Hope everyone is doing okay in their bubble! If you’re a gardener, there’s always something that needs doing in the garden and how good for the garden and good for you it is to spend some unexpected extra time in that special place!
We’re getting in touch this week because, if you haven’t done it already, this is a great week to sow your tomatoes.
We’ve talked this through before, but for all the new people who’ve joined our community, here’s how we sow tomato seeds.
We use little punnets which are plastic, but we re-use them constantly for seed sowing. We wash them out in water to which we’ve added a good splash of white vinegar. This helps to sterilise them.
This year we’re sowing Watermouth (beefsteak), Moonglow (orange), Tigerella (fun), Green Zebra (fun), Gardeners Delight (red cherry), Black Cherry and Roma (preserving). They’ve been in the fridge for a couple of weeks or longer. We do recommend this as when you bring the seeds out into the relative warmth, the seeds have the intelligence to know it’s time to germinate.
We’re giving a shout out to Revital products as they are well-balanced media in all forms. You can get seed-raising mix, potting mix, and a couple of composts. We use the potting mix and sieve it to make seed-raising mix.
Fill your containers with the mix, then we use a little bit of square dowling cut just the width of the punnet to make our rows. You can use anything for this, but it is quite a useful little thing to have.
Work out how many seeds you want to sow. I am a bit stingy as I know most of them germinate well so I’ve just put two seeds in when I only want one plant. Then make labels for each variety with the date on the back so you can track the germination period.
In go the seeds.
Cover the seeds over (we use a spare label for this) and press down gently with your hand.
Fill a shallow container with a little bit of water and add a generous splash of liquid seaweed. Sit the punnets in this bath for as long as it takes for the water to rise to the top of the punnet (5-10 minutes). Afterwards, use the contents of the seaweed bath on other plants in your garden.
Then onto a clean used meat tray and the windowsill. Next month they’ll be big enough to prick out and plant in individual pots and the month after that, they’ll be ready for planting out in the garden.
Stay safe lovely people!
From Jan and Rob!
Website designed by www.thecornerstorecollective.com
Developed by Richard Hpa
10 Responses
Thanks for the post, especially the tip to add the date to the label – obviously useful now that you’ve pointed it out, but (being new to growing from seed) not something I had thought of before! Watching my seeds ‘pop up’ as they germinate on the windowsill next to my home workspace has absolutely been therapy for me in the last few days. Stay safe and well OEG team.
Agree! There’s nothing more amazing than witnessing seeds germinating – it never ceases to delight me. All the best 🙂
I got 6 germinated last week in the glasshouse. Didn’t know I ought to leave them at the window sills. They’re abt 3-4” tall now. Shd I bring them out and put inside the house?
Greenhouse is a good place Janet. We just use the windowsill in the absence of a greenhouse. Well done you!! 🙂
I got some Moonglow too (from the Auckland Seed Saving Society). They germinated in just 4 days on a heat mat!
Wow! Keen to see how ours go. Lots written up about the easily absorbable tetra-cis-lycopene in golden/orange tomatoes 🙂
Hi team, just a big shout out for all the constant sharing of knowledge. Life in the garden is so much more productive since getting the posts. I also get the calendar it prompts me of those important dates. Always look forward for the next email.
With much kindness, Jude.
Love it!
Would you suggest always using the method where you plant seeds together in a container first, and then pricking them out into different individual containers? Or could I initially just plant them directly into different individual containers (ie root savers)? Thank you
Also – thanks heaps for all the knowledge. Anyone reading this, consider checking out Organic Edibles awesome calendars. I got one and it’s gorgeous and helps support sharing the knowledge on this Organic Edible Garden website. 🙂
Hi Claire
There are three categories really…
1 Tomatoes, eggplants, capsicums and chillis as well as most, if not all, leafy greens are best sown this way.
2 Then some seeds are best direct sown in the pot they will be planted out from as they’re more sensitive to root disturbance. Examples are cucumbers, zucchini, melons, sweetcorn, beans and peas and herbs like coriander and dill.
3 Most root crops like carrots, parsnips and radishes are best sown directly into the garden bed. Florence fennel best sown like Method 1. Beetroot can be sown with any method.
And thanks for the shout out! 😊