Growing from seed

1 SEED IS CONVENIENT Making time to go to the garden centre to buy seedlings when you want to plant can be difficult. When you have seed on hand – either those you have collected yourself or purchased from a nursery – you can start plants whenever you please. Sowing seed also allows you to grow a broad range of vegetable varieties, many of which you won’t find for sale as established seedlings.

2 FRESH IS BEST From the time seed is harvested, it starts to lose viability. When seed is fresh, the germination rate can be as high as 100 per cent. The rate decreases as the years pass until, eventually, none of the seeds germinate. Before buying seed, check the sow-by date on the packet. Look for seed that will give you a few years’ sowing. Don’t settle for seed that has only a year left. There are exceptions such as sweetcorn and onion, which have a short period of viability. If you have an old packet at home that’s hovering around its sow-by date, plant three to four times the number of seeds you think you’re going to need.

3 PROPER STORAGE IS IMPORTANT Keeping your seed in a hot shed in the yard will lead to early deterioration. Seed is best stored in a cool, dark, dry spot. To maximise its life, store your seed in sealed containers in the refrigerator. It pays to be organised, too. Throwing a load of packets into a box willy-nilly can make it difficult to find the seed you want. Store your seed packets in alphabetical order or in plant groups such as leafy greens, herbs, brassicas etc. Photo or craft boxes are useful storage units, in tandem with multiple packet-shaped containers that fit neatly into a larger container.

4 SEED IS WORTH SAVING Every time you save heirloom seed from your home-grown crops, it carries with it a little bit more information about the environmental and growing conditions in your garden. So be sure to reserve seed from your top-performing crops. These plants clearly have the right genetic mix for your garden, and that’s well worth saving. 

5 START SEED IN CONTAINERS It’s best to start vegie seed in containers, unless you’re sowing carrots or parsnips, which don’t tolerate root disturbance and must be directly sown in the ground. I like multicell punnets because the seedlings develop separate root systems, meaning less transplant shock when planting out. When you start seed in containers, you don’t need to find space in the patch to sow them, so you get a head start. The biggest benefit is the control you have over the conditions – if it’s too hot, cold, wet or whatever, you can move your seedlings to a happier spot. This leads to far better germination. Sow in a moist, well-drained mix (blend one part premium potting mix with four parts moistened coir peat). Once the seedlings have germinated, feed them once a week with liquid fertiliser mixed at half the recommended rate.

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