SOWING SEED INDOORS
For small vegetable seeds, use a half size seed tray and fill with seed compost. Large veg seeds can be sown in cell trays or peat pots, again with seed compost. Use a soil tamper to gently firm down the compost to approximately half an inch below the top of the container and then water using a fine rose. Leave until the following day to sow the seed.
Sow the veg seed very thinly and evenly over the surface of the compost and then cover with vermiculite or compost. The compost should be applied finely, using a sieve. Very fine vegetable seed does not need to be covered and other seed should be covered with twice the depth of the size of the seed. Then using the soil tamper, gently firm again. Put a piece of glass or a clear plastic bag over the top and put in a propagator. As most veg seeds need to be above 15 degrees to successfully germinate, a heated propagator is preferable.
The glass or bag should be removed as soon as the vegetable seedlings break through the surface and the tray put in a warm, light but sunless spot. The compost should be kept moist, ideally using a mister.
Once the first ‘true’ leaves have appeared, then the veg seedlings should be ‘pricked out’ into trays, 24-cell cellular trays or small pots. Use multi-purpose or John Innes No. 1 compost. Handle the vegetable seedlings by their first seed leaves and plant approximately 5cm apart. You should plant the seedling up to just below the leaves. They can then be put in a place to grow on. It doesn’t need to be particularly warm but out of direct sunlight.
After a couple of weeks, the young vegetable plants should be gradually hardened off in preparation for planting outside. They should be put in a cold frame and the vents opened on frost-free and dry days and closed at night. After a week, keep the vents open continuously for another week before the young veg plants can be planted outside.
SOWING SEED OUTDOORS
Preparing the Seed Bed
Once the spring arrives and the soil becomes workable, it’s time to prepare the beds for sowing your vegetable seeds. You’ll know when the time is right by walking over the plot and if the soil sticks to your boots, it is too wet to work.
Break up the clods and lumps of soil using a fork or hand cultivator to make the soil roughly level. You shouldn’t let the tines go any deeper than 6” as you are only working the top few inches of the soil. Apply a dressing of general fertiliser, at a rate according to the instructions on the box, to the surface and then work it into the top few inches of soil with a hand cultivator. Walk over the surface and using a rake, fill in any holes and level any mounds, then inspect the surface and remove any stones or debris. Finally, use the rake to make the surface level and producing a crumbly surface with the consistency of coarse breadcrumbs. Two weeks after incorporating the fertiliser, the veg seeds can be sown.
Sowing Seeds Outdoors
Veg seeds will not germinate in cold and wet soil so let the weather dictate when you should start sowing. Once the weather is mild and the seed bed has been prepared you can begin by marking out the rows. Use taut string to create straight lines then using the edge of a hoe or swoe, draw out v-shaped grooved rows (‘drills’). Check the soil in the bottom of the drills and if it is dry water using a fine spray.
Sow the veg seed thinly and evenly along the rows, using a seed sower or sprinkling between finger and forefinger. Very fine seed should be mixed with sand before sowing.
Cover the seed by gently pushing the soil back into the drill either by hand or with the back of a rake and gently firm the soil. Don’t water but if it is dry, lay newspaper over the drills.
Large seeds such as broad bean, sweetcorn, marrows are sown where they are to grow to maturity. They may be sown in the drill or in holes or ‘stations’. Make holes in rows using a dibber and sow two or three seeds together, later removing the weaker seedling.
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