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)

Germination Updates

This update covers the use of a Salt Petre (Potassium nitrate - KNO3) in respect of seeds that are stubborn to germinate or germinate in an uneven fashion.

The tests were conducted on open pollinated chilli seeds, specifically the superhot variety Capsicum chinese 'Bhut Jolokia' aka the Ghost or Naga chilli.

Notoriously tricky to get even germination, if any on this type, I tried one batch of 30 or so seeds in late January in ideal conditions but with no real pre-treatment.  It was sown along other types including Padrons, Cayennes, Scorpions and Reapers - the last two also being noted as possibly tricky.

After 7 days, all pots had at least one seedling, by 14 days the other types had 10 - 30 seedlings with an average germination rate of 90%, except the lonely Bhut Jolokia seedling.  Finally by day 28, it was joined by one more seedling for a total of 2 from 30.

At this point, I decided to get the rest of the batch going, but I soaked the seeds for 12 hours in a solution of salt petre (5g per litre) from the batch we sell online in 5g packs.  They were then sown in identical conditions for germination and the picture below was taken just 24 hours later.

For reference, the seeds were planted in 6 columns of 5 seeds, for a total of 30 seeds.  The image shows many coming through and movement of soil in all columns in all seed positions.  3 days later all the seed leaves had opened and there were 30 healthy seedlings.

The bottom line is this stuff really works, so I then tried it on all the remaining chilli seeds that I wanted to sow this year with the same stunning results.