Seeds bursting to life

At this time of year I spend a lot of time in my greenhouse sowing seeds and, if and when they germinate, looking after the seedlings.

It’s pleasant in the greenhouse. I have an electric heater on a thermostat so it’s never cold and I’m protected from the wind and rain. I can also sit down at a little potting bench when I’m filling pots or modules or actually sowing the seed.

And when things go well and seeds start to germinate there is a great feeling of satisfaction to be got from participating in the little miracle that turns an inert grain into an infant living plant.

It would probably be more sensible for me to go to the garden centre and buy the small number of plants I actually need, leaving a proper nursery person to rear them from seed. However, that means I would miss out on the best part. I like to grow plants that I can eat but I do it for pleasure, not out of necessity, and germinating seed is a big part of the pleasure.

Sowing seeds is also good exercise for the mind. There are half a dozen different packets in front of me. They all need roughly the same things to make them germinate, but they need subtly different mixtures of these things.

They all need water, for example, but the broad beans have to soak up a lot of water to soften the thick outer casing of the seed so that a little white thread called a radicle can push through and establish itself as the first root, to be followed by a plumule which will travel upwards through the compost to become the first shoot. Until the plumule becomes established enough to start photosynthesising the whole process is powered by energy reserves stored in the seed.

However, germination also requires oxygen which comes from little pockets of air trapped in the compost. If I over-water I will drive the air out and the seeds will struggle. And if they do germinate and I continue to over-water this will encourage microscopic fungus spores to attack the tiny seedlings. I have to strike a delicate balance.

Then there’s the question of temperature. All the seeds have different preferences, some of them varying by more than 10 degrees. However, I have a very small greenhouse and, even with the addition of a couple of electric propagators, there’s a limit to the amount of micro-environments I can create in the one place. This calls for compromise and, luckily, most seeds are prepared to accept some.

I also have to remember that the lettuce seeds (Little Gem is my favourite) germinate better in full light while most of the others prefer to be buried and in the dark. Trying to get everything right is a challenge that becomes addictive. I can’t wait to get out to check on the greenhouse.