Germinating in the colder months!
Quiet hope for spring and a promise of more . . .
I have been a little quiet on socials lately, and that’s because, in the background, I am working on something big, a book! Tiny in size, big in aspiration, and I feel this quiet labour is a beautiful metaphor for the topic I would like to discuss with you today -
Sowing seeds, when to start and how to know what to do from looking!
When to sow?
I so want you to grow!
I have seen you before,
As you carpeted the floor,
Of other green and pleasant gardens.
But your tender stems dried,
Or they rotted inside,
My compostable pots on the sill.
So what can I do,
To protect and grow you?
How can I overcome,
This doldrum?
Let see what secret,
These little seeds kept,
By asking why should a seed grow!
This is no small topic, and I must admit I have bumbled around the job of writing it all down for a week or two, maybe a month or two! I have also bumbled around the job of starting my years' seed nursery! But I am ready. The weather is improving, albeit sporadically, and so now I can spring forth as a new shoot and share some of the latent secrets that will help you grow your seedlings well.
If you can indulge me a little further, I want to, as I always do, take you to the source: the plant, the purpose, the why; as I often say in my posts, 'If you know that all-important WHY, then you will feel empowered with the how'. There is no doubt being told a thing repeatedly will eventually drive it home, but to speed up that understanding, here are a few reminders of some school biology:
A seed is the plant's progeny (its sexually reproduced self/ its genetically unique legacy). In short, seeds are plant babies.
(I apologise for personifying, but stay with me.) The plant mother has to leave her vulnerable babies to fend for themselves, and so there are projecting objectives (ways to get the seeds to the place they need to be). The seeds are often catapulted or have burs to be carried further. What can we take from this? Sow thinly. Seedlings prefer not to be sown too densely, as this will reduce airflow and cause them to rot.
And protective adaptions (ways to preserve them until the conditions are suitable for successful growth). The protective adaptions could be a hard seed coat, a temperature-sensitive activation, or a chemical inhibiter that will wear off over time. So sometimes soaking seeds will help germination; peas, beans, and parsley are helped along this way.
The seeds you buy are generally primed (if necessary) for ready germination as soon as you moisten them.
What adaptions can you observe by looking?
You can see and feel the hard seed coat, which soaks up water and swells the inner endosperm (or energy source); this coat will then crack!
Seeds are tiny, especially compared to the plant. Small and proficient (many in number), the mother plant produces many tiny seeds to allow for failures. Of course, only being small, the plant invests a reserved amount into each little capsule of life.
What lies within?
A radical—When looking closely while the seed is dry or once the water has been imbibed through the coat, you can see the baby root, called a radical.
The endosperm is the other stuff within the seed casing. It will be liberated and morphed into seed leaves that move in the opposite direction from the root and strain for the sun.
Once germinating?
We see that the aforementioned baby root or radical starts to develop. It follows a gravitational pull down into the soil and anchors the seedling. It will then start to absorb external food resources for growth.
Eventually, we see the true leaves, which will look like the plant they mature into—they will need nutrients at this point to grow and develop.
With knowledge of all the above, we can consider what we might need to provide artificially to this little seed baby. The seed was adapted for its localised environment anywhere in the world, so there are many variations, but they come down to simple principles: temperature, timing, soil, water and exposure to light.
Quick question - did you find this useful? Or was it a bit too much info loading for your tastes? Please comment below to help me share well. x x x thanks . . .
So things to consider when sowing seeds:
When to sow? Follow the packet directions. However, here is some shorthand so you know the all-important why.
For perennials and hardy annuals that flower early in the year in open grasslands or areas where they are capitalising on the low competition of the early season, the seeds will need a good early start to get to maturity and flowering generally in March.
Half-hardy annuals are from warmer climes, will flower later in our climate, and often need the warmth and daylight of a May (late) sowing to get going.
Both can be sown directly into the ground for a cut flower garden, and I prefer this method as they will be compact in growth habit and grow to the environment. All you need is a sunny patch.
With perennials like Aquilegia and Dianthus, you are in for the long haul. It can take weeks to germinate, and they will flower in the first, second, or even subsequent years.
In what sort of soil should you sow seeds in pots?
The tiny root and then new blooming mycorrhizae fungi that will follow will be vulnerable to the salts and nutrients in general-purpose compost (imagine the seed in the wild; they would have been more likely to be spread and germinate on the crust of the soil where flung or dispersed). So choose a seed compost or mix with 50/50 perlite or vermiculite to put inert elements within (soil) if you have to use multipurpose compost (sometimes you gotta get sowing, and it's all you have!!)
This also promotes explorative growth in the young seedlings, who look for nutrients within the soil and put down more roots.
When should you sow your seeds?
As the snowdrops start to show and the early daffs are beaming yellow, we are desperate to get sowing as gardeners and Planet dwellers. But wait till March, and most seedlings will be more robust and soon outstretch those that struggled in earlier sowings.
Plants like peppers, aubergines, and tomatoes take a long time to mature.
Plants that flower early (sweet peas) need an early start.
Plants with a slow germination cycle (some perennials you will see can be sown at any time of the year),
But growing under glass or indoors is tricky and can result in failures even for seasoned pros.
It is interesting to observe that some plants we sow later, such as lettuce and annuals, will catch up and often have better vigour than those in the colder, darker months.
What are the symptoms the if plant is struggling:
long stems (etiolated) straining for the light - find a sunnier spot.
white or light green colour (chlorotic) missing sunlight for photosynthesis - find a sunnier spot.
Stems are rotting and shrivelling (damping off), and there is too much water and insufficient light to process the water! - allow compost to dry
Slow and stunted growth - bottom heat or sunnier spot!
A top tip: plants actually grow between waterings—in a dry period—and so will not want to stay constantly wet. Watering them in the morning is best, giving them time to dry out.
Keep in a light spot - good overall sun coverage - during daylight hours. - rotate the trays if they are pulling to one side
Interesting fact: the seedling stem can adapt into a root zone!
We capitalise on this as gardeners by submerging newly germinated seedlings in soil when we prick out.
What does pricking out mean?
This is one of the stages that is often missed in home growing, and it can help with etiolated plants (long and leggy seedlings).
Gently loosen the compost, lift the seedling by the leaf only, and repot it into a larger single pot, lower into the compost to allow the plant to reestablish itself.
Avoid touching the stem and the roots to ensure the vulnerable cells aren’t damaged. A small plant can lose a leaf, but a broken stem is a dead seedling.
This may all be a bit of an overload, so a summary:
Sow now and in seed compost if possible
Have good all-round light
Water in the mornings
Sow thinly or individually if not intending to prick out
Early sowings may be abandoned but go again x x x
Awesome so glad you liked it xx 💋
Love it! All the information, plus commentary if you want to listen whilst doing something else and a summary if you're short on time or need to refresh your memory at a later date x