Hi everyone and welcome back to my blog!
This week I will be sowing some vegetable seeds and giving you tips about what you need to start sowing seeds and how to look after them. If you are new to my blog I am Nikki , I have a small allotment plot and a growing area in my garden.
Last year I took on the challenge of having an allotment plot and I also look after my nurseries allotment plot. This year I have added to my growing space and I am going to have a Mini Allotment in my garden.
This is my plot at the allotment.
This is half of the nursery plot which is two large cold frames which we have changed into a plot.
This is my step by step guide to sowing seeds and I will also be showing you how to pot on seedlings when they have germinated and need to be separated into their own pots. First things first , I am going to show you what you equipment you need before you can begin to sow seeds.
1 . Compost
2. Seeds
3. Seed trays or plant pots
4. A Pen/Pencil and Labels for your seeds trays.
5. A watering can or jug to water your seeds.
These are the main things you need before you start to sow your seeds.
Before you begin you many need to plan out where and when you start to sow your seeds. Where I live in Scotland we don't start sowing seeds until mid April due to the weather not being warm enough and the risk of frost. One of my top tips is that , I like to draw our a plan of the area I am going to grow in first and then I can have a rough idea of where will grow where and where I will this is my plan of what I will be growing this year at my plot and in the garden.
My Allotment plot first draft plan:
This is my first rough plan of what I plan to grow this year at my Allotment area. This year at my plot I am going to be concentrating on growing sweetcorn beans , pumpkin and squashes. I have raspberry canes, strawberry plants and a Autumn raspberry plant on one side of my plot and the rest of the plot , I will be using to grow the three sisters (Pumpkin, Sweetcorn and Broad beans).
My first draft plan of my Mini Allotment:
This is my new growing area at home my Mini Allotment area. This is a completely new raised bed where I will be growing food for my rabbits, and myself & my husband. I am going to grow a variety of fruit and vegetables. Again this a my first rough plan, which you can always tweak and change but it gives you a good idea of what you want to plant in the space you have.
Now I will move onto my video of sowing seeds and my step by step guide to sowing carrot seeds.
It is important to know where you are going to store your seedlings once sown as they can take up a lot of space, we have a Greenhouse which we have shelved out to keep our seeds. If you don't have a greenhouse you can still sow seeds and store them on the window sill or in a small cold frame or mini greenhouse either outdoors or indoors.
So once you have sown your seeds , it can usually take anywhere between 5 to 14 days depending on the seeds. When I am growing my fruit and vegetables, I like to use a mini propagator to help protect the seeds , give them extra heat and protection. I like to think its like a little incubator for your seedings and it helps them to grow and be nurtured.
These are the propagators that I use:
They have air vents on them that you can open and shut depending on the temperature in your greenhouse. I put the propagators lids on during the night and in the morning I take them off and let them get some air , I wipe them when they have water inside to get rid of any condensation and then replace them.
For me I find that using propagators helps to speed up the germination process and helps them to grow faster.
When watering your seed trays and seedlings it can be easy to get carried away and want to water your plants every day. But this can result in over watering, you will be able to tell if your plants need watering by looking at the soil.
If your soil looks like this and feel wet to touch then it does not need water, you can over water a plant and kill it with too much water just as you can with no enough water.
This is an example of where a plant needs water , I usually water my seedling once a day when the sun has went down or before the sun has got to it hottest. I usually water my seedings every two days when they are first sown and then every night if needed if the soil is still dark and moist I will not water them until the following day. You will know yourself if a plant needs water or not.
There is tip to say that when watering seedlings or plants , try to water from the bottom as it will not damage the plants leaves, You can get watering trays where you can put your plants into and they will take in water frim the roots. This is why you don't water plants when it is very hot unless extremely necessary as if the leaves get water on them the sun can then burn the leaves and damage the plant and cause it to go into a stressed state.
But my main tips for you is for you to have fun, don't worry to much. Yes if you over water your plant and you lose it , then you will learn from your mistakes. Making mistakes or plants failing isn't a bad thing as it teaches you , what not to do and gives you an extra part of learning you may not have got with it if it all grew perfectly.
For me I took the leap and decided with the allotment last year I would go for it and picked what I wanted to grow and I went for it. I am a bit of a visual learner and I like to get to try out what I have learned. Yes I like looking to and researching what you need but I do think the best thing you can do is to simply give it a try. Even if a plant to dies or if it has a yellow leave or looks like it hasn't worked out it gives you something to sit back and reflection on.
Plug plants potting on your seedlings :
Once your seedling have germinated , roughly about two weeks after your seedling has started to grow you may need to pot them on not every seed will have grown within in two weeks but if they are like my pumpkins , squashes or sunflowers you may see that they need potted on to individual pots now. I usually wait until the seedling has grown two full true leaves before moving them but you will know yourself when they are ready. now if you are a beginner i have a video and some photos as a guide to help you know when and what to do to pot on your vegetable seeds.
This is an example of a true leave at first the plant grow a baby leave (a cotyledon) these are the first leaves that give the plant nutrients until its true leaves grown and then they will help the plant to begin the process of photosynthesis.
Photosynthesis is a chemical reaction which takes place inside a plant, producing food of the plant to survive. Carbon dioxide , water and are are all for photosynthesis to take part.
If you would like to learn more about photosynthesis check out this website link on the BBC bitesize :
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Now I will show you a video of me potting on some Giant Sunflowers and Pumpkin plug plants.
Potting on Giant Sunflowers
Potting on Pumpkins Jack be Little
Here are so step by step guides photos of me potting on my Squash plug plants:
1. First we get the seedlings and start to separate them and then plant them in their individual pots.
2.Then make a small hole in the soil and the place the plug plant into the hole cover it over with soil and gently press down on the soil around the plant.
3.once you have pressed down on the compost then move on to the next one and water at the end and watch the little plug plants start to grow and flourish now in their own little plant pot
Thank for reading my blog on sowing vegetable seeds to plug plant more to follow from plug plant to being planted outdoors in my Mini Allotment or at the plot. for more updates follow me on @gardenernikki on Instagram, Nikki Gardener on Twitter and Nikki Gardener on Facebook.
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