OUTDOORS Growing food from seed

Growing from seeds


Organic Growing
Hans Wieland

Part 2
First off, it’s not to late to sow. It is still early in the season, so there is no need to panic. Read the sowing instructions on your seed packs carefully and you will see you have plenty of time.

Compost and Nutrients
Your seeds need a good growing medium for germination and seedlings require a balance of the main nutrients (Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium) as well as trace elements to sustain plant growth for a short period. Too much Nitrogen will inhibit germination or produce leggy seedlings.
As the plants develop, they require more nutrients for their growth. When your seedlings are ready to be potted, remember to use potting compost, which is higher in nutrients than seed compost.
A good seed compost should be free draining but able to retain moisture and have a fine texture so it can make good contact with seeds.
Your seed compost should be free from weed seeds and free from pests and diseases.
It is best to buy a ready-made organic seed compost, unless you want to mix one yourself – here’s how:

Homemade Seed Compost Mix

• Part sterilised loam (that is the more difficult part as you need to cook soil in an old pot)
• Part sieved leaf mould (or peat, composted bark, coir)
• Part sharp sand

HOW TO SOW SEEDS
Direct sowing
In theory, all vegetables can be sown directly into the ground where they are to grow, and thinned out to their final spacing.
Most roots, such as carrots, beetroot, parsnips, swedes and radish, don’t like transplanting – it may cause forking of their roots. Vegetables with large seeds like peas and beans are also generally sown directly.

Modular or cell trays
Modular trays are becoming the most popular method of raising transplants. The advantages include good crop establishment, uniform plant development and faster transplanting, thus reducing labour input. However, there’s an initial cost for the trays and a higher degree of maintenance required to produce quality transplants in cells.
Most organic gardeners prefer to raise transplants in trays, pot them on and harden them off before planting. Most vegetables (excluding root crops) benefit from transplanting because weed control is easier around established plants and there is less wastage of seeds, because no thinning is required.

Sowing from trays
The seeds are first pricked out (moved) into a larger container so the seedlings have more room to develop roots. They are then moved into an individual pot to get high-quality plants for planting out. They can then be hardened off, which allows plants to acclimatise gradually to lower temperatures and windy conditions. (Obviously, hardening off is unnecessary when growing in a polytunnel). When the plants are fully hardened off they are planted out into their final position. During hot spells it is advisable to plant out in the evening or choose a dull day.

*Part 1 of this article was published on February 23. It can be found at www.mayonews.ie/living or http://ow.ly/1oyNC

Hans Wieland is joint manager of The Organic Centre, Rossinver, Co Leitrim, which offers courses, training and information in organic growing, and runs an Eco Shop and an online gardening store. For more information, visit www.theorganiccentre.ie, e-mail info@theorganiccentre.ie or phone
071 9854338.Contact Hans at living@mayonews.ie.