Sowing in Depth of Winter

Now that the days are starting to get longer, our thoughts turn to summer and growing plants.   Whilst it is possible and indeed in some cases desirable to sow early, this is not the case for the majority of seeds unless we take additional steps.

Warmth

For any seed to grow, one of the triggers in warmer weather.  So sowing in winter requires the use of bottom heat.  A propagator (with or without thermostat) or a heat mat is ideal.  Over a radiator is not a suitable environment unless its all you have got.  Most radiators sit under windows (most of mine do) and the temperature above the radiator can be too much when it is on and nearer the glass far too cold.  The 'goldilocks zone' can be as small as a few cm wide in the middle of that area, hence why we cannot recommend this.

Light

The increasing days will provide this for your seeds, especially those that are sown on the surface and need light to germinate.  Avoid South facing windows at all costs, if this is all you have, set the trays and pots back a metre or so, this way you diffuse the light a bit and avoiding the thermal effects of full sun.

Another way with light, is artificial lights.  Whether this is a standlight or a hanging light, it must be full spectrum or a specific growlight designed for the purpose.  LED versions of these lights may sit just a few centimetres above the seeds, as their main output is light. Sodium or other metal halide lights should be sat well above the tray as most of their output is heat.

We use the LED types on pullies sat above the seed trays so we can adjust the height. Inside a mylar grow tent, little additional heat is required apart from a heat mat to warm the soil.  Most of our out of season testing is done this way so that we can check the seeds first before the main growing season.

Our entire set up uses around 300 watts for 12 hours a day and 80 watts for the other 12 hours.  With this we can have up to 24 full sized seed trays, although we rarely fill it if we intend to grow the seedlings on for our own use.

Growing On

Don't forget about the space you will need for growing on and where you intend to do this.  The temperatures here can and indeed should be lower than those used for germination.  The amount of light required will increase too, but never be tempted to place them where they get full sun.  Even cacti will scorch and die if subjected to full sun as seedlings.

We sometimes use the grow tent to bring the seedlings on fast.  This works well for the stronger growing perennial types, especially Agaves, Aloes and relatives.  We also grow chillis (when we have space) under this set up, being able to keep 4 to 8 plants and bring them into fruit as early as June.

Growing Solanum Species From Seed

Solanum, the species rather than the hybrids can be best thought of as 'proto' tomatoes.  Thats not to say they will germinate as easily as tomatoes, they won't, but in essence they need very similar growing conditions.

Myth 1

They are tomatoes arent they, they will germinate rapidly and easily if I just sow them like tomatoes...

 

No they wont, they will sulk and languish in the soil and may not even sprout the first year if you just do this.  They need pre-treatment, a good soak, preferrably in Salt-Petre solution, but warm water if changed a few times is almost as good.

 

Myth 2

They are annuals, so they will crop the same year no matter what.

No they arent. They are perennials, they will crop the same year from an early sowing, but if sown later, then they should be overwintered frost free and will crop well in subsequent years.  Early sowings may need extra light, they certainly need extra warmth, but if you cannot do this, then sow them later and accept they may not produce fruit in the first season.  The chances are they will flower the first season, but any fruit set may or may not ripen before the shorter days put paid to that.

Pre-treatment

Soak the seeds in warm water, with or without salt-petre, but if it is just plain water, change it every few hours. 

Sowing

Sow on the surface of a good quality seed raising mix and lightly covered with the mix or with vermiculite.  Water once, then place somewhere warm, close and light.  Temperatures of around 24 - 28 Deg C work best, much cooler and they wont germinate, much warmer runs the risk of the soil drying out leading to a crop failure.  In ideal conditions they may take up to 6 weeks or more to come up - see they are not 'tomatoes' (even though by Genus they are).  The germination will be sporadic and uneven, which is a natural defence against a crop failure due to adverse natural conditions such as a drought...

Growing on

Grow on like tomatoes, you can grow them in pots till they are big enough to go in a grow bag or larger pot.  If in a growbag, you will need to transplant it to a pot for overwintering as the growbag will subject the roots to too much cold possibly killing your plant.

 

Feed with a tomato fertiliser  and when the fruit has set, double the amount.  Germination to first fruit can take up to 8 months, so be patient the first year.

Seed Growing Keys

When looking at growing seeds there are many keys to success.

In a lot of cases there are rules of thumb that will give you a degree of success providing you provide the basics.   

• Seed (must be viable) and prepared correctly
• Pre-treatment (where needed)
• Soil
• Light
• Warmth
• Water
  
• Time of year (Season)
  
• Germination Time
  

 

One of the most neglected basics is time of year.  Unless you can provide year round light, warmth and care, do not sow seeds out of season.  Another one is patience.  Seeds do work to a clock, just not yours.  If you dont allow sufficient time or you are impatient to get going, then you will not have a lot of luck with seed growing.

