How to plant seeds!

This post is in reaction to many readers who ask how to plant seeds. The questions many ask are as follows-

1. Do the seeds need to be soaked in advance?
2. Do all hard seeds need to be nicked or scraped before planting?
3. How deep should you plant the seeds?
4. What kind of pot or container should we use while planting seeds?
5. What is the soil mix we need to use for planting seeds?
6. How often do they need to be watered and how much?

I shall endeavor to answer all these in the next paragraphs. I am also attaching a video on planting hollyhock seeds which can be used for most seeds.

First, all seeds do not need to be soaked in advance. Seeds that are hard may benefit from being soaked for 24 hours before but no more because many can rot. Most vegetable seeds need not be soaked at all before planting. Seeds of bottle gourd. melon, bitter gourd, sunflower, etc are hard but are actually quite brittle and break down easily in soil. Before you plant either read the seed packet or research online on the germination period so you don’t give up. Most seeds require at least 7 days with most needing at least 14-21 days to sprout so don’t lose heart. Remember to write on the tag the date you sowed and the time period for germination so you know. Seeds of fenugreek, butterfly pea, lotus, Firewheel, etc need to be soaked or nicked before sowing.

Secondly, the seeds should be placed at a depth of 1 cm maximum some may need less. some like snow peas need 1 inch. Some seeds need only to be placed on the soil and covered with a very thin layer of soil so read the instructions. For my vegetable and hollyhocks and marigold seeds, I use aluminum trays. These have their pros and cons. One, the depth is limited so you need to transplant seedlings fairly quickly, the same goes for the seed starter trays. Some of the seedlings die on transferring so that might be difficult if your seeds are limited. You can also use the slightly bigger pots, one size above the 10 cm one, and plant the seeds into that. Just make sure you don’t overcrowd the seeds. The advantage here is that you will have time to transplant the seedlings so the survival rate is higher. For root vegetables, please plant in the place you want them to grow as transplanting them results in produce which might be great. The same goes for herbs like Mint Coriander, Lemon balm, Rosemary, and Thyme. Plant them in the place you want them to grow. The same goes for Allysum flowers( a huge bee favorite).

For the soil mix, you can either use plain potting soil with no additives or use a mix of cocopeat/peat moss with vermicompost 1:1.

Watering is always a bit tricky. Make sure the soil is moist but not soaking. I use a spray bottle to water my seeds after I plant until they germinate and then either continue that or use your hose to spray from a distance so it is gentle. Remember it must be moist but not wet, as the seeds may rot. Also, I keep the seed trays in the shade initially, but when temperatures hover around 27-28 degrees centigrade or less full sun is not a problem. Watering by spray bottle is every day but always check if the soil is moist then water.