sowing coriander and basil seeds

hi all

have not been in a while, but recently i have been looking into getting into edible gardening and starting off at the what i guess should be the eaiest end? which is by growing basil and coriander in plant pots indoors

today i bought some only cheap basic ready made grow me style pots, just to get me started, trust me i would have got better, but i want to know i am able to do this first before i start buying expensive compost and seeds, and so on

so firstly i am hoping someone can help me as i am like a 90 something year old that is touching a computer for the first time to be honest, no disrespect to any 90 year olds reading this

so here is my issue, as you guessed i read the packet instructions and sprinkled the seeds onto the top of the compost in the pot, it did not mention anything about sowing, even though i am not 100% sure sowing means? can anyone answer that?

so i sprinkled the seeds over the top of the compost and pressed the seeds gently into the compost like it said to do, and after that i gently watered each pot with about 100ml of water from a tiny plastic watering can, and that was all i done, but i think the seeds are not deep enough into the compost? i am sure you all know which is what, but the bigger seeds are for the coriander and smaller seeds being the basil, the basil seeds do not look too bad i guess, but what do i know, however the seeds for the coriander does not look too good, let it be known though that there are about twice as many seeds as that, half of which are hidden under the compost, but i guess no seeds should be visible?

can anyone help and give me guidance on what to do? what should i do now? should i just get a tiny fork and sort of rake the compost over so that the seeds are covered and then gently pat down the compost?

help please, thank you

picture of pots with compost and seeds visible

 

Hi S&K,

Basil 6mm deep & Corriander 6-13mm deep so a sprinkling of compost on top will do it.

Keep them damp by enclosing them in a couple of plastic bags till they germinate.

Make sure the Corriander doesn't go short of water, all mine has bolted this year as i've not been at either plot at crucial times of hot dry weather.:DOH:

Keep the Basil somewhere away from slugs and woodlice, both will eat it.

Hope that is of some use

 

so what should i do now, buy some new compost to sprinkle over the top or is there anything i can do with what i currently have?

i have a clear plastic film lid that is covering them at the moment, i do have airtight bags which i use for frozen foods and stuff like that, i could use an airtight plastic clear bag if that would be better? or does it need to breath

how do i ensure the plants are never short of water, how often should i water them and how much?

post was quite helpful, still confused however

 

Evening.

There are really too many corriander seeds in that pot. It wont cause too much trouble, it just means they wont get as big as they would if they were more spaced. Coriander is easy. The seeds benefit from a good soaking when first sown. I tend to flood the compost first, so it is sodden, then sow into it (if you put the seeds in before the drenching, you just wash the seeds out). After the initial drenching I just let the compost dry in its own time, but don't let it dry fully, it needs to be moist. If you poke your finger into it, it should not really feel wet and soggy, but some specks of compost should stick to your finger.

Keep it reasonably warm. Indoors at this time of year should be enough.

To keep it moist, water from the bottom. I.e. don't pour water into the compost, but instead make sure the saucer the pots are standing in always has water in it. The compost will naturally suck up the right amount of water. There's a battle between two laws of physics, surface tension and gravity. Surface tension will make the water climb up the compost, and gravity will try to pull it down. When the compost is too dry, surface tension wins and water will be sucked up. When the compost is too wet, gravity will pull off the excess, so watering from below is an easy way to get the right balance.

I wouldn't be too worried about adding more compost to cover the seeds as you said there are already some under the surface.

For the basil, I think the same watering strategy applies, but I don't know how many seeds are in there or how deep they are. Basil is quite long lived compared to Coriander (which grows very quickly, then flowers and then produces seed, as opposed to Basil which can be kept leafy for a longer period). Basil responds well to be being separated up if too many seeds germinate, but I think that's a topic for the future, once they've started to grow, so keep us posted

Watch out for fungi on the compost surface. It is a sign that the compost is too wet, or that that not enough light is available. You can minimise the risk by sprinkling a dusting of sand over the surface (sand being free draining the fungi doesn't like it). For most seeds I don't think it matters too much what type of sand, just as long as its not straight off the beach (which would contain too much salt), so whatever you have kicking about if you have any.

You sow seeds, you plant plants. Its just terminology.