One very important thing we should all remember is that seeds first come from plants, not out of packets, so don’t forget that you can get seed direct from the plant without the expense of paying for them at the garden centre. Not always, of course, because not all plants come true from seed. Millions of plants are grown every year from seed by gardeners the world over, and many of them are wasted. Most of us sow more than we wish to reap, in spite of the fact that most packets of seed contain less and less all the time. However we still tend to sow everything. You will all have experienced plants producing very small seed like begonia or petunia, whereas the canna will only have a few seeds in each packet.
Those types of plant which produce minute seed make it almost impossible to gauge how many you are actually sowing. Petunias, orchids, begonias and ferns are perfect examples, and of course the plants producing such enormous quantities of seed do so in order to reduce the chances of the species dying out. They have special means of spreading themselves over wide areas, mainly by means of wind or by getting them to stick to the coats of animals, birds and the clothing of human animals.
Most of you will have experienced the price of F1 hybrid seed. Very high indeed. And this reflects the trouble that’s been taken to produce them from parents having very desirable qualities, the best of which are inherited by the immediate offspring. The problem is that the offspring does not necessarily pass these on, so that unless you can propagate them by cuttings or layering, the seeds stop producing very attractive plants.
Most of us buy ‘ordinary’ seed, however, many of which are easy to sow as they can be seen without trouble (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and melons). Some are very large (like the coconut). To recap then, for our own gardens at home the use of F1 hybrid vegetable seed may not be the blessing the packet tells us, and generally I do not use it much because of the price and the fact that the seed cannot be guaranteed to behave like the parents. Also at home what we want is the gradual maturity of, say, our lettuce and cabbage. We do not want everything to ripen at once, and the fact is that F1 seed tends to be like this. Good for the commercial grower but not for the gardener growing for his own table. It is different with flowers, for most of us want them all to flower at the same time to give a tremendous impact on the eye. For ‘ordinary’ seed we have always tended to sow a little at a time, and carry out sowing quite a few times during the season so that we do not have gluts but just sufficient for our family’s needs.
As a general rule there are seed composts to suit a whole range of seeds we normally grow, and believe me, some seeds can be sown directly into garden soil without using seed compost at all. The place where sowing is to take place is very important. It should be well lighted, and the air should be still to prevent small seed blowing away. Small seed such as petunias and especially the latest varieties are incredibly expensive and you cannot afford to have any of them lost to the wind. They are so small that they do not need covering with soil. In fact some seeds of temperate plants like the primula actually need light in order to germinate at all. Getting small seeds onto the surface of the compost from the packet is often a ticklish matter, and it is always good practice to lightly dust the surface of the compost with a light powder like talc so you can see just where these little characters are falling. Extreme care has to be exercised when tapping the seed from the packet, and containers must always been stood in water. Never water fine seed with a can.
That’s the best way to lose the lot. Go carefully and may you God go with you.
