How to sow seeds successfully

So you've been growing food for years but you have never sown them from seed.  You tend to buy seedlings which you can pop in the ground, easy peasy!  You're afraid you might make a mistake and the seeds won't grow. 

I would like to set your mind at ease.  Sowing seeds is super simple and easy to do.  If I can teach 3-5yr olds how to sow seeds successfully, I can teach you too!

There are some basic rules to follow and once you get that, you'll never make a mistake again.

• I teach children that we are putting the seeds to sleep, so they can wake up and grow!  First you start off with a nice firm soil mattress.  Take your punnet or bed, and pour some seed raising mix in, tamping it down with a wooden block or dowel stick.  Then place your seed onto the mattress.  If you are using a 6 cell punnet, place bigger seeds in, one at a time.  If the seed is very fine, place no more than 3-4 in each cell.  One of the biggest mistakes is to put too many seeds into each cell, so they have to fight to survive.  Pricking them out is also tricky then too.

• Next, we pull a blanket over the seed, twice the depth of the seed size.  This means that a big pumpkin seed will have a soil "blanket" of about 5-8mm piled on top, smaller seeds like basil or lettuce will have just 1-2mm soil placed over them.

• Label your punnets or trays.  Often, people think they will remember, and after sowing a couple or more trays, forget which seed went into which tray!!

• Tamp the soil blanket down lightly and then using a watering can with a "rose" head, gently sprinkle water over the punnets or trays, taking care not to water too much or too hard as that will dislodge the seeds.

• Seed trays need to be kept moist, not too wet or the seeds will rot.  Too dry and the seeds will die or fail to "wake up".  Depending on what seeds you have sown, the waking up process may take as little as 3 days, to up to 2 weeks, so don't lose heart if they don't all emerge within a week.  The good thing to know is that seeds are infinitely intelligent and know what to do.  You just need to put them to bed and tuck them in.  A lullaby or two won't go amiss!

Congratulations if your seeds woke up successfully!  The next mistake people make is not knowing what seedlings need to survive.  We will share another blog on raising successful seedlings, so watch out for that one.

The joy at watching your little green babies waking up is immense.  You have to experience the success and you will find yourself hooked and wanting to sow more and more seeds!  Enjoy!