways of maximising your chances of success. I can’t take every variable out of the equation, but I can give you the hope and confidence to at least rip open the seed packet and have a go. And without taking that step, you won’t ever have the joy of a summer full of flowers.
A few things here – you will never get better germination rates or stronger plants than when the seed literally falls off a plant and grows where it lands. Lots of the flowers I grow will self-sow and pop up all over the place. I grow a huge number of opium poppies, or maybe they grow themselves, by just shaking the seed heads around. If you want to use the direct sowing method (just sprinkling seed in the place you want the flowers, covering lightly with soil, and watering in) then make sure your soil is warm enough for the seeds to grow on strongly. How do you know when the soil is warm enough? The traditional way to do this is to pull your trousers down and sit on it with a bare bottom. If you can’t feel a chill, it’s time. I suggest you let nature take the temperature instead; if the ground is covered with germinating weed seeds, the moment has arrived.
If you sow too early outdoors, the seeds just sit there is the cold, wet ground. They are vulnerable to birds, slugs, rotting, and just generally being too miserable to burst into life. If you want to get a head start, or if your seeds are precious, get the seeds going indoors and put them out when the plants are strong and robust.
For starting seed indoors, you will need:
· Peat-free seed compost
· Seed trays, a module tray (a seed tray with a grid of holes) or small pots
· Labels and a pen or pencil that won’t smudge or run when wet
· Seed
1. Fill the tray or pots all the way to the top (they’ll sink a bit when you water them) and press down a little bit, not much, you don’t want them to be compacted because the roots will need air pockets. Sprinkle a few of the seeds on the top. Give them lots of space. If they all germinate and they are too closely packed in, few will thrive. Can I suggest you sow only half the packet too? The chances are you won’t need hundreds and hundreds of one variety of flower (there are generally a lot of seeds in a packet) and if you lose a tray to slugs or other disaster, you’ll wish you kept some back for spares.
2. Sprinkle with a little bit of compost on top to cover. Very fine seeds don’t need this. The rule of thumb is that seeds should be buried twice the depth of their width, so even a very fine layer of compost will be too deep for tiny seeds like Aquilegia or any of the poppies.
3. Label. Having trusted permanent markers and then finding that the ink has run, I now label everything twice. Once with a label stuck into the compost, and again with brown paper sticky tape on the side. Add the date sown and source if you wish. I add a ‘b’ if the seed was sourced from a biodynamic supplier and sown on a flower day.
4. I always water from underneath with seed trays. Even with the greatest of care, watering from above will disturb the seeds. Fill a tray with water and put the tray in until the surface of the compost darkens.
5. If the seeds don’t require light to germinate, (and it is worth researching this, delphiniums like the dark, Nicotiana need light for example) I tuck the trays into compost bags and put them in a warm place. The black inner keeps the seed trays warm and moist and reduces the need for constant watering. If the compost starts to dry out and the texture goes a bit dusty, they will need watering from beneath again. Don’t let the compost get soggy though, seeds can drown.
6. Check twice a day because when the first seeds start to show, they will need light. Move them immediately to a light place. Warmth matters much less now, although protect from frost. A light windowsill, a greenhouse, or a cold frame is perfect for the next stage of the seedlings growing on. Check for slugs if they are outdoors.
7. As soon as they are big enough to handle, carefully lift the seedlings out of the tray (sliding a butterknife or a pencil underneath helps, rather than tugging from the top) and put each seedling in its own 9cm pot of multipurpose compost. They will grow quite happily in this until they are big enough to put in the ground.
8. I keep a gardener’s journal to keep track of sowing dates, seeds that did well, first and last frost dates and other things that I won’t remember unless I write it down. I highly recommend this, not least because it gives you something to look back over when the season is done.
The best flower seeds for spring sowing:
Cosmos, including Cosmos sulphureus for dyeing fabric
Nasturtiums
Ammi majus
Marigolds
White corncockles
Nigella (all the colours)
Sweet peas
Cornflowers
Phacelia (the ultimate plant for feeding pollinators)
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