Things you’ll need:
- Seeds
- Hands. With gloves if you like
- Seed raising soil mix
- Spray bottle
- Seed trays
Step one: Fill the trays
Unsurprisingly, the first step is to put the soil in the trays. Fill all cells to the top and slide some cardboard or something flat across the top to remove the excess.
You may want to leave a bit of space at the top of the cells to account for watering.
Step two: Poke holes
Poke a little hole in each cell with your little finger. As a guide, the hole only needs to be twice as deep as the size of the seed.
Step three: Put a seed in the hole
Carefully and boringly pick out an individual seed and put it in a finger hole. Then repeat for all the finger holes.
Once complete you can cover the seeds with some more soil or push some of the soil in the cell over the seed. That is your choice.
Step four: Water gently
Spray water across the seeds to moisten the soil but stop before the soil develops puddles.
Step five: Treat them and me nicely
The great thing about trays is that you can keep them out of the weather. Find a nice spot that gets enough sun, or use a greenhouse if you have one spare.
You can plant the seeds in your garden when they reach 10-15cm tall. Remember to harden off your seedlings before transplanting them into the garden.
What is hardening off seedlings?
Expose your seedlings to the weather slowly over the course of a few days. Put your seedlings out for one hour on day one. Then 2 hours on day two and increase by one hour each day until they’re able to stay out all day.
