Sowing from seed

Getting started
Some seeds need to germinate indoors. Start these off in small pots in a sunny spot. Tightly fill a pot with seed compost. Level the top, leaving a 1cm gap between the top of the compost and the lip of the pot.

• Step 1
  Sow seeds lightly over the soil, ensuring they don’t touch.
• Step 2
  Cover thinly with vermiculite (a natural mineral that promotes better aeration and drainage in compost – ask for it at your garden centre) or compost.
• Step 3
  Water and put in a windowsill propagator (a plastic protector, from garden centres), or place a clear plastic freezer bag over the pot and secure with an elastic band (as below). Alternatively, sow hardier seeds straight into a larger pot outside.
• Step 4
  Remove indoor plants from the propagator or plastic bag when they have germinated. Keep in a sunny spot until the seedlings are around 2cm tall, then select the healthiest looking plants to transplant into individual 7.5cm pots.
• Step 5
  When they have filled out their pots, plants that you have grown from seed can be replanted into larger containers.