Germinating seeds

Thanks all for these posts, especially PeterS! I have learnt so much about raising plants from seeds , that I have not found on other internet sites or cultural instructions. The compost/soil/sharp sand mix tip will be especially useful. I just need to learn how to think like a seed not an engineer !

 

Brilliant isn't it

 

Thanks Smiffy and DaisyDee for the comments.

Garden centres sell a range of proprietary compost mixes, but you often see John Innes No 1, No 2 etc. Its not a trade name but a formulae made up by the John Innes Institute. This page gives a bit more information and the formulae.
http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/compost_johninnes.htm

You will see there is no magic in it. They are simply mixes of loam (ie good quality earth), peat (multipurpose compost) and sharp sand, with three different levels of fertiliser added.

The ordinary gardener cannot get hold of steralised loam, so you can't include that in your seed compost, but otherwise you can just copy the formulae with your own materials. Instead of their fertiliser just use Miraclegrow (it does exactly the same).

I wouldn't worry about the limestone - that was put in there to counter the acidity of the peat. But multi purpose compost is usually peat free these days.

 

On my way to B and Q now , for my compost, sharp sand and miracle grow!
Now where can I get 3.6kg of hoof and horn from

 

Just catch a cow :D

 

Just to add my opinion!!
I am one of those people that use the No.1 followed by the No.2 followed by the No.3 compost only because I get confused by the mixing concept
I also sowed some sweet pea seeds at the end of last year in my unheated greenhouse and they are doing fine and look healthy.

In the past I have made the mistake of planting out too early and the little plants just couldn't survive.

The ones i have had most luck with so far are Sweet William, Sweet Peas, Wallflowers and for this year I am going to grow a different colour Wallflower plus the Spider Plant the one in PeterS's avatar plus others but not chosen yet.

Good luck

 

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Well, I set up my growing from seed enterprise at the weekend. I followed Peter's instructions, mixed the compost with the sharp sand, I filled lots of little pots with it, and then I sowed seeds into my labelled pots. What you had neglected to mention was how TINY some seeds are! It made me feel like I had fingers like an elephant's trunk. ALso, I had no idea how many tiddly tiny seeds to put in each pot. I had a couple of packets of seeds (PEnstemon I think) which were so tiny that despite the pack claiming it contained 250 seeds, I only managed to distribute them between 4 pots. Was I supposed to distribute them between more pots than that? I know I'll be replanting them if I get any seedlings strong enough to separate, but it was harder than I thought. Imagine my relief when I found out how big Nasturtium seeds are!

A couple more questions: obviously, at the moment it looks as though I've just got compost in pots. Do I still water them regularly? If so, how often?

How big do the seedlings need to be before I can plant them into their own little pots?

Some of the pots are on the windowsill in the lounge, which gets the sun all day long (the pots feel warm to the touch). The others are in the conservatory, which is bright but without direct sun. Those pots do not feel so warm (although the conservatory is centrally heated). Will they be OK here?

Thanks again!

 

Oh Rosie, it could be me talking last year - although i'm not much ahead this year.

You did make me laugh about the little seeds. I know exactly what you mean:0. I have sown some more seeds this morning & the little ones i just sprinkle. The way i look at it is, not all will come up & as soon as they're up, you seperate them anyway.

I'm doing mine on the windowsills, some covered, some not just depends what pots, trays i've got around. I use empty food trays that have lids & Pop bottles cut in half act as 'cloches' too.

All the above info was garnered from this site! I know for a fact that i'm not doing everything exactly right so I can't offer you any advice, i'm still learning,sorry. But you will find everything you need to know here. It's a great site.

cheers

 

Rosie to save your conservatory you could invest in a mini plastic greenhouse. as a halfway house between the conservatory and the garden, some of my seeds will be going in mine probably late April. Check out ebay, you can probably get a small one for less than �£20. it is an initial expense but you can use it again and again, you can also use it to overwinter some plants which can't stand frost, saving you some pennies next year.

 

Rosie, you need to keep your seeds under a transparent cover. This will help to keep the moisture in, and you won't need to water them for some time. The cheapest is a seed tray and a 99p plastic cover to fit it. It you are using small pots you can put the cover over several pots. It doesn't have to be a perfect fit.

What I do is make up some Cheshunt (copper compound) solution. You can buy the powder at any garden centre, but don't get a tin, get the box that contains several sachets. The reason is that, one opened, it tends to go off after a while. This is a protection against mould and damping off (when seedlings die from rot). I then spray my seedlings with this every two days or so. They don't need any other watering if you keep them coved. I would tend to keep them out of the fierce sun until they have grown a bit. The sun can dry them out, and they are very vulnerable until they have developed some roots.

And - Yes some seeds are tiny. I can't understand how anything can germinate from such small seeds.

 

Wow this is really interesting. Especially about the vermiculite because i have a bag or two of it, and i have very clay waterlogged garden.

Peter, can just dig this into my temporary pond instead of sharp sand to help my clay problem? Does vermiculite contain any nutrients? I may start doing some sowing again, and mix it with the compost.

[ 01. April 2008, 11:04 AM: Message edited by: NewbieGreen ]

 

Newbie - on another thread I suggested that it would work, but seems rather a waste as it is expensive and probably better used for seedlings etc.

I found this site http://www.william-sinclair.co.uk/Horticulture.nsf/Compost%20Additives?OpenPage&AutoFramed which implies that there are some nutrient benefits. But I don't think that it is an alternative to any of the added feeds. Clay on its own holds a lot of nutrient, so you shouldn't really be lacking.

I don't normally feed my border plants (being on clay) - nature looks after them. but you must feed plants in pots, where you have opted to take over the roll of God.

 

Well today i've sowed on my windows sill,
* delphiniums
* lupins
* foxgloves
* parsley
* north indian red spinach

Look forward to the results. And ofcourse there next to my big pot of tomato plants which have been resuced from outside.

I've used a mixture of compost and vermiculite, so lets see how things go.

One more bit of advise though, on these. Apart from the tomato (which i wont feed till something in another thread which i cant remember), when should i feed the above? i guess i cant use the tomato feed i have?

 

Don`t feed any of them yet, Newbie. Have patience.