Season

Season, or more properly growing season, is taken to mean when the soil is warming and the days are lengthening towards the summer highs.  Indoors this means anytime after the winter solstice, as the days are lengthening nicely for the seedlings to subsequently grow away.  Outdoors it is when the soil is sufficiently warm for seeds to come up (rule of thumb, if you see weed seedlings coming up, its time to plant your seeds).  Yes some seeds can be 'tricked' by artificial heat or artificial light, but not all can often appearing to have inbuilt calenders and will only germinate at a certain time of year.

 

Timing

The time it takes seeds to germinate varies wildly. In some Cactus this can be a little as 18 hours, in some plants such as palms and hardwood shrubs in can be up to 18 months.   There are things you can do to speed things up, but where a minimum time is quoted, this is the minimum for treated seeds.  There is no point expecting anything before that point, or being disapointed if you have to wait till the maximum time.  Thats just nature, so work with it, not against it.  Rule of thumb - never give up unless you can see that the seeds have clearly failed - ie they have rotted.

 

Growing Annuals and Biennials - A Reminder

If your seeds are for the garden, this year, then likely they are either annuals, are treated as annuals or are short duration perennials (or even biennials).

Nearly every single species will respond to the the 'sow and grow' method.  Sow the seed, barely covering it, where it is to flower or in small pots, water it and let nature take its course.  Some will need warmer weather, some will need time to take up water and then germinate, but all will respond, in time, to the 'Sow and Grow' method.

Anything not falling into this category will have its own page somewhere in the blog.

How To Use This Blog

Tagging and Searching

This blog should be correctly tagged with the latin names of all of the species we sell online, HOWEVER, should a search not return a post or even several posts, then you will require the generic instructions which can be found here:

 Instruction Basics

Note that the instructions specify times for the seeds to germinate.  These times are the minimum provided all of the cultural conditions have been met.  If seeds are too wet, too cold, too dry, too hot, sown too deep, not prepared (should the instructions call for that) then success is not guaranteed.  Seeds are living things, they require a set of conditions in order to perform as expected, some are forgiving, some, unfortunately, are not.  Work with nature, not against it, be mindful of the time of year, especially with short duration plants.  If now is not the right time, wait, we only sell orthodox seeds which gives them a shelf life that at the very least extends into the next season, so you may be best off waiting.  If you cannot provide extra light, do not sow seeds in the Autumn/Early Winter.  Extra light means growlights.  If this is not possible then do not sow until the days are getting longer, so after the winter solstice.

Growing On

We dont always include growing on instructions, but there are several rules of thumb with this.  When you feel you can handle a plant, then you can pot it on from the seed container into a small pot to start with.  Once the roots fill that pot, again move it on, one or two sizes up.
There is a wealth of information out there on growing plants and seedlings to maturity, far more than this blog could ever contain. 

Recycling

In line with the trend towards maximum recycling, we have for years used packaging that is fully recyclable.  The Mailers, the invoices, the seed bags themselves can all be recycled.

The paper we use comes from companies that use recycled content and no bleaches when producing it (so no bright white paper).  The mailers can be fully recycled, many have diagrams on them as to how to do this.

Recap of Sowing Guides

Due to the run we have had on the online shop lately, I thought it would be prudent to give a recap of where the instruction sheets can be found.

For Sweet Peas, follow the pea seed instuctions to be found here  We recommend either a hot water soak or nicking the individual seeds (time consuming) and then soaking in tepid water.  Either/or not both.  Soak until the seeds swell to around twice the size before sowing.

For Nasturtiums, they may be sown directly where you want them to flower (2 seeds together, remove the weaker seedling) or so individual in cells or small pots and grow on before planting out.  For direct sowing wait till April (after Easter for this year), otherwise start now.  We have found soaking the seed speeds germination, but it is not necessary.

Marigolds - sow thinly just below the surface, they need a bit of warmth to germinate and should come up in around 2 weeks.  Once they are up and they are big enough to handle, you can thin them out, repotting those you thin so as not to waste plants.  The should be grown on warm and bright, remember these are from Mexico originally, so they love warmth.

Snapdragons - thinly sow just barely covering, they need to be around 15 Centigrade to germinate and should come up quite quickly.  They will grow quite quickly and should be thinned out to avoid weak seedlings.

Stocks (both Night Scented and Virginia) - thinly sow where you want them to flower, do not thin, they grow best in clumps and drifts.

Alyssum (Lobularia) - thinly sow barely covering as they need light to germinate, they may be sown in trays and pots now or later where they are to flower.

Cosmos - sow thinly barely covering,  they should be sown where they are to flower or in pots to be planted out later, do not thin, they use one another for mutual support, spaced too widely they will flop over.

Petunias, sow thinly on the surface of seed compost.  When large enough to handle, prick out into trays or pots, spacing them out to give them growing room.

Temperature - most of the above will germinate as long as the temperature is over 16 Deg C.  All will do better, slightly warmer.

Humidity - seeds dont like drying out once they have been wet to the point of triggering the germination processes.  Best way to ensure this is to cover the trays - as most like light to germinate, plastic is best for this purpose (we use freezer bags on our pots - saving them afterwards for next year)